Hello Everyone

My wife and I have recently returned from a 3 week visit to Vietnam and Cambodia and we found it very interesting. During my period of full time duty I was unlucky (or lucky?) not to be posted to Vietnam and have always wanted to go and see what it was like, particularly before it fully became a giant tourist resort. 

From my observations, the North has lots of picturesque areas, but Hanoi has not advanced as much as the major cities in the South. Da Nang (central Vietnam) was a really interesting with the beach area being set up as the Gold Coast of Vietnam, lots of beach front apartments, golf courses, new town layout, wide streets with easy access to airport and other tourist areas 

Ho Chi Min City is also spreading both side of the Mekong River with new expressways and road works a common occurrence. Like most of Asia, totally motor bike /scooter crazy. While we were there we took the opportunity to visit the “Long Tan” memorial and we were fortunate to have a local guide who had a good knowledge of the battle (from both points of view) and he organised long stem roses to place on the memorial and a service to pay respect to those Australians who died in the battle. A very moving experience.

We then went to Nui Dat, the site of the main Australian Fire Base, which is now a small town which uses the base runway as its main street. He also showed us tunnels which were dug to within 1 km of the base perimeter.

For those of you who haven’t been to Vietnam,it is a very interesting place to visit and we recommend coupling it with a trip to Seam Reap (Cambodia) to see the Temple Ruins at Angkor Wat and Angkor Tom.  The “President’s Report” provides a rundown on progress with the new National Association so I will not discuss it further.

As we all know ANZAC Day coincided with Easter so we had an extra long weekend and a good break leading up to the March. Thanks to Mike and John in putting together a few words on the Association contingent.

In other areas it is pretty much business as usual. Our calendar has a few activities on the horizon with the Officers, SNCOs and WOs dinner planned for August 19th in the Officers Mess at Woodside. See notice in the Newsletter.

We are also in the initial planning stages for the All Ranks Dinner which we plan to hold in October. Last year we were very pleased with the dinner being held at Brighton RSL so we are considering this plus a few other venues. We will finalise the details shortly and advise all members in the next newsletter.

On the national front there has been progress in regard to the formation of the National RAEME Association. It has now been decreed that the association will be known as the RAEME Association. Our Head of Corps Brigadier D. Creagh AM, announced that QLD RAEME Association President, Mr Ray Norman, OAMbe appointed the inaugural RAEME Association National Representative. This appointment was followed by a detailed outline of what is proposed and expected of not only the RAEME Association but of the elected representatives. The next step is the development of a Charter that will provide details to all State associations. I have responded to the initial information on behalf of our Association and look forward to receiving the Charter.

We have also maintained our contribution to the Spanner Pack Fund and recently received photos of deployed RAEME brethren opening the packs. These always provide a bit of excitement and naturally give our soldiers the opportunity to rub it in a bit to the other Corps.

Last year the committee executive agreed to sponsor the local Warradale barracks Cadet unit, 43 RCU. This sponsorship is an annual contribution of $200 that is used to support an individual or group of Cadets throughout the year. A trophy is also provided and presented to the cadet that is deemed to have shown the “Best Overall Performance” for the year. In acknowledgement of recognition of our sponsorship, a sign has been placed at the entrance to 43 RCU. I recently met with OC 43 RCU Captain (AAC) Harvy (also our Association  secretary) as he proudly displayed the new signage.

I am fully supportive of our assistance and interest in the cadets and will encourage our sponsorship to continue. I hope that all members are well and look forward to catching up over the next few months.

Arte et Marte

Dick Moyses
President.