Firestorm - 7. FS Chapter 7

“Ladies and gentlemen, today we have averted a small disaster, which was mainly thanks to this young man, for those who do not know, he has private fire-fighting, industrial first aid training, plus college training in Emergency healthcare, and Army training in high altitude sky jumps, he is a member of the Royal Engineers Corps, currently attached to Special Operations Command and the he is only 17 years old.

I will be recommending that you, Corporal Mitchell Benning, receive a commendation for your efforts today, as you have saved the Army from fire destroying this training facility, and possible surrounding farmland, congratulations” the CO announced. Once the visitors had left, happy that the crisis was over, the CO called everyone gathered to order.

“Right now, that this event is over, everyone has the rest of the day off, but are to remain on the training facility. Since there has been no damage to the land or buildings, the training exercises will commence at 0600 tomorrow, that is all” the CO announced, and we all filed out of the building to head to the dining mess for lunch.

The rest of the day was spent by most, just relaxing, but at my request, Sergeant Harris and I went to do one more patrol of the fire zone, to make sure there had been no flare ups, and we returned just over an hour later, happy that the fire was completely out, and I headed to the showers. When it came to dinner time, I noticed a few strange faces at the head table seated with the CO, and I was hoping that it was nothing to do with today.

Half way through dinner, the CO stood up and called for silence. “Ladies and gentlemen, I have with me this evening, the WA Commissioner of FESA - Fire and Emergency Services, plus Major General from Army Headquarters in Canberra, Corporal Mitchell Benning, front and centre please” the CO announced, and I groaned softly as I stood up, stepped away from the table, and some of my colleagues chuckled having heard my groan, as I marched forward to the front table, where I snapped to attention and saluted.

I had not seen a high-ranking officer before and I was very nervous, “At ease corporal” the General said and he looked towards the Commissioner, who stood up, and retrieved something out of his pocket. “On hearing about this morning’s events, and receiving a detailed report from the Lieutenant Colonel here, and from the FESA officers who attended, arriving after the fire was controlled and put out.

I am impressed at what this young man has achieved today, you have gone beyond your call of duty, to protect federal government land and property, plus neighbouring farmland from imminent destruction by fire, caused by a lightning strike.

For this, I wish to award Corporal Mitchell Benning the Australian Fire Service Medal, congratulations and well done young man” the commissioner announced, as he pinned the green, orange and red medal to my uniform, and everyone applauded. When the CO stood up and motioned for silence, everyone when quiet, “Before Major General Abbott has his say, I have been given permission to officially give Mitchell Benning a field promotion of Staff Sergeant, for his outstanding service in the field in the time of an emergency, well done Staff Sergeant” the CO said to me, and he handed me the stripes for my new rank, and I gave him a salute.

I was stunned with receiving this large promotion, and wondered what else would happen, after this, as I saw the CO sit and the Major General stand up, and the dining hall went quiet again, after another round of applause. I happened to be heading out of my office, preparing to travel to Western Australia, for so talks with senior officers in Perth, when I heard about this Fire incident, and delayed my departure, so as to get some more information. That is when I received an email from the Lt Colonel here, with his recommendation for a commendation, along with a full report of what happened.

After some discussions with some colleagues in Canberra, we came up with two options for recognition for your distinguished leadership during this crisis, so Staff Sergeant Benning, on behalf of the Minister of Defence, I award you today the Distinguished Service Cross, for your leadership in action today, well done and congratulations” the Major General announced as he pinned the white with red strip cross to my uniform, and I saluted the General” as I had tears starting to appear, feeling overwhelmed by it all.

As I turned to return to my seat at the table, I was face to face with Aunty Jean, standing just 5 metres away with a big smile on her face, and tears rolling down her cheeks, and I rushed forward and wrapped her in a tight hug. I am so proud of you my nephew” she said to me. After a long hug, I lead my aunt to the table where I was seated, where the others made room for my aunty to sit, and a cup of tea was placed in front of her, along with some biscuits.

