True Blue Conversations Podcast

On this week's podcast we speak with RAF Chinook Aircrewman Liz McConaghy. Liz grew up in a small country town and at 17 joined the RAF, to follow her dream of becoming a chinook Aircrewman serving for 17 years a job she loved. At 21 Liz was the youngest aircrew member to deploy to Iraq and was the only female 'crewman' on the Chinook wing for four years. Liz completed another deployment to Iraq and would deploy 10 times to Helmand province in Afghanistan in support of the enduring Operation Herrick Campaign.

Liz's inspiringly honest story reveals the highs and lows that she witnessed at war, and the cost that came with both, physically and mentally for those involved. During her deployments, she survived not only a near fatal wire strike onboard her CH47, but numerous emery fire 'Contacts' defending her crew by returning fire from both the M134 'Minigun' and M60 weapons entrusted to her to operate. Liz'sgreatest honour of all her duties was serving on the Medical Emergency Response Team or "MERT", flying ambulance as it was commonly known. This involved recovering wounded soldiers from the battlefield, often under fire, and witnessing them both die and come back to life at her feet in the cabin of her Chinook. Liz saw Camp bastion grow from a barbed wire fence surrounding an area of tents in the sand to a huge Operating Base it became. Very few Chinook crew members if any spanned the length of time as Liz did.

After all these years of seeing trauma and tragedy Liz battled her own war within and took her to the point of suicide once she had left the service, her survival from both the battles in foreign lands and in her own head led her to tell her story publishing her book Chinook Crew "Chick" published in 2022 in the hope she can help others win their wars.

Presenter: Adam Blum

Guest: Liz McConaghy

Editor: Kyle Watkins

Investigative Consultant: Adam Holloway

On this week's podcast we speak with Former Special Forces Operator Warrant Officer Ant Plater served in the Australian Defence Force for 27 years, 17 of which were with formally 4RAR Commando now the 2nd Commando Regiment.

He deployed to Somalia, Bougainville, East Timor, Iraq, and Afghanistan, served in the Tactical Assault Group-East, and was the counter-terrorism advisor to the Australian Federal Police. Today, he's a high-performance consultant for the Canberra Raiders and an advocate for Veterans and First Responders. Ant spoke to Adam about his journey to the army and Special Forces, some of his deployments, the idea of "brotherhood" and the cost of being a leader at the tip of the spear of a Special Forces Unit both personally and professionally.

Presenter: Adam Blum

Guest: Ant Plater

Editor: Kyle Watkins

Investigative Consultant: Adam Holloway

On this week's podcast Adam sits down with Cameron Hardiman former Victorian and AFP Police Officer. Cameron joined the Victoria Police at eighteen years old and served over 35 years in policing. Firstly, with Victoria Police and then with the Australian Federal Police. Most of his time with Victoria Police was as an air observer with the Police Air Wing. In 2006 Cameron joined the Australian Federal Police and served on overseas missions with the International Deployment Group that included the Solomon Islands and Timor Leste. He then transferred into an investigation's role, beginning with general crime, then people smuggling operations and eventually counter terrorism. Cameron has written a book about his time in the Victoria Police & the AFP. The book is called Ten Feet Tall and Not Quite Bulletproof: Drug Busts and Helicopter Rescues One Cop's Extraordinary True Story. It is also a book which will give the public some insight into the life of a Policeman and how they have to deal with PTSD.

Presenter: Adam Blum

Guest: Cameron Hardiman

Editor: Kyle Watkins

Investigative Consultant: Adam Holloway

On this week's podcast Adam sits down with Cameron Hardiman former Victorian and AFP Police Officer. Cameron joined the Victoria Police at eighteen years old and served over 35 years in policing. Firstly, with Victoria Police and then with the Australian Federal Police. Most of his time with Victoria Police was as an air observer with the Police Air Wing. In 2006 Cameron joined the Australian Federal Police and served on overseas missions with the International Deployment Group that included the Solomon Islands and Timor Leste. He then transferred into an investigation's role, beginning with general crime, then people smuggling operations and eventually counter terrorism. Cameron has written a book about his time in the Victoria Police & the AFP. The book is called Ten Feet Tall and Not Quite Bulletproof: Drug Busts and Helicopter Rescues One Cop's Extraordinary True Story. It is also a book which will give the public some insight into the life of a Policeman and how they have to deal with PTSD.

