After posting from DARWIN to NIRIMBA in 1986 I spent my last few months in the RAN chasing up a job that I would be interested in to start my" new " career in. I was lucky enough to score a job at the LUCAS HEIGHTS RESEARCH LABORATORIES as a Maintenance Engineer. Fortune smiled on me & I started there just as the government started putting the broom through the place to get rid of the public servants there who were not pulling their weight. This was fortunate for me in that I managed to get accelerated promotion through the ranks there. Within two years I was at the top of the tree as the saying goes & was responsible for all of the site maintenance with the exception of the building, which housed the nuclear reactor.

LUCAS HEIGHTS was an incredible place to work at, the variety of work was large & I looked forward to everyday because there was never a dull moment. The work varied from maintaining site services such as compressed air, water, gases, setting up new & refurbishing old laboratories to preparing spent fuel rods for shipment. The reactor itself was pretty dated & the plant room for it was almost identical to the boiler & engine rooms of a type 12 Frigate. Having been built on an English design the site made me feel at home immediately because it was so like our shore establishments, indeed the place had been built to Admiralty Pattern so this made the transition from Pussers to civvy sreet pretty simple.

Unfortunately in 1994 I came down with a few medical problems & in 1998 I was medically retired by Veterans Affairs. At first I resisted the offer of retirement & stuck it out for the period of 1994-1998 but eventually I gave in to the specialists & pulled the pin in 1998. As it turns out I am now glad that I made this move because we are now living in BALLINA NSW. It didn't take me long to realise that I needed something to keep me occupied & to overcome the quieter lifestyle so I now do voluntary work for the BALLINA RSL CLUB as their PENSIONS OFFICER. Working as the Pensions Officer has given me a great insight into the disabilities that many of our veterans' are suffering from, indeed many veterans do not even realise that they are suffering from service related disabilities or medical problems so if any of you do have a problem with your health you should ask yourselves "was it related to my service." If you have any doubt or believe that it is service related then get in touch with your local RSL pensions Officer & put in a claim (or contact me for
assistance).

Now for my family: Married to Lilijane with 4 children, Karen 23 who is about to finish her BaEd, Michelle 22 who has recently received her Diploma in Children's Services & works at a local childcare centre, Michael ( our American souvenir) 18 & finished his final year 12 exam last Friday, he wants to join the RAN, he is also a CADET MIDSHIPMAN in the Australian Naval Cadets in TS LISMORE and Sarah is 16 & in year 10.