Our People in QLD
Michael Wilson - Banyo Airman plays key role assisting Australian Defence Force personnel in Afghanistan
Warrant Officer Michael Wilson, a 46 year-old load master on a Royal Australian Air Force C-17, is assisting with the delivery of essential equipment and supplies to Australian Defence Force personnel on the ground in Afghanistan.
"My job is to make sure all the cargo we carry is properly restrained, located in the right place within in the aircraft, ensuring the aircraft remains in balance during flight," Michael said.
Loads must be compatible to prevent any accidents from occurring.
"We don't load dangerous items too close to each or to passengers and we make sure certain items are not loaded at all," Michael said.
"We also look after passengers and the other aircrew, making sure they are fed, watered and safe.
"We back up the pilots if there is an in-flight emergency if we are needed to provide look out and help."
Sometimes Michael's job can be quite extreme and busy.
"But it can be quite relaxed. You usually take the work as it comes to you," Michael said.
"Working in Afghanistan is worlds apart from Australia, at this time of the year it's stinking hot and in the next few months it'll be freezing cold."
This is not his first deployment to Afghanistan.
"I've been coming here for years with the C-130 Hercules aircraft and the Royal Air Force (RAF)," Michael said.
"It's not mind bogglingly new for me, but I treat it [Afghanistan] with a great deal of respect.
"There is a lot of danger here and you [have to] keep your wits about you, staying focussed to get passengers and cargo to where it's supposed to be."
Michael joined the Air Force after graduating from Banyo State High School in Brisbane, beginning a career which has spanned more than 30 years.
"I joined in 1979 as an apprentice engine fitter, later worked on Iroquois helicopters and became a flight engineer on Hercules aircraft."
In 2000 he left the Australian Air Force for five years to work as a flight engineer with the RAF on Hercules aircraft.
"The British are very mission focussed in what they do and I served in Afghanistan, the Falklands Islands, the Arctic Circle, the Congo, Balkans and the Middle East with them. It was a great experience," Michael said.
"I came back in 2005 to Australia and rejoined as a flight engineer on C-130s again and re-mustered to become a loadmaster on the C-17 in 2006."
The biggest satisfaction in his job for him working in Afghanistan is actually getting the job done.
"We have a lot of cargo to move and when we make it happen that's satisfactory in itself," Michael said.
"The main thing which keeps me in the Air Force is the camaraderie, the friendship, the common hardship we all go through and it keeps life interesting."
Michael appreciates the work his fellow Australian Defence Force personnel are performing in Afghanistan.
"You don't have to use too much imagination to work out how hard their life is," Michael said.
"My heart does go out to them and their families for how hard it is.
"For the guys in the field, us getting the bombs and bullets to them is satisfying."
Outside of work he lives with his wife on the Gold Coast.
"My wife Karen and I have between us five kids ranging in ages from 20 to 23 and in my spare time I enjoy fishing, boating and a bit of surfing when I can."