Kids deploy care packages
EVERY mum loves receiving a Mother’s Day card, but when you’ve been away from home for months deployed in the Middle East, a care package from home is even more special.
For one group of military mums, tomorrow will hold special significance as they enter the final stage of their deployment with Task Group Taji 4 in Iraq.
The combined force of 300 Australian and 100 New Zealand Defence Force personnel includes 13 mums who have been deployed with the group since November last year.
Corporal Jaye Griffin, 39, has gained experience in training Iraqi security forces as Iraq continues its fight against the Daesh terrorist group in Mosul.
Cpl Griffin joined the army at the age of 33 after completing a PhD in plant biotechnology.
When she is not out delivering training, she is on the treadmill or pounding the pavement training for the Townsville Running Festival in August.
Already a mother to twin girls, she expected to work away from home as part of her new career, but knowing she would have to make those sacrifices hasn’t made it any easier on special occasions.
“It’s challenging being away from my kids and missing out on their mile- stones, but I’m really lucky to have a very supportive husband at home,” Cpl Griffin said.
“My husband and my family are very proud of my role here.
“My kids are also very supportive. They often ask me: ‘ what are you teaching them, Mum?’ They take an interest in what I do.”
Cpl Griffin is deployed on Operation OKRA and is scheduled to return home in June.
Some 300 Australian Defence Force personnel, predominantly drawn from the Army’s 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, will deploy in stages over the next few weeks to Iraq as Task Group Taji – Rotation Five ( TGT- 5) under Operation OKRA. They will be based at the Taji Military Complex northwest of Baghdad.