SERVICE BEFORE SELF

One hundred years of service, our Air Force has achieved

Sometimes the butt of friendly jibes, but do not be deceived

They have been there for our nation, and are now the stuff of lore

From fragile wooden bi-planes, to a supersonic roar

 

He’d never heard of Kandahar, or even Tarin Kot

But its his fifth deployment here, so he’s seen the bloody lot

A sniper in every crevice, no heed to age or gender

And every stranger that he sees, could be deaths silent vendor

 

The enemy conducts a hit and run, from a poppy field

Or tries to mount an attack, using a human shield

They always seem to know, when to change their tac

For its hard to fight a swarm of ghosts, with one arm behind your back

 

A vapour trail the only clue, our army has a friend

It only takes a call sign, to strike or to defend

They’ve been through this together, many times before

Different corps and uniforms, united in the fire of war

 

Two decades in the sandpit, and a century in the air

Will history remember, that they were ever there

Always on their guard, to the dangers they detect

Service before self, is the duty they protect

 

Tomas ‘Paddy’ Hamilton
7 February 2021

 

FILE IMAGE (14 January 2018): F/A-18F Super Hornet aircrew walk out for the final mission on Operation Okra at the main air operating base in the Middle East Region. Photo by Corporal Brenton Kwaterski, stylised by CONTACT.

.

.


.


.