Airfield Defense Association – Patron of the Airfield Defence Association

AIRFIELD DEFENCE ASSOCIATION of AUSTRALIA

ABOUT US

Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Airfield Defence has a long and proud history that can be predated as early as the 1920’s.

Airfield Defence Guards and Ground Defence Officers (in varied forms over the years) have served to protect RAAF asserts from before 1929; up to and including current operations; as well as taking part in humanitarian relief activities throughout the SE Asia.

The Airfield Defence Association of Australia (“the Association”), was initially formulated in 1987 by a group of ex/serving ground defence personnel, after the Vietnam Veterans Welcome in Sydney. However, it wasn’t until 1991, that the Association was formally created and incorporated in the State of Queensland, as an Incorporated body.

The Association is governed by an Executive Committee which currently meets monthly in SE Qld, in around the greater Brisbane area.

The Association’s purpose, is to foster camaraderie among the serving and ex-serving members of the Airfield Defence fraternity. By building on the bonds formed in service and our shared identity we encourage our membership to become self-reliant and independent members of the community.

We respect each member’s contribution. We respect each member’s experiences and our shared oath of service, regardless of the number of years served, our mustering/category, or our rank. We recognise that service in airfield defence is physically and mentally demanding in wartime and in peace. We respect the sacrifice and commitment of every member.

We are inclusive. We are a broad church and are inclusive of those members who served with us from other mustering’s who choose to identify themselves as worthy of the blue beret. Airfield defence has female members in both mustering and category who serve as effectively and as loyally as any of their male peers. Upon separation from the PAF, not all of our aviators will seek involvement with the Association immediately, but we welcome them back at any time.

We are selfless. We become members of the Association not for what we can get, but for what we may give back, and for what we can contribute to the culture and heritage of Airfield Defence. We encourage each member to be a productive and independent and self-reliant member of their community and a responsible member of the Association. The no-nonsense culture of Airfield Defence stays with us for life. We bury old rivalries; we move on from old disagreements.

The objectives of the Association are to preserve and continue the memory of those who died during service in Airfield Defence; to assist the sick, wounded, and needy among those who served or are still serving, to assist widows and children of deceased, former and serving members.

Applications for Membership are always welcomed from former members of the ADG mustering and Application forms may be downloaded from this site.

OUr NEXt events

PATRON

Air Commodore John (JM) Stanley Meier

Air Commodore Meier grew up in Ipswich, QLD not far from Royal Australia Air Force (RAAF) Base Amberley. In 1979, Mr Meier enlisted in the RAAF as a Ground Defence cadet at OCS Portsea. After graduating from Portsea he completed two years as a Ground Defence Officer with postings to 1RTU and as BSECO Laverton. Following these postings, he transferred to the Navigator category and graduated from No 63 Navigator’s Course in 1982.

Following his graduation the then Flying Officer Meier was posted to No 292 Squadron for conversion training prior to flying the P-3B Orion with No 11 Squadron at RAAF Edinburgh. He progressed through the various sensor stations on the aircraft becoming a TACCO on the P-3C aircraft and, with his crew, won the Marconi Trophy for No 11 Squadron in 1988 and then competed in international ASW competition, the Fincastle Trophy. During this period he also completed the Weapons Systems Course at RAAF East Sale. A highlight of his tour with No 11 Squadron was successfully completing search and rescue missions off both the east and west coasts of Australia.

In August 1997, he was promoted to Wing Commander, and posted to Air Force Headquarters as Deputy Director Capability Review. In 1999, WGCDR Meier was posted to Defence Intelligence Organisation as SO1 Special Operations Support during which he was closely involved in the preparation and deployment of Australian forces to Timor and ADF support to the 2000 Olympics.

Towards the end of 2000 he was promoted to Group Captain and appointed as the Defence Attaché at the Australian Embassy, Paris. During his Paris tenure, he had the great privilege to meet many Free French Air Force veterans and attend ANZAC Day ceremonies with his New Zealand peers on the Somme battlefields. He returned to Australia in 2004 to attend the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies and after graduating he returned to Air Force Headquarters where he was appointed Director Combat Capability Management until the end of 2006. In January 2007 he moved to the Defence Intelligence Organisation as the Director Weapons Systems. In March 2008 he was posted to the Middle East as Chief of Staff, Joint Task Force 633 until September 2008. He was awarded a CJTF 633 Silver Commendation during this posting.

He was promoted to Air Commodore on 20 October 2008 and took up the appointment of Director General Joint Evaluation and Exercises at HQ Joint Operations Command, where he oversaw the Talisman Sabre series of exercises and established an operational analysis and lessons learnt capability. In August 2010 he was again posted to the Defence Intelligence Organisation as Director-General Weapons and Technical Intelligence. He was awarded the New Zealand Chief of Defence Force Commendation in 2013.

After a career spanning 34 years in the Permanent Air Force, he retired on 01 November 2013. He subsequently transferred to the RAAF Active Reserve and was appointed initially as an oral historian. His primary task was recording the recollections of RAAF members who deployed on operations from World War II until today.

In March 2016, the Deputy Chief of Air Force appointed him as the inaugural Director-General History and Heritage – Air Force (DGHH-AF).

Air Commodore Meier’s vision for DGHH-AF is to bring the story of the people and the endeavour of the RAAF to the wider RAAF and Australian community.

Air Commodore Meier is married and has two adult children. Air Commodore Meier has a Master in Strategic Studies, Graduate Diploma in Applied Science, Bachelor of Professional Studies, and a Diploma in Applied Languages (French). Air Commodore Meier’s hobbies include hiking, amateur military historian and fly fisherman.

In August 2021, Air Commodore Meier accepted the appointment as Patron of the Airfield Defence Association Australia.