Darren Moffitt
Bidjigal
Warrant Officer Class 2 (retired)
Air Dispatcher
Royal Australian Corps of Transport
Australian Army
Medals and Awards
Australian Active Service Medal – Clasp East Timor
International Force East Timor Medal
Defence Long Service Medal – 2nd Clasp
Australian Defence Medal
Soldiers Medallion for Exemplary Service
Chief of the Defence Force Commendation
Returned From Active Service Badge
Army Combat Badge
I was born in 1968, in Sydney NSW. My mother grew up on the Aboriginal Mission at La Perouse, Botany Bay, where my Grandmother and generations of her family lived. My Grandfather, a World War II veteran and member of the Stolen Generations, made La Perouse his home after the War. My father was an Underwater Medic in the Royal Australian Navy and was already a Vietnam Veteran by the time I was born – he served in the Navy for 22 years.
My family’s history of military service had an influence on my decision to join the Army and I enlisted on 24th April 1985. I was 17 years old – just a kid really, the youngest Recruit at the time and as far as I could tell, the only blackfulla in my Company. I found basic training tough and isolating. Some of the more senior staff were Vietnam veterans and they were hard. I was allocated to the Corps of Transport as an Air Dispatcher – ECN 099.
1992 – seven years later, my daughter was born, Larissa Jane – I was a junior NCO, a qualified Air Dispatch Crew Commander and had racked up 90 or so static line parachute jumps, living my dream, but looking for bigger challenges. I attempted the SASR selection course but ‘pulled the pin’ halfway through – that was early in 1993. In late 1993, I completed the Recruit Instructor Selection Course and spent the next two years at Kapooka training Army recruits, and while living in Wagga Wagga, I married my beautiful wife Kim in the Botanical Gardens.
In 1996, I was posted back to 176 Air Dispatch Squadron and in August that year, my second daughter Emily Jean was born. The next two years were spent as an Air Dispatch Crew Commander and Supervisor Aerial Delivery at the Squadron. In 1998, I was posted to Air Movements Training and Development Unit (AMTDU) on promotion to Sergeant as an Army Instructor and later that year, my son Ethan James was born.
In July-August 1999, East Timor was all over the national news and by late September of that year, Australia was leading an International Force to restore peace in East Timor after the country had voted for independence from Indonesia. At this time, I was completing my second year as an Army instructor at AMTDU, when I received an early posting order – I was being posted to 3RAR as the Air Dispatch-Transport Platoon Sergeant and I would deploy to East Timor in December 1999. Serving on operations was a highlight in my career.
My posting to 3RAR felt like it went too quick and in 2002, I was posted on promotion to WO2, back to AMTDU as an Aerial Delivery Project Officer. My next posting would see us move to Albury-Wodonga in 2004, where I took up a position as a Training Developer at the Army Logistic Training Centre (ALTC).
We made Albury Wodonga our home and I managed several local postings in the Albury Wodonga Military Area (AWMA) when in 2009, I met WO1 Col Watego – he was single handedly delivering an Indigenous Pre-Recruitment Course (IPRC) in Newcastle and I went up to meet him and let him know I was keen to assist where I could. I supported the delivery of four more IPRCs as a military mentor over the next few years, which is another major highlight in my career. In 2012, I transitioned out of Army after completing 27 years.
In April 2022, my son Ethan James enlisted in the Army as a Combat Engineer, and was posted to the 2nd Combat Engineer Regiment at the end of 2022. Our family history of military service has no doubt influenced his decision to serve country.
My Grandfather, Harold James Stewart – 1946
Me and My Father, Garden Island, Sydney –1971
Me and My Father, Kapooka, Wagga Wagga – 1985
My Son, Ethan Moffitt – 2023
Home from East Timor, Mascot Airport – 2000