Presenter: Adam Blum

Guest: Cameron Hardiman

Editor: Kyle Watkins

Investigative Consultant: Adam Holloway

On this week's Podcast Adam chats to Australian Army Veteran Nathan Tolman CSM. Better known by his nickname "Tolly" reached the rank of Warrant Officer Class 2 both serving as a Paratrooper in the 3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment and Infantryman in the 6th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment. Nathan deployed on multiple deployments including two to Iraq, East Timor, Solomon Islands and Afghanistan twice. However, during his first deployment to Afghanistan as a Platoon Sergeant with the famous Delta company in 6RAR they were involved in a battle that has been etched into Australian history, the battle of Derapet in which the battalion had one Australian soldier Jared "crash" Mackinney Killed in Action KIA and due to the efforts of the team multiple honours were awarded for actions on the battlefield. One of those honours awarded was the highest in the Australian Honours and Awards system being the Victoria Cross awarded to Daniel Keighran, the first one awarded to a regular infantry soldier since the Vietnam War. After an extensive career as a soldier Nathan noticed signs and symptoms of declining mental health and physical injuries sustained during service near the end of his tenure within the Defence Force which ultimately assisted in his decision to end his career within the Defence Force after 22 years of service.

Presenter: Adam Blum

Guest: Nathan "Tolly" Tolman

Editor: Kyle Watkins

Investigative Consultant: Adam Holloway

In this weeks Podcast Adam sits down with James Koens former Australian Army soldier, spending a few years in the Royal Australian Armoured Corps and then transferring to The Australian Army Aviation Corps as a loadmaster.

James has an extensive background in Government and Defence. After 15 years service with the Australian Army, James is now a Training and Checking Aircrew Officer working for Toll Ambulance Rescue Helicopter based in NSW, Australia. James is also a qualified helicopter and aeroplane pilot and is a volunteer firefighter holding the rank of Deputy Captain in the NSW Rural Fire Service RFS. More notably he deployed to Canada in 2021 as an Operations Chief and Incident Commander during a devastating wildfire season, and recently deploying again back to Canada 2023 to assist the Alberta province British Columbia to assist crews during their devastating season.

Presenter: Adam Blum

Guest: James Koens

Editor: Kyle Watkins

Investigative Consultant: Adam Holloway

In this Weeks Podcast Adam sits down with QPS Commissioner Katarina Carroll APM was sworn in as the 20th Commissioner of the Queensland Police Service (QPS) on 8 July 2019 the first female in the state to be appointed. Commissioner Carroll is the Chair of the QPS Board of Management.

During her policing career, which began in 1983, Commissioner Carroll worked in various roles including time in Criminal Investigation Branches, a Commission of Inquiry, the Joint Crime Task Force, and the covert unit. Such was the respect held for Commissioner Carroll, she was requested to be a member of the Queensland University of Technology School of Justice Advisory Panel. In 2012 she was made the Operations Commander for G20 planning in what is still Australia's largest peacetime security operation.

In December 2014, the then Assistant Commissioner Carroll was hand-picked by the government of the day to lead the newly formed Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES). As a transformational leader, Commissioner Carroll influenced the sector through her involvement as the Vice President on the Board of the Australasian Fire Authorities Council (AFAC) and a member of the AFAC Commissioners and Chief Officers Strategic Committee (CCOSC).

At a national level, Commissioner Carroll was a member of the Australia-New Zealand Emergency Management Committee (ANZEMC), the Ministerial Council for Police and Emergency Management – Senior Official Group (MCPEM SOG), the National Risk Reduction Steering Committee and her key position as an assisting official on the Queensland Disaster Management Committee.

Throughout her career, Commissioner Carroll has been the recipient of numerous international, national and state awards – including the Australian Police Medal. Notably, she was awarded the National Telstra Business Women's Award for Government and Academia in 2015 and later that year named as one of the Australian Financial Review and Westpac's "100 Women of Influence".

