20 December 2024
For Captain Georgina Gilbert, Christmas is a wonderful time of the year, usually spent in the company of family who she doesn’t get to see often, but this year will look a little different.
While the sun and sand may be reminiscent of an Aussie Christmas, she will be spending it on the other side of the world in Bahrain.
Captain Gilbert is serving as the personnel and logistics principal staff officer at the Combined Task Force 153 (CTF-153) headquarters as part of Operation Manitou.
“It’s very interesting. I’m one of the few Army people on the operation; there are a couple of Air Force personnel, but it’s predominantly Navy,” she said.
“Maritime assets have a strategic effect that I haven’t seen before.”
Her team is notably multinational, with 11 other nations represented in the headquarters, mostly from naval forces.
“It’s really interesting seeing differences within the coalition forces, even in the maritime environment,” she said.
Living in Bahrain has provided Captain Gilbert with the opportunity to explore a new cultural landscape.
She has visited historical sites such as the Bahrain Fort and the local souq, and has come to appreciate the differences.
“Bahrain is a really interesting place; it’s a melting pot of different cultures. Being in the Middle East, it has a predominantly Arabian culture, but there is a heavy transient population and a big US and UK footprint,” she said.
Her role has allowed her to use her basic all-corps skills more extensively, focusing on personnel and logistics management.
Born in Darwin, Captain Gilbert grew up in a Defence family, moving around as a child, but spent most of her upbringing in Canberra.
'Whether people celebrate it at home or not it’s still hard, regardless of their Christmas traditions normally, to be away from family and friends.'
Her father is an air traffic controller in the Air Force, and his service, especially being able to change roles while contributing to the same organisation, was an inspiration for her to join Defence.
“Going through high school I wasn’t sure exactly what specialist area I wanted to go into, and joining the Army gave me a whole bunch of opportunities and challenges that I thought would be pretty cool,” she said.
“I’m still here nine years later so I’d say that was pretty accurate.”
She has also picked up padel, a sport her team plays together regularly. She plans to climb Mt Kilimanjaro during her rest and recuperation leave, accompanied by two team-mates.
“I love hiking, and while we do get out and play padel, and are training to run the length of Bahrain, I thought I’d really like to do something more active,” she said.
Christmas in Bahrain will be a blend of the familiar and the new.
At home, Captain Gilbert’s family celebrates a Polish and Australian Christmas, with pierogi and sauerkraut on Christmas Eve and backyard cricket on Christmas Day.
Growing up in a Defence family, she was accustomed to celebrating Christmas away from her extended family.
This year, the celebration will be with her military family. She has planned multiple events to ensure everyone, including watch-keepers, can join in the festivities.
“Whether people celebrate it at home or not it’s still hard, regardless of their Christmas traditions normally, to be away from family and friends,” Captain Gilbert said.
“So everyone is very excited to celebrate Christmas this year as a team, especially the watch-keepers who were afraid they might miss out due to shifts.”
Australia took command of CTF-153 in October, which focuses on international maritime security and capacity-building efforts in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb and the Gulf of Aden.
Australia has been conducting maritime security operations in the Middle East region under Operation Manitou since 1990 and has previously commanded CTFs 150 and 151.
