Kiama soldier takes break back home after duty in Iraq

KATINA CURTIS

PRIVATE Tom Peters was ready to come home from Iraq this month because he felt the job he was there for had been done.

The 20-year-old joined the army when he finished at Kiama High School two years ago and has already been deployed to East Timor and Iraq.

Pt Peters was in cadets at high school and said that although he had been interested in joining the defence forces before that, the experience sealed the deal for him.

“I just always wanted to (join the Army), as a national service sort of thing and to get out and see a few things,” he said.

After training at Singleton he was sent to East Timor for four months.

He arrived in southern Iraq as part of the final rotation of Australian troops last December, where he was involved in security operations.

“We were up near a city where they used to launch rockets into the base and we used to go up and put in OPs (Observation Posts),” he said.

A typical day involved reporting for duty at 8am and spending the morning doing physical training or maintenance on the vehicles. Pt Peters said that in the afternoons he would receive his orders for the day then prepare the vehicles – usually Bushmaster infantry mobility vehicles, which he drove – with food and water before going out on an overnight patrol.

“We’d pull up in the middle of the desert and you’d look around and there would be nothing for miles. You’d sit down and suddenly there would be people coming out from nowhere to get water and things. It was a bit of a culture shock,” he said.

“A few people from each platoon did a language course and we had interpreters.”

After this busy time, he is happy to just “veg out” in front of the TV and do nothing while on leave in Kiama with his mother and stepfather.

“Mum was happy. It’s good getting home and seeing everyone. I’ve been flat out running round visiting mates since I’ve been back,” he said.

He is not missing the 40-50 degree heat of Iraq or having to wear his uniform every day.

“After wearing it for six months, I’m pretty glad to leave it (in Brisbane)!” he said.