Ferris...
loyalty goes both ways old son, I mean I managed to put together 17 years with AsA (and all it's previous incarnations) before going o/s...how many did you do before going o/s and making use of that very expensive training?
That current HATCO (or whatever he is called now) Jason H if it is still him, was an up through the ranks kind of guy, I seem to remember him being an Aussie too, or is that not a high enough for you?
(unless it's a different guy, he started as a Flight Data in Adelaide)
"Hoody" in Melbourne is also an up through the ranks guy.
but lets not let facts get in the way of a good rant.
ps back in my dim distant past several guys went o/s for 2 or 3 years leave without pay and came back to their old slots..that happened to be above most of the rest of us given their time in job.