Group Captain Stewart Cameron as the Officer Commanding No 395 Expeditionary Combat Support Wing, East Timor 1999-2000, interviewed by Wing Commander Ken Llewelyn

Cameron talks about: his enlistment; his posting to East Timor; training for and briefings about Operation Warden and Operation Spitfire; his functions in East Timor; his views on General Cosgrove; deploying to East Timor; conditions on arrival at Comoro; tensions with TNI [Indonesian] troops; differences between Indonesian Army and Indonesian Air Force [IAF] personnel; setting up the base; long working hours; destruction around Dili; the East Timorese culture of violence; some Timorese children; resilience of the Timorese; influence of his service in Timor on his family; prophylactic health regime in East Timor; rations and water; daily routine; relations with the IAF; relations with Australian Army and Navy personnel; a humorous incident; his admiration of his younger staff; circumstances leading up to his being injured at Baucau airstrip in the jet blast from a Tri-Star and the aftermath; his evacuation to Darwin and his subsequent need to return to Timor; a comparison of different nations' contingents to United Nations Transition Assistance East Timor (UNTAET); pulling out of East Timor; administrative difficulties on arrival at Darwin; General Cosgrove; Defence preparedness for action in East Timor; unauthorised [weapon] discharges (UDs); a five-year caveat on some following comments; deficiencies in briefings, communications, vehicles and other equipment; a comparison of the three Australian services; some Army personnel unwilling to take orders from RAAF superiors; professionalism of the Navy contingent and of Air Defence Guards; Army views different to Navy and Air Force on sexual harassment; accommodation problems with homosexuals; unacceptable heterosexual behaviour; honours and awards in East Timor, and American influence on Indonesia regarding East Timor.

Cameron talks about: his enlistment; his posting to East Timor; training for and briefings about Operation Warden and Operation Spitfire; his functions in East Timor; his views on General Cosgrove; deploying to East Timor; conditions on arrival at Comoro; tensions with TNI [Indonesian] troops; differences between Indonesian Army and Indonesian Air Force [IAF] personnel; setting up the base; long working hours; destruction around Dili; the East Timorese culture of violence; some Timorese children; resilience of the Timorese; influence of his service in Timor on his family; prophylactic health regime in East Timor; rations and water; daily routine; relations with the IAF; relations with Australian Army and Navy personnel; a humorous incident; his admiration of his younger staff; circumstances leading up to his being injured at Baucau airstrip in the jet blast from a Tri-Star and the aftermath; his evacuation to Darwin and his subsequent need to return to Timor; a comparison of different nations’ contingents to United Nations Transition Assistance East Timor (UNTAET); pulling out of East Timor; administrative difficulties on arrival at Darwin; General Cosgrove; Defence preparedness for action in East Timor; unauthorised [weapon] discharges (UDs); a five-year caveat on some following comments; deficiencies in briefings, communications, vehicles and other equipment; a comparison of the three Australian services; some Army personnel unwilling to take orders from RAAF superiors; professionalism of the Navy contingent and of Air Defence Guards; Army views different to Navy and Air Force on sexual harassment; accommodation problems with homosexuals; unacceptable heterosexual behaviour; honours and awards in East Timor, and American influence on Indonesia regarding East Timor.