Operation Veteran Assist – The RSL Volunteers standing up for their fellow veterans
On Friday 9 January as soaring temperatures fuelled fires around central Victoria, a growing number of RSL veterans in Sub-Branches across the state began to look at how they could help. For many it did not sit right letting the skills they learnt in the military go to waste, while their fellow veterans in the bush faced devastation.
Veterans in Seymour were keenly aware of the need to take action, as fire sprang up in nearby Longwood. Many members of the Seymour RSL Sub-Branch, including President Matt McLaughlin, are also part of the CFA and were in the front lines defending lives and property.
Meanwhile, in the suburbs of Melbourne and regional centres across the state, other veterans were already coming up with plans to lend a hand with the recovery when the fires had passed.
At Hawthorn RSL Sub-Branch, veterans had experience in helping out in the aftermath of major disasters. During the Black Summer Fires of 2020, they created Operation Veteran Assist, where more than 120 veterans from Sub-Branches across Victoria helped veterans in East Gippsland clear their land and get back on their feet.
On 9 January, as the intensity of the fires increased, Hawthorn President, Drew Maddison, and other members of Hawthorn RSL Sub-Branch began getting calls from other veterans looking to start Operation Veteran Assist up again. Over the weekend they began registering volunteers and building a team to go in after the fires and help out again.
Meanwhile in Seymour, as the fires raced Northeast towards the towns of Yea and Alexandra, it became clear the RSL could help beyond the fire front.
The Incident Control Centre, with a staff of more than 150 based in Seymour approached the Seymour RSL about providing catering support for their staff.
“They wanted us to get started straight away,” Matt McLaughlin said. “We were keen to do it and put out a call for volunteers and our members got back to us straight away offering to help.”
Amongst the RSL members who stepped up were former Army cooks, Brett Williams and Gary “Gazza” Sturdy. Brett is a member of Kilmore RSL and Gary had previously volunteered as a cook with Operation Veteran Assist co-ordinated by Hawthorn RSL in the 2020 Black Summer fires.
One immediate problem for the team was that Seymour RSL Hall, built in the 1940’s, is only big enough to seat 80 people and yet was catering for 150 people at the Incident Control Centre.
As Seymour’s population increases the Seymour RSL Sub-Branch has been seeking funds to renovate the building so it can cater for its growing membership and better assist in emergencies like the fires.
Beyond providing high quality catering services, Seymour RSL threw open its doors as to serve as a break room for the staff in the high stress Incident Control Centre.
“We wanted to be a place where they could get away and have a real break, outside of the Control Centre,” said Seymour RSL Sub-Branch Treasurer Charlie McLaughlin. “Being right over the road from the Incident Control Centre made us the perfect place for them to step outside and clear their head.”
Back in Melbourne, Hawthorn RSL had fully reactivated Operation Vet Assist and spent the week reaching out to people in the fire affected regions, to establish where their help was needed the most.
By January 17, only a week after the fires had spread as far as Alexandra, the first 32 volunteers arrived at Seymour RSL where they were inducted and briefed on the operation. While it was led by Hawthorn RSL, the volunteers came from a range of Sub-Branches including Epping, Dandenong/Cranbourne, Noble Park, Seymour and some interstate affiliates. Financial and logistical support came from many other Sub-Branches.
The volunteers were separated into two groups, Team Ruffy, operating at the northern end of the fires, and Team Alex, operating between Alexandra and Fawcett in the south.
Team Ruffy was led by Tracey Pelling, an RAAF Reserve Officer who had the advantage of being an earthworks contractor and the owner of her very own Posi-track loader, perfect for the type of work the volunteers were going to do. The team were dispatched to assist a 35-year Army veteran and his family, three of whom were also veterans.
Not only had his property been extensively damaged during the fires but the veteran himself had been badly burnt while defending it. Team Ruffy began four days of extensive fencing, tree clearing and debris removal with the Posi-track loader, completing in days what would have taken months in recovery work for the family.
Meanwhile a staging area was established at Alexandra RSL Sub-Branch where a mobile field kitchen was donated by Save Our Services Australia (SOSA) and operated by former Army cooks, including Leonie Hutcheson who had volunteered as a cook with Gary Sturdy during the Black Summer fires in 2020.
Operation Veteran Assist and Team Alex relied on the co-operation of the local community in identifying areas where they could be of most assistance around Alexandra. The team connected with Sam Hicks, a dedicated community leader in Fawcett, who greatly valued their help in getting in touch with the many veterans in the area who had been affected by the fires.
Beyond the physical work of repairing fences and clearing debris, it was the fact that it was a fellow veteran offering to do the work that made the difference to local veterans.
For some veterans in the area Operation Veteran Assist were the only community group they felt comfortable getting help from. A local Vietnam Veteran with severe PTSD had been unwilling to allow other volunteer groups onto his property. He opened his door to Operation Veteran Assist because they were someone like him, people he could relate to and trust.
The veteran had lost fences across his property, leaving his livestock unsecured. Within days Operation Veteran Assist had repaired his fencing, and he returned to Alexandra RSL for the first time in two decades, reconnecting with not only other veterans but the local community.
In one week, 37 volunteers worked on 8 properties in the Alexandra and Ruffy regions. They provided additional welfare support to more than a dozen veterans who had previously not been involved with the RSL but now felt reconnected to the league and the broader veteran community.
For some veterans Operation Veterans Assist did work that service-based injury prevented them from doing. A veteran near Fawcett had suffered a pinched nerve in his neck during service and had a tree fall across his fencing. There was no way he would be able to move it because of his injury and Operation Veteran Assist sent six veteran volunteers to his property to do the job for him.
Arriving at the property at 8 am the volunteers from Operation Veteran Assist had chopped the large tree into firewood size chunks ready for use over the coming winter and reinstated the fencing in a couple of hours.
Team Alex spread out across burnt out areas around Alexandra, being waived through police check points as they worked to clear and repair veterans’ properties and provide important welfare support.
For the veterans who volunteered in Seymour and Alexandra the work was about more than helping the community. Each of them had been given the opportunity to utilise skills developed in the defence forces to help their fellow veterans when they needed them the most.
As heat wave conditions returned to Victoria around the Australia Day long weekend the volunteers at Alexandra took the advice of the Incident Control Centre to pause operations.
“Operation Vet Assist believes strongly that we are there to support the community, not to get in the way of emergency services,” Eamon Hale said.
The veterans are planning on returning to the fire ground in early February, pending temperatures staying below 35 degrees and approval of the Incident Control Centre.
If you want to be involved in Operation Veteran Assist, give them a call. The team are always looking to welcome volunteers to help veterans recover from emergencies and will be back out lending a hand again soon. Call RSL Victoria on 03 9655 5555 or reach out through Hawthorn RSL Sub-Branch at in**@*********sl.com
