Our People in QLD
Casino’s Navy Cook - Jeffred Butta
Casino sailor Jeffred Butta, 23, has multi-tasking coming out of his ears.
Not only is he feeding his patrol boat shipmates while they are on frontier duty, he’s their emergency medic, he’s volunteered to be their military fitness leader, and he’s also a member of the ship’s boarding team when they intercept illegal vessels.
“I love being on patrol boats because I get to cook, which is what I’m passionate about,” Butta said, “but I also get to do a variety of other jobs that a navy cook wouldn’t normally be able to do.”
“I don’t like missing out on the action,” Butta said, “and being in the boarding team guarantees that you’re always in it!”
An active youth prepared Butta for his current job. “When I wasn’t studying at Casino High School or working at the Meat Works factory, I could usually be found playing football for either the local Rugby Union or Rugby League club,” he said.
And since enlisting in 2005, Butta’s lifestyle in the Navy hasn’t slowed a beat. “I’ve travelled all across the north end of Australia and been on a South East Asian deployment too.” he said.
Butta’s most memorable trip was to Borneo in 2007 to walk the Sandakan Death March track that the allied prisoners of war were forced to march by their Japanese captors during World War II.
“To walk in the footsteps of 3000 prisoners of war and to know that only six Australians survived was a moving experience,” Butta said, “An experience of a lifetime.”
Though he is now based in Darwin, Butta hasn’t forgotten his roots. “I get home at least once a year to spend time with my family, and to catch up with my mates from school and the footy club,” Butta said.
But now the tropics is in his blood. “I want to head to Cairns next and serve on one of our Hydrographic Survey Vessels,” Butta said, “But further along the track I’d like to become a Navy physical training instructor.”