Watched it and thought it made a fair effort to cover all the RAAF activities ... in an hour.

Will probably watch again after the fly past - to see what I’ve missed.

Noticed the RAAF flying program doesn’t list any Hawks. Anyone know if this an omission from the fly past or just missing from the program?

I was a little surprised that the opening tune played by the RAAF at Yarralumla was Aces High (or the Luftwaffe March).

I think someone in the band must have been having a quiet giggle at that one. The images that popped into my head was of Fat Hermann inspecting the bombers in the "Battle of Britain". Surely the Dambusters theme would have been more appropriate. Who knew that a newsreader from Channel 9 was also a Wing Commander.

PARADES ARE FOR PARADE GROUNDS
 

It was not just the opening march... I thought the entire parade was a shambles.

Chance for the RAAF to showcase themselves in an event that would be watched by. a large audience and replayed many times over the following years wasted on a terrible venue. If you are going to hold a parade - do it on a parade ground not a garden setting that would have been appropriate for a cocktail party or morning tea. Surely there are plenty of places around Canberra where a decent parade could be staged with sufficient troops on the ground to show the RAAF in a good light to the nation.

As an ex Colour bearer (CFS 1979) and part of the team which organised the dual Colour presentation parade (CFS and SAN) at ESL that year I tuned in with the expectation of a ceremony and parade fitting the occasion only to be sorely disappointed. Very easy to get a fly past spot on with an advance in review order preceding it but not if you are parading on a postage stamp. What ever happened to sizing the troops so the ranks have symmetry - you can still do that and have the PC balance needed these days. Imagine the spectacle of all those Colours, Standards and Banners in a wide open setting with a full escort squadron - the day was made for it, the weather perfect for it.

Given her comments reported at the memorial service in London and the fact she chose to make it her first formal event for the year HRH is likely to watch a replay of the parade. I shudder to think what she will make of it.

MJG

P.S. It will take a while to repair the damage to the lawn as well.

Maybe times are changing

Back in my day.......

Couldn't agree more but possibly COVID and/or security may have dictated having the parade at Government House. The AWM or the least suitable venue, an actual airport with historic links to HRH, would have been ideal.

It should have been at Point Cook, the actual birthplace. Parade grounds, airfield, holding areas over the bay, delightful odours of the Werribee sewerage farm drifting by, and the spirit of Sir Richard Williams nearby.

And the bagpipe tune, 'Highland Cathedral', was actually written by German musicians Ulrich Roever and Michael Korb.

[QUOTE=mgahan;11020090]It was not just the opening march... I thought the entire parade was a shambles.

Tend to agree. If your going to hold a parade, particularly one of such significance, a bit more effort into parade such as an appropriate venue with the pomp and ceremony to go with it.

I guess if they stirred up too much dust someone would get upset but than killing that grass would also upset someone.

So a question to those who have served...

From his video on the RAAF's Youtube channel below, it would seem that Peter Overton joined in the not too distant past. He also seems to be doing voiceovers for some of their videos so they're probably employing his present career skills rather than him holding a tool or flying.

Would it be normal to go from joining to the rank of Wing Commander very quickly through talent, or is it possible to get direct entry at a more senior rank given he could bring skills and a public profile to the service? If it's the latter, is this normal?

One can't understate the importance of a good parade and sound marching skills. That's all I've ever strived for in my career. :yuk: How was the flypast?

In the good old days, the Caribou boys would have happily landed and departed of the lawn of Yarralumla without batting an eyelid.

Agree with everything you say about the parade being a poor show Michael. But think of this, a truly grand and worthy parade would have required
1. A very detailed 6 month risk assessment
2. A full OH and S package prepared
3. An equal opportunity inclusion study done
4. A gender diverse participant selection process
5. A flight of LGBTQI
6. A flight made up entirely of female pilots
7. A binary inclusion process
8. An indigenous inclusion and sensitivity study conducted
9. A 10 million dollar study would be needed to ensure the parade ground is actually not a culturally sensitive site
10. They would have had to grab some indigenous people to light eucalypt branches and sweep the parade ground
11. More people on the parade ground would have meant more rifles, and that would no doubt offend many many citizens (fancy our military having weapons)

Perhaps Mel said yeah.......nah,........just 'cause it's a hundred years to the day. Who really cares? I mean it's not like we just got our first female admino or anything!!!

Just found out today that 31 March is also International Transgender Day of Visibility - whatever that means - do they lift up their skirts/kilts for all to see how we guessed?
Perhaps this parade rained all over the RAAF one...

Overton is a Specialist Reserve Officer. They can be appointed at pretty much any rank deemed to be warranted by their specialist skill set or qualifications. The Specialist Reserve is there to accommodate medical specialists such as surgeons, legal specialists such as barristers and judges and callings such as Chaplain but I know that it's also used by the Media and Public Relations areas as well.

Wing Commander (Lieutenant Colonel in the Army, Commander in the Navy) is the middle ranking Senior Officer's rank (above Squadron Leader, below Group Captain). In a non-flying branch it took me nine years to get to Squadron Leader; Wing Commander would have been at least another six years away after that. Flying squadrons are usually commanded by a Wing Commander so it's certainly up there in terms of status.

I couldn't say whether Overton was appointed to that rank on joining or promoted after joining five or so years ago as say a Squadron Leader.

Thanks Mick. Exactly what I wanted to know.

Perhaps Mel said yeah.......nah,........just 'cause it's a hundred years to the day. Who really cares? I mean it's not like we just got our first female admino or anything!!!
Trev,

Looking at his expression several times during the debacle when the ABC cameras were on him it looks as if he's thinking, "not the best decision...".
MJG

Awesome in my opinion. Nice to see most of the fleet types in the air at once.