Paul was commissioned as an Infantry Second Lieutenant in December 1964 and posted to 2RAR. An original member of 6RAR when it was raised in June 1965, he served with the Battalion on its first tour of Vietnam in 1966 – ‘67. Paul moved to Townsville with 6RAR when the Battalion relocated in late 1967 and was posted out in June 1968. He returned to 2RAR in Townsville in December 1972 and became an original member of 2/4RAR in August 1973 when 2RAR and 4RAR linked.

In 1974, Paul commanded C Coy 2/4RAR in Butterworth and left the Battalion in September 1975. He served on the staff of the Directorate of Infantry 1982 – ‘84 before returning to Townsville as Commanding Officer 2/4RAR in 1985 – ‘86. In 1989, Paul became the last Director of Infantry to hold that appointment in Canberra. As Director of Infantry, he also held the appointments of Head of Corps and Regimental Colonel of the Royal Australian Regiment. Currently, Paul runs a NSW statutory authority concerned with transport safety. He has been on the RAR Association committee for five years and President for four. In addition to the RAR Association, he works with Legacy and Red Cross in a voluntary capacity.

Rick "Barney" Bigwood 218527 went to South Vietnam in November 1968 after a stint in 1 ARU was posted to 12 plt D Coy 1 RAR, then Tracker Plt 4 RAR/NZ, D&E and finally 10 Plt D coy 9 RAR. He rejoined 1 RAR in Singapore in 1970 until Discharge in 1971.

After service Rick worked in Logistics the last 17 years as an executive with Woolworths Ltd.

He is a life member of the 9 RAR Assoc NSW as a committee member and also the editor of the 9 RAR newsletter "ROLL CALL". After representing the 9 RAR Association on the committee of the RAR Assoc NSW he succeeded Tony Blake as secretary in 2010.

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Brian was conscripted in April 1966. He undertook recruit training at Kapooka and Corps training at Singleton. He arrived SVN on 18 November 1966 with ARU and was then assigned to D & E Platoon, HQ 1ATF as a rifleman on 25 December 1966 where he performed various duties until his return to Australia on 21 November 1967.

Brian spent the bulk of his working years in banking in rural NSW finishing with management positions in Werris Creek, Gilgandra, Finley and West Wyalong. Now retired, Brain is trying to play golf between tours to visit family and friends.

He has been involved with RAR Association NSW as committee member and Treasurer since mid 2002.

Duty First editor Mick Toal had an unremarkable career as an Army Reserve infantry soldier serving with the 3rd Battalion, Royal NSW Regiment (RNSWR).

In 1992 he re-joined the Army Reserve for one year of full time service and was allocated to the Royal Australian Infantry Corps while being quartered at the 8th/9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (8/9RAR) at Gallipoli Barracks Enoggera while undergoing assessment to be a photographer in Army PR.

Having not met the high standard required for Army PR photographers, Mick left the army and was appointed as the first photojournalist on the 1st Division bi-weekly newspaper Frontline. A stint as a reporter with Brisbane's Quest suburban newspaper group followed before he tossed in the job just before the Christmas break after being accredited to Operation Solace - the Australian contribution to the US-led Unified Task Force (UNITAF) - in Somalia in December 1992 by the national news magazine The Bulletin with Newsweek.

Mick's pictures of the Diggers of the 1RAR Battalion Group in Somalia were the first colour coverage of the operation to be published and when he arrived back in Australia there was a job waiting for him as the first photojournalist at Brisbane's Sunday Mail newspaper, for which he photographed everything from crime stories to fashion and wrote about everything from Defence issues to outback yarns for the next several years.

In August 1994, Mick was again accredited by the Bulletin with Newsweek to Australian forces serving in Rwanda with Operation Tamar. After this gruelling assignment which took him through Rwanda to the festering refugee camps in Zaire, and Burundi, Mick managed to scam his way on to a UN flight in to Mogadishu where he documented the final days of the Australian commitment to the doomed UNOSOM II.

Over the years, Mick also spent a lot of time in Sudan, which he was badly injured after a close encounter with a truck in 1999, after which he took up a senior staff reporter position at The Border Mail at Albury-Wodonga. He moved to Sydney in 2003 to work as a sub-editor with News Ltd and during this time he also completed his final assignments for the Bulletin in Iraq and Afghanistan before the iconic magazine was shut down in 2008 after 128 years of continuous publication.

Mick now works freelance in Sydney as a journalist, editor and photographer. In 2008 he project managed the NSW Branch of the RAR Association's 60th Anniversary book and was appointed editor of Duty First shortly after publication. Mick has handed the archive of time as a foreign correspondent - journals, thousands of pictures, helmets, flak jacket and even his world weary Minolta film cameras - to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

 

Chris Allen joined the Australian Army as an Infantry soldier in 1983 and graduated from the Officer Cadet School of New Zealand in 1986. He served with 2/4RAR, 3RAR and HQ 6 Bde. In 1994-95 he was the Australian exchange officer with 3PARA in Aldershot. He was medically discharged from the Army in December 1996.

In October 1999 he deployed to East Timor as Security Manager for CARE International. He joined the Australian Protective Service (APS), in 2001 and led the upgrade of Counter Terrorist First Response (CTFR) measures at Sydney Airport. In August 2003 Chris was appointed Head of Security at the Sydney Opera House (SOH).

He was appointed Sheriff of New South Wales on the 3rd of March 2008. His duties include responsibilities as Deputy Sheriff of the Federal Court of Australia, and Deputy Sheriff of the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia.

He is a White Ribbon Day Ambassador.

Chris and his wife Sarah have a son named Morgan. Chris's interests include music and writing. He is the author of the recently released action thriller 'Defender of the Faith'.

 

Ross was called up for National Service on 20 April 1966. He undertook three months basic training and three months of corps training (infantry). During his 18 months with 2RAR, Ross spent one year on active service in Vietnam. He rose to the rank of Corporal and was a Section Commander.

Now retired, Ross worked 25 years in the automotive industry. He first joined the RAR Association in 1975 and has been secretary since 1990. In 2008 due to leaving the State Ross stepped down as Secretary.