US Brigadier General rank badge : Brigadier General W K Solomon, US Army

A white metal five-pointed star. The reverse is fitted with two stickpins with butterfly clips attached. Impressed on the reverse is a shield inside which is, '22' over 'M'.

The badge originally belonged to Brigadier General Billy K Solomon, US Army who was the commander of the UNITAF Joint Task Force Support Command. It was collected by Chief Petty Officer Signals Yeoman (CPOSY) Duncan John Perryman, on board HMAS Tobruk during his service in Somalia. As Anchorman from TITS (Tobruk Internal Television System) TV, CPO Perryman interviewed many people for the daily news show. Among these was Brigadier General Solomon. UNOSOM II (United Nations Operation in Somalia) was the second phase of the United Nations intervention in Somalia. It ran from March 1993 until March 1995. UNOSOM II carried on from the US-controlled (but UN sanctioned) UNITAF, which had in turn taken over from the ineffectual UNOSOM I mission. All three of these interventions were aimed at creating a secure enough environment for humanitarian operations to be carried out in the increasingly lawless and famine-struck country. The RAN played an important part in the UNOSOM deployment, transporting the battalion group equipment, vehicles, and some troops, to Somalia on board the training ship HMAS Jervis Bay and the heavy landing ship HMAS Tobruk. Tobruk subsequently remained in the area providing logistic support to the Australians and UNITAF, and conducted surveillance off the Somali coast. Its helicopter was used in ship-to-shore transport of personnel. Tobruk was also used by land forces for rest and recreation.