POINT Cook policeman Timothy Knight has traded his blue uniform for army camouflage while on deployment in East Timor.
Corporal Knight is one of 360 Australian soldiers in the International Stabilisation Force, which helps the East Timor army to provide peace and stability in the country.
On his second trip to the country while taking 13 months’ leave from Victoria Police, Corporal Knight (pictured) says he’s enjoying the challenge of leading a group of soldiers as a platoon section commander.
“The job is to train, prepare and lead a section with the multitude of tasks that we have here,” he said.
“I might lead a patrol to an area of Dili to patrol the area and gather information about the condition of the roads or what we’ve seen, to lead the team while we’re out there and make any decisions that need to be made on the ground.”
Corporal Knight says he’s surprised at the noticeable differences in East Timor compared to when he was last there 10 years ago.
“All the locals are very friendly towards us, especially when you get outside of Dili. It’s good to see that things seem to be moving forward. I was here 10 years ago and there’s a lot more traffic on the road now, plus people seem to be a lot more relaxed than I saw previously,” he said.
“My job when I was here last was to be a platoon signaller, providing communications to the sections and also up to the HQ, so it’s a bit different this time round.
“It was dangerous then, much more dangerous.”