“Now young man, I had a long chat with the Lt Colonel this evening, why did you not tell me that you are attached with the Special Air Service, and what made you do a silly thing like jumping out of a plane at 25,000 feet” my aunt said to me crossly, before taking a sip of tea, and I heard a few chuckles around the table. “Well, I was not sure that I was allowed to say I was attached to the SAS, and I didn’t want to frighten you about jumping out of the plane at high altitude, I am sorry Aunty” I replied.

“Well, in future I want to know everything that you are permitted to say to me, you hear” she said to me, “Yes Aunty” I replied. What I didn’t expect was what happened next, “You boys are to look after my nephew, and if I hear about anything nasty happening to my nephew, I will tan your hides, do you hear me” she said loudly, looking at all the men around the table one at a time.

“Yes Aunty” came the response from not just the men at the table, but from the whole dining hall, which I was shocked to hear. “Well you are part of the SAS family Cub, what did you expect” Warrant Officer Owens said as he stood up at a nearby table, “you have my assurances ma’am, that he will be well looked after” WO Owens said to Aunty Jean before sitting down again. While drinking her tea, Aunty Jean asked the men around the table to tell her a little about themselves, and they happily obliged.

When she finished her tea, Aunty Jean announced that she had better get going, as she had to return home, and as she stood up, everyone in the room, including the senior officers at the front table, stood up and she smiled. “Carry on boys, and goodnight” she said, and I walked her out of the room, with men wishing her a good night as we passed them. “They don’t look mean and tough as they are reputed to be?” my aunty said to me as we exited the dining hall, and I heard the whole dining hall roar with laughter at her comment.

An official car was waiting outside the building, and a Warrant officer stood at the open rear door, waiting for my aunty, “Goodnight aunty, have a safe journey home, I will call you as soon as I am permitted” I said as Aunty Jean climbed into the back of the vehicle, and I watched her being driven off the training facility. I decided not to return to the dining hall, and I headed to the meeting room, where I knew that my kit was placed, just before all of the fire incident began.

I sat down on the floor and leaned against the kit and promptly fell asleep, exhausted from all of what had happened today. When I woke up some time later, the lights in the room had been turned off, and I had a blanket over me, I saw the hallway light was on, so I stood up and headed out into the hall and down to the nearest bathroom, to relieve myself of a very full bladder.

As I exited the bathroom, I saw Warrant Officer Owen standing nearby, holding my kit. “Follow me Cub, and we will get you squared away for the night” he said to me with a smile, and I followed him outside, were the air was cool, and the night sky was clear. Glancing northwards, I was pleased to be not seeing any glow in the distance, that might indicate any flare ups from the fire, and once I was shown my bunk, I undressed and slipped under the sheets and promptly fell asleep once again.

When reveille sounded at 0630, I surprising felt refreshed and ready for another full day, spotting my abandoned clothes on the floor near my bed, I quickly scooped them up, and I felt the metal of the awards, which brought back memories of yesterday’s events, as I carefully unpinned the two medals, and placed them in their protective cases.

Once I was dressed, I followed everyone outside for morning parade, and as stood at attention, the CO arrived, and looked around and eventually spotted me amongst the ranks, “Staff Sergeant, what are you doing there, you should be at the front next to Warrant Officer Owens” the CO said, and I took me a moment to realise that he was talking to me, and I looked at my sleeves, and saw that my new stripes had been neatly sewn onto my uniform.

I snapped to attention, and taking a small step to my left, I marched forward, between the gap of men in each row, once at the front, I turned and once to the left of the Warrant officer, I shuffled into place and stood at attention. “That is much better, remember that is your place in future Staff Sergeant” the CO said to me and I nodded my head slightly to acknowledge his comment.

Once parade was complete, we headed off to the dining hall for breakfast, “Did you do this?” I asked Warrant Officer Owens, as I pointed to my sleeves, “Well I had nothing else to do, while I waited for you to wake up from your nap in the meeting room” he replied with a big smile and I just laughed, “thanks mate, I appreciate it” I said to him, giving him a little bump with my shoulder. “It was the CO who discovered you, and put the blanket over you, before finding me and telling me to stay with you till you woke up, so as to show you your proper bunk” WO Owens said to me, giving a chuckle afterwards.