Presenter: Adam Blum

Guest: Katarina Carroll

Editor: Kyle Watkins

Investigative Consultant: Adam Holloway

In this week's Podcast Adam sits down Keith Banks, who is one of Queensland's most decorated police officers, a recipient of the Bravery Medal and twice awarded the prestigious Queensland Police Valour Award medal, among other honours. He is a passionate advocate for changing the way mental health is regarded, discussed, and supported. Keith is the bestselling author of two autobiographical books which document his experiences as a Queensland police officer, firstly as an undercover operative and then as a tactical special weapons cop.

Keith joined the Police Force in 1975 and resigned in 1995. He joined as an idealistic seventeen-year-old and embarked on a career encompassing twenty years of deep undercover work, criminal investigation, special weapons, bomb disposal, counter-terrorism and criminal intelligence. When he resigned, he was emotionally broken and racked with Post Traumatic Stress. The job he loved had almost destroyed him.

After resigning from the job, he loved Keith moved in the corporate world working in a variety of senior executive roles. In 2019 he was formally diagnosed with chronic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and took this as a positive, now knowing he had not been imagining his mental health struggle.

Keith started writing about his police experiences as part of self-motivated therapy, hoping to give his family an understanding of his mental health challenges to help them comprehend the causes. His first book, Drugs Guns and Lies, was published by Allen and Unwin Publishing in 2020. This motivated Keith to write a second book, Gun to the Head, a raw account of his battle with PTSD and his recovery.

Both books have quickly become best sellers. Keith's aim is to help people build resilience and to recover. Keith is passionate about helping First Responders and Veterans dealing with PTSD and Mental health issues from their service.

Keith is a volunteer peer support officer for Police Veterans Victoria and an advocate for similar organisations to be established throughout Australia.

Keith is married with two children and a lifelong martial artist. He is also a Bruce Springsteen tragic.

Presenter: Adam Blum

Guest: Keith Banks

Editor: Kyle Watkins

Investigative Consultant: Adam Holloway

In this week's Podcast Adam sits down with Fire and Rescue NSW Qualified Firefighter Sarah Spicer, Sarah comes from a rich family history of First Responders, her dad was an Intensive Care Paramedic and Sarah wanted to follow in her dad's footsteps, but because of his service he developed severe PTS from his service and talked Sarah out of joining the Ambulance service. Sarah still wanted to serve in some capacity in the Emergency Service's Sarah found her calling and joined Fire and Rescue NSW in 2016, and is now a Qualified Firefighter, Sarah is a fulltime Mum at Uni studying fulltime Psychology.

We spoke all things from training, to how Sarah deals with the day-to-day trauma of being a First Responder and the effects of being at the front line can have on you. Sarah is passionate about making progressive changes in our Emergency Services for mental trauma related injuries, Sarah's Career goals are to work in depth with First Responders well-being and mental health or in the Emergency Services field on preventative trauma and becoming a researcher of psychology and neuroscience of emotions and personalities.

Presenter: Adam Blum

Guest: Sarah Spicer

Editor: Kyle Watkins

Investigative Consultant: Adam Holloway

Adam is joined in a 3-part Episode with Royal Australian Navy Commander Sandy Coulson CSM Rtd.

Serving for 26 years fulltime service then transferring to the reserves.

Sandy joined the Women's Royal

Australian Naval Service (WRANS) as an Officer Cadet in late 1974. There were only 25

WRANS Officers plus an even smaller group of female nurses who made up the RAN Nursing

Service.

Commander Coulson was commissioned as an officer in the Navy in March 1975 and

specialised as an Administration Officer and became the senior Administration Officer in the

RAN. Sandy was the first female Executive Officer (Second in Command) of the Navy's submarine base HMAS PLATYPUS from 1988 to 1990 from where she was promoted to the rank of Commander.

Sandy was also the first female member of the Directing Staff of the RAN Staff College at

HMAS PENGUIN (the Navy's management and leadership training college).

The highlight of her career was when she was awarded the Conspicuous Service Medal (CSM) in the

Australia Day Honours List 2000 for 'outstanding achievement as the Senior Naval Officer

South Australia'. The citation for her award referred to her as an 'inspirational officer who has

provided outstanding support and advocacy to the Naval community, particularly to

submariners. She is an outstanding role model.' Sandy's story is one of being a trailblazer for women and breaking the glass ceiling.

Presenter: Adam Blum

Guest: Sandy Coulson

Editor: Kyle Watkins

Investigative Consultant: Adam Holloway