CO 27Sqn WGCDR Phil Godfrey
WGCDR Phil Godfrey ’ s appointment as Commanding Officer of 27 Sqn - the City of Townsville Squadron - is like a dream come true , except , even in his dreams , he never considered it a possibility . When WGCDR Godfrey and wife Caroline , first came to Townsville in 1996 , he was a corporal cook , and Caroline , a corporal in administration . They spent a happy five years here , WGCDR Godfrey providing field catering in 1OSU , which became 1CLS . In his final six months in Townsville , he moved up to the Base Squadron ( 323Sqn ) before being posted out to teach leadership on a course for flight sergeants . He deployed to East Timor with INTERFET in 1999 , tearing himself away from Caroline ’ s bed in the birthing suite at Park Haven hospital to be able to board the flight on time , only to find when he got there , the aircraft was delayed . He drove straight back to the hospital just in time to meet daughter Reece as she came into the world . Reece , now 17 , and big brother Jordan , 20 , live in Brisbane . When this posting came up , they did the opposite of leaving home , when “ home ” ( in the form of their parents ) left them . WGCDR Godfrey joined the Air Force in 1987 with grand ideas of being an Airfield Defence Guard , but , there being no requirement for ADGies at the time , he quickly settled for cook when it was offered , a trade in which he had always been interested . He spent 20 years as a RAAF cook and , as a warrant officer , had gone as far as he could . “ I could have spent the next 20 years as a WOFF in catering ,” WGCDR Godfrey said . But it didn ’ t work out that way . He identified the turning point as being when he was promoted to sergeant and he went away to complete the obligatory promotion course . “ I really liked what I saw there ,” WGCDR Godfrey said . “ It was different , and I liked that it took people at a certain level and gave them new tools . “ It really gave them confidence - gave me confidence .” And that set him thinking . “ I liked that course so much , I could teach that ,” he thought to himself . As it turned out , he was involved in developing , and teaching , a course very similar to that sergeants ’ course , but for flight sergeants . He was offered a mid-year posting to Wagga Wagga , where he was part of the team that developed the course ready for the 2002 intake , then delivered it . “ We packed the kids up and did a midyear posting - from a Townsville winter to a Wagga winter ,” he said . “ I can remember my son [ Jordan ] putting on long pants for the first time in his life . “ We didn ’ t even have jumpers , we were from North Queensland .” WGCDR Godfrey said he could still remember the shock of his first power bill in Wagga Wagga . “ I had a month off when I first got there , and [ going by the power bill ], all we did was sit around the heater ,” he said , laughing . He said the two and a half years they were in Wagga Wagga were probably the hardest in his career . WGCDR Godfrey said he found himself completely out of his comfort zone , and struggling to find confidence in his ability in the new role . He remembers the others in the team reassuring him : “ We ’ re all nervous , we all have butterflies , but we have to make sure the butterflies fly in synch ”. WGCDR Godfrey said he wasn ’ t confident as an instructor when he began . “ But I was a different person when I left ,” he said . After Wagga Wagga , he was posted to Personnel Branch where he was a career manager for three years . Then came the opportunity to commission under a scheme for senior airmen recognising leadership ability . He was 36-years-old and a warrant officer in a mustering with only four or five positions in the Air Force for his rank .
After his experience at the Directorate of Personnel ( and Wagga ), he was restless , and felt he wouldn ’ t contribute back to catering as much as he would like . So he made the leap . He commissioned as an administration officer and , literally overnight , became a flight lieutenant . “ I stayed in DP , although I did a slightly different job , I was in pretty much the same workspace ,” WGCDR Godfrey said . There were some adjustments - as a WOFF at a meeting he was used to directing a junior airman to take minutes , suddenly he was the one expected to take the minutes , but for the most part , it was a transition he hardly noticed . Even the three and a half week-long Officer Training School course was hardly more than a bump in the road . He said he had always rated his promotion to warrant officer in the Air Force as one of the greatest achievements of his life . Commissioning was just a chance to continue his career and to continue to contribute to the Air Force . “ Getting to Wing Commander was great , an achievement I did not imagine ,” WGCDR Godfrey said . “ Then to get the call that I was being considered to be a Commanding Officer ... that was never an expectation . “ When you don ’ t think something can happen , you never think about it . “ To be given an opportunity you had never expected is a great gift .” And he plans to make the most of it . “ My background , and everything I have ever done in Air Force will be of benefit to me here ,” he said . Cognisant of his role as Senior ADF Officer on the base , he is keen to build good relationships with the other units at RAAF Townsville , as well as in the community and with the Army units at Lavarack Barracks . “ I just want to keep building those relationships ,” he said . “ I want , for Townsville , a one-team approach where we work collaboratively .”
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