“I’m not a baby you know” I said to him, “I know, but you are a cub, so we have to keep an eye on you” WO Owens replied, as we reached the dining hall and entered. Just as we had all finished eating, the CO stood up, and gave us a briefing on what would be happening today, and he suggested that Owens and I go and do one more patrol of the fire zone, to make sure nothing is happening, as the wind had picked up a bit overnight.

As we drove along the western firebreak track, we spotted a few areas where there were small amounts of smouldering smoke, and it was the same on the south and eastern side, but nothing to be alarmed about. When we arrived back at the base, we went to the admin building to report to the CO, who had just finished a telephone call. “Sir, if there is one available, I would recommend a fixed wing air bomber, dump some water onto the fire zone, as there are quite a few areas that are smouldering with this strong wind about” I said to the CO.

“Very well, I will contact FESA and put in a request, that is all” the CO replied and we headed out of his office, and found Captain Dunn, in the reception office, “Corp… I mean Staff Sergeant Benning and Warrant Officer Owens reporting for duty sir” I said, and the WO gave me a little nudge for beating him to making the announcement. “Good, you are back, I heard what you said to the CO, he is on the phone right now, making that request no doubt, come inside, we have a few things to discuss” the captain said to us.

About half an hour later we entered the conference room, where Captain King and the Lt Colonel were talking, as they were looking over a giant map of the training facility, Owens and I had spent the past 30 minutes being briefed on what the exercises entail, over the next two weeks, and that we were now part of the planning team. I was a little disappointed that I would not be taking part in any of the activities, but I kept that to myself.

At lunch time, there was just the planning and administration staff in the dining room, which can easily hold 400 people, so it seemed very strange eating in a near empty large dining hall. During lunch, the CO informed us that the fire zone had been water bombed, and that the RAAF rescue helicopter will to a fly over the area at 1500 hours to check that all is clear.

Back in the conference room, we now had a number of VHF radios in the room, and there were some conversations happening amongst the Royal Engineers Corps, but we just monitored them, having been given an ear sat comm’s piece, I placed it into my ear, and immediately hear a lot more chatter going on amongst the SAS members, of which some of the voices I recognised. The board that the map was on, was magnetic, and we were able to move pieces like a chessboard, when we heard new locations being broadcasted, as was required, so we could monitor everything.

Grabbing a notepad and pen, I began to take some notes, information about positions of teams on both sides, and some comments on ideas I had about each of these actions. “He is quite a strategist this young man of ours isn’t he” I heard Captain King say and I looked up in time to see the CO smiling and nodding his head in agreement. “Sorry, I can’t help it, it’s just bearings on team locations, and comments/ ideas on each move that each team makes” I said to the officers in the room.

“Keep going, that is good that you are doing this, makes it a lot easier, when we do a debrief this evening” the CO said to me. Sometime later when a sergeant from admin entered, we all looked up as he headed straight to the CO and whispered some information in his ear, before waiting for a reply. “Direct them to come straight here if you will please” the CO said with a smile, and the sergeant dashed out of the room, “It appears that we are not finished with previous business from yesterday” the CO announced to all of us, and we heard someone outside call out attention.

Everyone in the room did as ordered, not aware who was about to enter, as the doors opened and two Airforce officers entered, holding the door opened they gave a short bow and held that position, and in walked a lady smartly dressed, and I spotted the CO and two captains bow, “The governor” I heard Captain King whisper, and the rest of us quickly followed suit. “Your excellency, this is an unexpected pleasure” the CO said to out vice royal guest.

“Lieutenant Colonel Harding, it is a pleasure to see you again” the governor replied, “Ma’am, may I present Captain’s King and Dunn, Warrant Officer Owens, and Staff Sergeant Benning, we are currently running training exercises with the Special Air Service personnel and the Royal Engineers Corps, with everything being monitored via radios from here” the Lt Colonel said, as the Governor shook our hands, and we gave a bow of our heads.

“Lt Colonel, I am not sure if you are aware of this or not, but this morning my senior secretary here, informed me of the large amount of publicity that yesterday’s events has created online” the Governor announced, “1.62 million views on Facebook, and over 12,000 comments on the original posting, with a number of distant photos and a three-line statement, which is believed to have come from a neighbouring farmer” the Governor’s secretary said from near the door.