29 March 2025
It’s been a quite a journey for a teenager from regional Victoria, fascinated by helicopters, to take centre stage at the Australian International Airshow representing Navy.
Sub-Lieutenant Nicholas Mudge grew up in Lang Lang, about 70km south-east of Melbourne, and would jump on his BMX whenever he heard a chopper was inbound, which was often the Air Ambulance on its way to help a local in trouble.
“There’s the Lang Lang rodeo and unfortunately, back in the day, that could result in some poor soul needing extra medical attention after a run-in with a bull or a horse,” Sub-Lieutenant Mudge, of Fleet Air Arm’s 725 Squadron, said.
“Mum has been a volunteer for many years and my step dad is a paramedic, so whenever I’d see them race off to get their kit bags because a helicopter was incoming, I’d jump on my pushie and race over to the primary school to be there to watch it come in, land and then take off again.”
Despite the captivation, Sub Lieutenant Mudge’s career path to the cockpit didn’t take off as planned.
After graduating from Kooweerup Secondary College in 2015, he studied Science in Melbourne, travelling up to three hours each day to attend classes. The commute took its toll after six months and he leapt into full-time work, balancing two retail jobs before settling in construction.
Toying with a career as a crane driver, he soon set his sights back on the military – partly out of sibling rivalry – after his younger brother joined the Australian Army.
Planning to appoint as a Royal Australian Navy pilot, he quickly changed course to become an Aviation Warfare Officer (AvWO).
'You’re hanging around with a lot of very smart, well-educated and super-motivated people, who end up becoming a really good influence on you.'
As an AvWO, you’ll find him in the cockpit, alongside the pilot. While he can fly the aircraft, and does do on occasion, his expertise is in planning and tactical execution of missions.
“Essentially, you’re the tactical officer in the sky,” Sub-Lieutenant Mudge said.
“Instead of working through getting safely from A to B, I’m thinking through the mission set and how we’re going to achieve that as a team.
“You have a sensory operator feeding you information, and the pilot safely manoeuvring the aircraft where it needs to be, and you’re there making tactical decisions about where you need to be and what you need to do to achieve that mission”.
With an initial training period of about 20 months before qualification, Sub-Lieutenant Mudge encouraged any prospective recruits to challenge themselves in the ADF.
“I’ve learnt a fair bit about myself throughout this process,” he said.
“You’re hanging around with a lot of very smart, well-educated and super-motivated people, who end up becoming a really good influence on you.
“So it pushes you to be better in every way, especially in such a competitive environment where if you’re not doing well, you notice it straight away because your peers are excelling.
“That pushes you every day and has definitely helped shaped me as a better person”.
As part of the Australian International Air Show at Avalon, Sub-Lieutenant Mudge was part of an aerial display across Melbourne’s skies where an MH-60R Romeo displayed the Australian National Flag on a morning fly-over.
