Welcoming, inclusive and respectful are some of the ways to describe an upcoming Middle East Ceremony.
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The Milton Ulladulla RSL Sub Branch will hold a Middle East Ceremony at the National Service Memorial, Crescent Street, Ulladulla on Tuesday, July 11 from 10.45am for 11am start.
It will be held to honour all military and peace keepers who served in the Middle East Area of Operations from 1990 [Desert Storm One] through to July 11, when the then Minister for Defence confirmed all Australian Defence Force personnel had departed Afghanistan, "bringing our nation's longest war to a close".
President of the Milton Ulladulla RSL Sub Branch, Sean Phillips, sees the July 11 ceremony as something that will continue to grow in the future.
He is sure there are many Middle East veterans in the Ulladulla/Milton area and the wider Shoalhaven who have not engaged as yet with the local sub-branches.
"Anybody can attend the service," Mr Phillips said.
"I don't care if 10 people turn up - this is just the start and then let's progress this."
He added men and women from all services were more than welcome to attend.
Invitations have been sent out to various other sub-branches in the Shoalhaven and other areas.
Mr Phillips wants Middle East veterans to link with the sub-branch so the group can offer them whatever support they might need.
"We want the young people to come in and we want to say to them 'you are welcome here' [within the sub-branch]," he said.
Mr Phillips is a Middle East veteran and once again wants other contemporary veterans like himself to be part of the sub-branch.
Alongside Mr Phillips, as we chat, sits Secretary of the Milton Ulladulla RSL Sub Branch, Allan Dangerfield, who goes on to explain how the group can help and support all veterans.
Mr Dangerfield said support, welfare and a voice were just three of the things the sub-branch could offer.
"Service people are unique - we speak our own language and sometimes you just want to talk that language," he said.
He added it was good to talk to people who have shared experiences.
"You are not being judged," he said about conversations between service people.
He added the sub-branch just wanted to assist service people.
Mr Dangerfield joined the navy in 1972 and as a submariner did 21 years service in Oberon-class submarines doing covert surveillance operations, before ending his service on a landing craft working in East Timor.
Mr Phillips was in Afghanistan in 2008 with RTF4 [Reconstruction Taskforce Four] as a plant operator - he did six months "on country".
His initial contact with a sub-branch was good, but not so positive when he returned from Afghanistan "as a proper returned serviceman".
Mr Phillips' dealings with one particular sub-branch, not them all and not one located on the South Coast, made him want to make sure the organisation he now heads is welcoming and less rigid - compared the one sub-branch he had issues with.
He added, Milton Ulladulla RSL Sub Branch traditions would always be maintained and respected.
Meanwhile, in partnership with the National Servicemen's Association Milton Ulladulla district [Nashos] the sub branch has plans to put plaques in the Crescent Street, Ulladulla National Service Memorial.
The local Nashos, like the sub branch, want to connect with younger veterans "so their legacy continues".
"We have plans in place for memorial stones there for other conflicts - so the younger contemporary veterans have got a place to go to," Mr Phillips said.
"The Nashos have given us their blessings and said 'please do' - they are 100 per cent supportive of it."
Middle East, South East Asia and Vietnam are the first plaques they aim to put in the Crescent Street memorial - at this stage.
"We could have the three there by the end of this year," Mr Phillips said.
Middle East Service details
Time: 10.45am for 11am
Date: Tuesday 11 July 2023
Location: National Service Memorial, Crescent St, Ulladulla.
