No 35 Squadron, RAAF, based at Vung Tau, South Vietnam, are training young local Vietnamese men ...

No 35 Squadron, RAAF, based at Vung Tau, South Vietnam, are training young local Vietnamese men in trades associated with the aircraft industry. The Squadron Commanding Officer 11419 Wing Commander (Wing Cdr) Charles James Melchert, of Townsville, Qld, stated that the young men are trained by the RAAF up to the stage of assistant to an Australian trained tradesman. The maintenance men in the squadron have genuine regard for their helpers and say that they are eager and quick to learn. Sometimes when they have had 12 or 18 months training, the men leave to join the Vietnamese Army or civil airlines. However, there are more to fill their places and the RAAF is contributing to the growing ranks of useful technicians in Vietnam who would not otherwise have the opportunity to learn a trade. 217790 Corporal (Cpl) Tom Van Dyken, of Rooty Hill, NSW, shows trainee Pham Than Thai, the insides of an inverter that supplies the electrical power for a No 35 Squadron, RAAF, Caribou aircraft.