Reserve awards

There are several awards that can be presented to Reservists. These include:

Employer Award & Prince of Wales Awards
Tasman Scheme

---

Prince of Wales Awards

Please contact your local DRS office regarding the Prince of Wales Awards, which are currently on hold.



Employer Award & Prince of Wales Award Cocktail Function

On the 22nd November this year, the Employer Award & Prince of Wales Award Cocktail Function was held at the ANZ Pavilion in Melbourne.

Professor David de Kretser, Governor of Victoria, presented the awards for the evening. The winner of the Victoria Prince of Wales Awards for 2007 was Lieutenant Patricia Vitiaheer, Scientific Officer at 3 Health Support Battalion detachment in Oakleigh Barracks, and Captain Amelia Knapman, 2IC of Vickery Company, Melbourne University Regiment.

Lieutenant Patricia Vitiaheer from 3HSB	Captain Amelia Knapman from MUR

Click here for more images from the Employer Award & Prince of Wales Award Cocktail Function evening.

---

Queensland's Prince of Wales Award Winner to study LAPD officer safety training techniques
By Deanna Nott

The first winner of the new Prince of Wales Award has been announced in Queensland.

Army Reservist Corporal Stephen Boddy, a 9th Battalion – The Royal Queensland Regiment section commander, was named the 2007 Queensland winner at a special ceremony aboard the Kookaburra River Queen as it cruised down the Brisbane River.

And while the Prince of Wales himself did not present the Award, a special guest from the United King, Lord Simon Glenarthur, Chairman of the National Employers Advisory Board, made the presentation, much to the delight of the 100-plus audience.

CPL Boddy, whose full-time job is as a civilian instructor specialising in Firearms and Officer Safety Training at the Queensland Police Academy, plans to use his $8000 winnings to travel to Los Angeles to work with the LA Police Department.

“I want to visit the Firearms Training Unit to gain new ideas from the US experience, mainly in the area of officer safety,” said CPL Boddy who has been in the Army Reserve for the past 20 years.

“I really want to look at how the LAPD officers safely enter buildings and how they verbally control offenders rather than using physical force.”

CPL Boddy said when he heard his name read out as the winner of the Prince of Wales Award that he felt “rewarded for the past 20 years of Service … which I have enjoyed so much”.

Senior Sergeant Shane Hancock, who is the Officer in Charge of the Firearms and Officer Safety Training Unit, represented his employer.

Senior Sergeant Hancock, who was also presented an Employer Support Award at the function, said he was proud of CPL Boddy’s achievement and regularly saw how his military skills assisted him in his civilian work.

“In fact, my Reserve experience got me the job with Queensland Police,” said CPL Boddy.

“Specifically, my experience instructing Army recruits and providing weapons training.”

---

Tasman Scheme

The Tasman Scheme allows selected non-commissioned Reservists to travel to New Zealand for a two-week attachment to a military unit of similar capability to the one to which the Reservist is posted in Australia.

The Defence Reserves Association (DRA) and the DRSC jointly sponsor the activity. The Directorate of Reserve Support in Canberra conducts and administers all DRSC aspects of the Scheme.

The Tasman Scheme is designed to promote Reserve service within the junior non-commissioned ranks and to promote interoperability between the New Zealand and Australian Defence Forces. Any Navy, Army or Air Force Reservist of the rank of Lance Corporal (E) and Corporal (E), with a minimum of three years service is eligible to apply for the Tasman Scheme. Currently the Scheme operates only in Tasmania - Application forms can be obtained from the Defence Reserves Support Tasmania office.