As dawn breaks this ANZAC Day, on 25 April, staff from the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) (Queensland Section) will gather with the community to honour those who have served.
It’s a day that holds deep significance to many, including RFDS (Queensland Section) Aeromedical Pilot Vicki Harrison, who served 18 years with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
“I joined the RAAF because it was something my mother always wanted to do, and it was an opportunity for me to support the country,” Vicki said.
“It never interested me to join a commercial airline because the flying that you do in the Air Force and with the Flying Doctor is so much more challenging.
Vicki was the 10th female pilot to graduate from the RAAF and later became a flight instructor.
Throughout her years of officer training, Vicki flew VIP transport out of Canberra and piloted Caribou aircraft in Timor and Papua New Guinea to assist Australia’s neighbouring countries.
“Our ANZACs really set us up for this amazing country that we live in,” Vicki said.
“I think it is really important to recognise the work that they have done, and knowing that I am part of that, is very rewarding.
“I feel very proud to wear my medals on the left and represent servicewomen in the Air Force.”
This year, she celebrates 15 years with the Flying Doctor, delivering inter-facility patient transfers and emergency aeromedical retrievals from the Townsville base.
For RFDS (Queensland Section) General Manager for Digital and Technology Darcy Smith ANZAC Day is also a day for us to come together and celebrate the camaraderie between Australia and New Zealand.
Darcy served 21 years with the New Zealand Defence Force as a Royal New Zealand Signals Regiment and Army Logistics Regiment before he obtained the rank of Staff Sergeant.
“It’s important for us to acknowledge those who served and those who continue to step forward and dedicate their lives to service, country and community,” Darcy said.
During Darcy’s time with the Army, he served three separate six-month-long operational peace-keeping deployments.
This included a Multinational Peace-Keeping Force and Observers (MFO) in 1992 as part of an American deployment mission, a United Nations Protection Force in 1995 as part of a British Contingent deployment, and a UN International Stabilisation Force (ISF) in 2006 in East Timor as part of a mission to maintain peace.
Now, Darcy is leading the Flying Doctor’s digital and technology department to support those on the frontline.
“Transitioning from a life in the Defence Force to the civilian sector can be a challenging journey familiar to many veterans as this shift often brings a loss of identity, purpose, and value,” he said.
“For me, having the opportunity to join an organisation as esteemed and well-loved as the RFDS reignites a lot of the pride and purpose that I once felt serving in the Defence Force.
“Few organisations within the community can rival this profound sense of purpose and meaning offered by the RFDS.”
This year Darcy will attend the ANZAC Day memorial service in Murphy's Creek and Vicki will attend the ANZAC Day service in Townsville to support her husband in the parade.
“Paying tribute, remembrance and respect to those fallen, returned, and currently serving servicemen and women is something I hold close to my heart,” Darcy said.
“They gave their tomorrow, so we can have our today.”
Several of our RFDS Doctors, nurses, pilots, mental health clinicians and support staff attended Anzac Day services across the state today to remember them.
