For as long as she could walk, Aircraftwoman Bethany Griinke loved marching around in her parents’ work boots, practising drill. Now, she wears her own boots, which have taken her on her first overseas deployment.
“I remember following their every move. I would line up behind them, I just never stopped, and I was still copying them right up until I joined the Air Force,” Aircraftwoman Griinke said.
It was the love of travelling on postings with both parents in the Army that also sparked her interest to enlist.
“I wanted to make a career for myself, and to get all the experiences like I am currently doing, and to see the world and meet people,” she said.
After completing high school, Aircraftwoman Griinke knew she was ready for her own adventure.
Enlisting last September, the 20-year-old completed her personnel capability support training in March, and has already experienced travel to New Caledonia, Fiji, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Nauru and Solomon Islands on Operation Solania.
“I’ve never been outside Australia before so it was very exciting and a real eye opener,” she said.
“The local people and all the children are so friendly. I actually had my own little fan club in Tuvalu when we landed and they all wanted photos with me, which I found very sweet.
“I guess being the only female there in Defence, it showed all the young girls that they can do it too, and hopefully encouraged them to aspire to something they love to do.”
Back home at 32 Squadron based at East Sale, Aircraftwoman Griinke is an operations support clerk who liaises with pilots to help coordinate and support various missions.
While deployed, she also took on a very different role onboard the KA350 King Air performing mission crew responsibilities while providing maritime surveillance and support to the countries’ government and region.
“After being on this deployment, I can clearly see and understand what our support back home does down the line for the aircrew I support while away,” Aircraftwoman Griinke said.
“Now I know what’s going on and can see the big picture, I can further help the operational support by giving what is needed.
“I never thought I’d being doing anything like this so soon in my career, but [am] very glad to have had the opportunity.”
