Baseball Cap : Lieutenant Commander Tate, Royal Australian Navy Logistic Support Element, Middle East

Places
Accession Number REL31415.001
Collection type Heraldry
Object type Headdress
Physical description Brass, Cotton, Embroidery cotton thread, Polyester
Maker Unknown
Date made c 2002-2003
Conflict Period 2000-2009
Iraq, 2003-2013
Description

Pale khaki cotton drill baseball-style cap with a machine embroidered cloth patch sewn on the crown. The cap can be adjusted for size by a fabric strip at the back of the crown, secured in place by a brass clip with the raised letters 'ACC' upon it. Inside the crown is the name 'TATE', written in black ink. The circular woven cloth patch is in khaki cotton fabric with brown, black, blue, gold and white embroidery. It features an image of a flying falcon (actually taken from the logo of Gulf Air, the airline of Bahrain) with a boomerang in its talons, and the stars of the Southern Cross, superimposed on a map of the Persian Gulf. Around the edge is a gold rope border, surrounding the words 'RAN LOGISTIC SUPPORT ELEMENT - MIDDLE EAST' in English and Arabic. The words 'ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING, ANYWHERE' appear in a ribbon below.

History / Summary

The Royal Australian Navy Logistic Support Element (LSE) - Middle East is a small team operating from the island of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. They coordinated and managed strategic and logistic supply to RAN and Coalition naval forces engaged in Operation 'Slipper', the interception and boarding of suspected smuggling vessels, and performed similar tasks during the war in Iraq. Their primary tasks involve the movement of stores, mail, spare parts and personnel.