Our People in TAS
Sharn O'Connor - Tassie soldier fixes Black Hawks in East Timor
Fixing aircraft is the best part of the job for Smithton Avionics Supervisor Sharn O’Connor.
Not surprisingly, it’s the favourite part of his job for the Black Hawk pilots who rely on his expertise to keep the renowned helicopters top order.
“I am an avionics supervisor, which is a technical role, and involves fixing the electronics on aircraft,” he said.
“It is amazing the amount of support you need for one Black Hawk,” he said.
Sharn (30) is a Corporal currently serving in East Timor with the Timor-Leste Aviation Group 11, which is part of the International Stabilisation Force assisting the East Timor and UN police maintain stability and security in the country.
It’s his third deployment to East Timor, although he lists his career highlight as being a deployment to Pakistan in 2005.
“My career highlight was OP Pakistan Assist, which was where we sent a team to Pakistan to provide health care to those affected by the earthquake,” he said.
Sharn is looking forward to seeing his wife and four children when he returns to Australia.
“I also like to play golf on the weekends, so might be doing a bit of that,” he said.
Sharn is one of some 650 Australian Defence Force personnel now serving in Timor-Leste with Operation Astute.
The operation is part of the Australian Government's response to a request from the Government of East Timor to assist in bringing stability, security and confidence to the East Timorese to allow them to resolve their differences democratically and peacefully.