Experienced civvies a boost for Army aviation

In the close-knit world of Army Aviation, 35-year-old Corporal Shannon Griffith is something of an outlier.

CAPTION: Army soldier Corporal Shannon Griffith at the Rotary Wing Aircraft Maintenance School at Oakey, Queensland. Story by Captain Tadek Markowski. Photo by Bradley Richardson.

With 18 years’ experience working on helicopters as a civilian, most recently with Lockheed Martin, the Toowoomba-based aircraft maintenance engineer recently joined Army as a reservist.

His recruitment into Oakey’s Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Aircraft Maintenance School (RAMS), where he’ll work as an instructor, was described by senior members as a significant win.

Typically, aircraft maintainers move in the other direction, leaving Defence to chase larger salaries with commercial companies.

When Corporal Griffith signed his enlistment contract in March this year, it wasn’t money on his mind, but a desire to help others.

“I decided to join Army Aviation after the Lismore floods in 2022. The Army went in, but there was no easy way for us [contractors] to go in and help,” he said.

“I would have been happy to sleep in a tent or in the helicopter; the Army needed our support, but as a civilian I couldn’t go.

“If I’m green, I can do that necessary work, then come back and put on my blues.”

Corporal Griffith will teach advanced fault-finding on the Army’s new UH-60M Black Hawk, having already spent years servicing the original Sikorsky S-70A-9 variant as a contractor with BAE Systems and its replacement, the MRH-90 Taipan, as an employee at Airbus.

“Aviation roles like this are not typically offered on the ADF website,” Corporal Griffith said.

That’s because his appointment to such a seasoned role is courtesy of a mid-level career entry recruitment process to grow the Army aviation capability workforce. With 29 AH-64E Apache and 40 UH-60M Black Hawks on order, aviation trades are now listed as ‘critical’.

In the same way civilian professionals, including doctors, lawyers and engineers, are recruited as specialist service officers, Corporal Griffith’s starting rank and pay directly reflect his trade qualifications and hands-on experience.

He was also assigned a recruitment sponsor. Overseeing Corporal Griffith’s path to becoming an avionics instructor was Major Dave Durbidge.

He said the push to attract candidates to aviation, especially employment categories 411 and 412, now included direct support to reduce delays related to entry assessments, including medical, security and fitness.

It also means, where possible, minimising the time required to learn the military skills necessary to be a part-time soldier.

“Shannon has skills critical to our operations, and we need people with those types of qualifications right now,” Major Durbidge said.

It’s hoped the streamlined recruitment process will encourage other qualified aviation workers to consider signing up.

“Older generations of experienced technicians; we’d definitely look at their resume,” Major Durbidge said.

Having recently completed his recruit training at Kapooka, Corporal Griffith is already working at RAMS, upgrading the Black Hawk training aid in preparation for the arrival of the new squadron.

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