Swinden, Gregory James (Commander, b.1966)

Collection relating to the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), Operation Trek in the Solomon Islands, and Operation Slipper in the Persian Gulf service of 0137312 Lieutenant Commander (later Commander) Gregory James Swinden, Headquarters Force Logistics Support Group 2000, HMAS Kanimbla 2001-2002.

Wallet 1 of 2 - Consists of two folders relating to Swinden's deployments to East Timor in 2000 and the Solomon Islands in 2001.

Folder 1 of 2 - Letters, postcards and notes related to the East Timor service of Swinden and colleagues. The folder includes correspondence from two naval officers, a sailor, and an army officer on deployment in East Timor. Lieutenant Commander Nick Tate, in a January 2000 email, discusses his work in administering personnel logistics for Australians in INTERFET and the violence that still occurs in Dili. In an undated note (presumably from January 2000), Swinden asks Lieutenant Command Geoff Turner, a RAN logistics officer in Timor, "How goes the war?" Turner responds that "War is hell -- I never thought the new millennium would see me wandering to and from my bucket shower + portaloo carrying a rifle." Turner also writes that there is rumour Swinden is to succeed either him or Tate at the end of their tour in East Timor. Swinden was seconded to Headquarters Force Logistics Support Group for service with UNTAET from April to July 2000. The collection includes eleven postcards Swinden sent to his young children and one to his wife, Kathy, during his deployment. Swinden asks his children how they are, writes how much he loves and misses them, and includes drawings of military helicopters, ships, palm trees, and even animals he has seen for his children to enjoy. Also included are two printed pages of photographs from Swinden's deployment, a letter from Kathy (June 2000), a letter from Major Wade Stothart (December 2000), and five emails sent by Petty Officer Mark Keeton between February and April 2001. Stothart, the Officer Commanding D Company, 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment in East Timor, discusses the use of infantry and the importance of section leaders on operations. He also discusses his family and his wife's career in the Royal Australian Air Force. Keeton, meanwhile, writes of his activities in East Timor, the civil unrest in Viqueque, socialisation with United States sailors, and the death by drowning of a New Zealand soldier, Private Boyd Atkins.

Folder 2 of 2 - Postcards and cards related to Swinden's deployment with HMAS Kanimbla on Operation Trek from June to August 2001. The folder includes 20 postcards and three cards Swinden sent to his children during this deployment. Kanimbla sailed via Port Vila and Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu, spending three days in each port to, as Swinden writes, "help fix up some schools before going to the Solomon Islands." Swinden later writes that Kanimbla's crew built a children's playground in Port Vila.

Wallet 2 of 2 - Consists of two folders related to Swinden's deployment to the Persian Gulf from October 2001 to April 2002.

Folder 1 of 2 - Letters, postcards and other documents Swinden sent or received during his deployment. Includes nine Christmas cards Swinden received and two he sent during his deployment, a card announcing the birth of his nephew in December 2001, as well as 18 postcards. Swinden sent fourteen postcards to his children, writing of his experience riding a camel and his port visits to Dubai, Thailand and Singapore (the latter two on Kanimbla's return home). One postcard, sent to his wife Kathy in November 2001, discusses the history of Diego Garcia and present United States operations from the island base, writing that the B-52 bombers that are "taking off daily from here for raids on Afghanistan, often come back with there [sic] bombs still onboard as no real targets to hit." The folder also includes eight letters and six emails Kathy sent to her husband between October 2001 and March 2002, as well as three letters Swinden received from his parents, sister, and a friend during his deployment. Kathy discusses the family's activities, the Melbourne Cup, preparations for and celebration of Christmas, the 2001 Federal election, and that their eldest child (aged six) "is not coping well" with Swinden's deployment. Kathy also writes of her own fears, and forwards to Swinden news articles on the War in Afghanistan, including two relating to the death of Sergeant Andrew Russell of the Australian Special Air Service Regiment. A memorial service was held by Task Group 627.1 on 22 February 2002 in honour of Russell's life and death; the collection includes two copies of the order of service for the ceremony. Also in the collection is a November 2001 letter to defence families from the Chief of the Defence Force, Secretary of the Department of Defence and the Chief of Navy urging the need to maintain secrecy on operational matters, a letter to the families of HMAS Kanimbla crew from the ship's commanding officer, Commander David McCourt, updating them on the work of the ship, a February 2002 card from Swinden to Kathy discussing the recent work of boarding parties, and a copy of "Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Dogs of War", a 9-page history Swinden wrote of HMAS Kanimbla's deployment on Operation Slipper.

Folder 2 of 2 - The wallet concludes with a series of letters and postcards Swinden received in 2008 from colleagues deployed to the Middle East. Included are three emails from Colonel Mark Gainsford, discussing his work alongside United States Army personnel in Baghdad, and an email exchange between Swinden and Commander Andrew Nelson regarding postings to the Australian Command and Staff College, naval operations in the Middle East, and frustration that the media tends to overlook the contributions of RAN personnel in Iraq.

Swinden joined the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in 1985 and graduated from the Australian Defence Force Academy in 1987. His early career included service in HMA Ships Swan and Melbourne, as well as staff and logistics postings to the Navy Office, the naval college at HMAS Creswell, Naval Support Command, and the Defence National Storage and Distribution Centre (DNSDC). Swinden was working at the DNSDC as naval logistics officer when a number of his colleagues and friends deployed to East Timor with the International Force East Timor (INTERFET; September 1999 to February 2000) or as part of its successor, UNTAET. Swinden himself was seconded to Headquarters Force Logistics Support Group for service with UNTAET from April to July 2000.

Swinden was posted to HMAS Kanimbla as Supply Officer in June 2001, just as the ship sailed for a two-month deployment. As part of Operation Trek, Kanimbla was to provide support to the International Peace Monitoring Group in the Solomon Islands from June to August 2001.

HMAS Kanimbla had returned to Australia for little more than two months when the crew was ordered to prepare for deployment on Operation Slipper. Sailing from Sydney for Western Australia on 22 October 2001, Kanimbla underwent a "hectic" schedule of pre-deployment and sea training. Alongside HMAS Adelaide (and designated as Task Group 627.1), Kanimbla departed Australian waters on 16 November and, sailing via Diego Garcia, arrived in the Persian Gulf on 2 December to enforce United Nations trade sanctions against Iraq.