The ‘F-111C Aircrew Honour Roll’ is the list of 394 aircrew associated with the RAAF’s F-111C, from program inception until the last 6SQN operational conversion course. The list is arranged in the order in which each aircrew first flew the F-111, and includes USAF and RAF exchange aircrew. Where more than one aircrew is on the same course, those aircrew are listed alphabetically by surname.
When asked how many aircrew flew aussie F-111s, the answer lies in the ‘F-111C All Aircrew List’ excel spreadsheet 241008 – F-111C ALL Aircrew List
At first glance there are 448 aircrew, but a closer examination shows numerous aircrew are duplicated:
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Three aircrew names appear three times (John Emery, Chris Lake & Al Curr)
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Several aircrew names appear twice:
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One FTE (Harry Walton) who flew in the ‘early days’ of the aussie F-111C program between Oct 1965 until Aug 1973
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Nine PLTs and 15 NAVs who did 6SQN OPCONs previously flew F-111s in the ‘early days’
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Eight PLTs and five NAVs did two 6SQN OPCONs
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Note: 2nd and 3rd tourists did the full 6SQN OPCON until No 22 CSE, thereafter F-111C Refresher Courses
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One NAV previously flew the F-111A on USAF exchange (Al Pearson) and then did 13 OPCON
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One NAV previously did a USAF F-111A conversion course (Roger Parsons) and then did 13 OPCON
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Seven former F-111C NAVs became F-111C PLTs and did two 6SQN OPCONs
(Steve Clarke, Leigh Beaman, Tiger Meadows, Phil Townshend, Teddy Blair, Marty Huet and Shannon Kennedy)
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leaving a total of 394 aircrew:
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203 Pilots (PLT)
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154 Navigators (NAV)
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21 Air Combat Officers (ACO)
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13 Weapons System Officers (WSO)
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2 Air Electronics Officers (AEO)
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1 Flight Test Engineer (FTE)
6SQN OPCON Training For the record, after the F-111Cs finally arrived in Australia on 1 Jun 1973, 6SQN became responsible for all F-111C/G Operational Conversion Course (OPCON) training. Between 13 Aug 1973 and 30 May 2008, 6SQN conducted 64 OPCONs (#1-46, 46A, 47-49, 49A, 50-62) graduating 336 aircrew from 389 starters (86% Graduation Rate @ 9.6 students per year)
- 178 PLTs
- 132 NAVs
- 21 ACOs
- 3 USAF WSOs
- 2 AEOs
6SQN OPCON duplicates include the eight aussie PLTs and five aussie NAVs who did two OPCONs and the seven aussie NAVs who became F-111C PLTs.
Aircrew Snippets
- 10 USAF exchange PLTs were already F-111 qualified, so didn’t do 6SQN OPCONs
- One USAF exchange PLT (Tom Gill) did 22 OPCON
- 10 USAF F-111 exchange WSOs were already F-111 qualified, so didn’t do 6SQN OPCONs
- Three USAFEX exchange F-15E WSOs did 6SQN OPCONs
- Eight RAF PLTs did 6SQN OPCONs (ex Buccaneer or Tornado)
- Eight RAF NAVs did 6SQN OPCONs (ex Buccaneer or Tornado)
- The Two Air Electronics Officers (AEO) were Jim Graham & Mick Nott on 1 OPCON
- NAVs became Air Combat Officers (ACO); wearing full wing brevets from 51 OPCON onwards
- Two Female NAVs graduated on 48 OPCON (Aroha Fifield and Brooke Chivers)
- Five Female ACOs graduated between 51-61 OPCON
(Sue Youngman, Anna Moore, Zales Munro-Rustean, Julia Phillis and Adele Merriman) - No Female PLTs graduated in the F-111C; Mel Brauman was scrubbed off 45 OPCON and no other PLTs were ever posted in
- One Father and Son flew the F-111C (Trevor and Ricko Owen)
- Two Brothers flew the F-111C (Tony and John Wilkinson)
