Chinook Crew 'Chick': Highs and Lows of Forces Life from the Longest Serving Female RAF Chinook Force Crewmember

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And I never not wanted to go and if I hadn’t gone, it meant somebody else had to go in my place. Somebody else [who] had to do an extra one or one of the new guys who wasn’t combat ready had to go instead when he wasn’t quite ready to go. I was always really worried that someone would have to take my bullet, you feel like if you don’t go, what if something happens and I’m meant to be there and I’m not? That kind of kept me in the job, certainly for those ten years. “ Upon leaving the RAF in 2019, Liz slowly unravelled after a series of traumatic events compounding her PTSD. This led to her trying to end her life in Aug 2020. What follows is sketchy, but the next memory McConaghy has is waking up from a 40-hour coma in a hospital bed in Basingstoke. Miraculously, she had survived. But how? It turns out, after swallowing the pills, she had called Samaritans and the emergency services.

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With a willingness to serve Aly joined the Queensland Fire Service (QFS) in 2017, we spoke about all thing’s mindset competing at the elite level and dealing with the trauma that first responders see on the front line. Aly has just qualified to represent Australia again in 2024 in Paris Go Aly Australia is right behind you as you chase Gold. 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. Bull started ski paddling at the age of 16 for surf lifesaving and was the Under 17 Australian Ironwoman Champion in 2012. PTSD doesn’t have to stay with you forever. It’s a chapter in my book, it’s not an anchor that I wear around my legs forever or a new label that I have to have forever,” she said. “I’ve met so many people via social media who tag themselves as the broken soldier or the forgotten veteran. But just like anything in your body, the bone you break or whatever, with the right time and methods you can heal, and you can move on and recover. I really want to get the message out – just because I had PTSD does not mean I have to have it forever.” Liz became the longest serving female Chinook aircrew member after serving for 17 years. Liz reflects on why she stayed for so long, and why she eventually had to leave.

On this week’s podcast we speak with 2 x Olympian kayaker & QFS Queensland Fire Service firefighter Aly Bull. Born and raised in Queensland Aly’s love for the water came at a young age. We are joined by Liz McConaghy . Liz is from a small town in County Down and spent a total of seventeen years flying with the RAF’s Chinook Force. On this week's episode we speak with current serving Queensland Police Officer (QPS) Detective Senior Constable / Author Sonya Leeding, I think that’s my new purpose, kind of helping others really, which is really good, I’m loving it.’ She survived and went into the Veterans Mental Health care system to help her deal with her demons and finally lay the images she had seen on the battlefield to rest.

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The truth [is] none. The crewmen never once made me feel as though I was an outsider or special for being female. But I wasn’t a trailblazer either, there were crew gals before me, and plenty came after me and will continue to do so.” Because it’s so hard to identify a firing point where the rounds are coming from, you just have to stand your ground at the mini-gun and pray that there’s a little Ready Brek glow surrounding you.”I wrote the book when I was going through my PTSD counselling, and it took me 3 weeks to write because I just had to brain dump everything and it [was] just stored on my laptop and I never thought about it. Then a friend of mine and I were out walking and I mentioned it and she was like you’ve got to send this off to a publisher, what happens if somebody wants to publish it? Then it got published. It was never written in any way to be read by anyone, never mind the whole world, but seemingly everyone has really enjoyed it. Please note, some parts of this episode include discussion about mental health and wellbeing issues. If you feel you may need to reach out for support in the UK : From 2007 McConaghy crewed the Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT), a high-octane M.A.S.H-style air ambulance service in which a Chinook was on constant readiness at Bastion to fly to the middle of the battlefield and rescue seriously wounded soldiers. On her busiest day of operations in 2008, she and her crew flew 14 separate sorties – including one where five British soldiers had been killed at a forward operating base.

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From dodging bullets to saving soldiers and witnessing the brutality and loss of war, Liz discusses how she found herself bringing the battlefield home, despite her fighting days being over. Today, McConaghy, 40, is thankfully in a much better place. She is proud of her time with the RAF and loved being a Chinook crewman. But she also knows the experience almost killed her and wants others in a similar position to know they can get help. Royal Australian Air Force for 16 years. She deployed to Timor-Leste in 2000 and again in 2004, where she narrowly escaped death twice – first in a near-fatal helicopter crash and again during the surgery that followed. Having fought for her Sharon is the award-winning author of One Woman's War and Peace: a nurse's journey in the Royal Australian Air Force and this humble Registered Nurse from Tasmania now serves as a Member of the Council of the Australian War Memorial and as an Ambassador for Phoenix Australia – Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health. Forces TV Interview https://www.forces.net/mental-health/how-one-female-chinook-crewman-turned-her-life-around-after-nearly-ending-it-all

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The book touches on, but is not dominated by, the theme of women in the armed forces. This is a topic that has been constantly in the UK news following a series of sex-related scandals. But McConaghy is pragmatic, explaining that in her experience, the men have never treated her or the only other female on her squadron any differently. WE NEED YOUR HELP, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google or your podcast playing app. Does McConaghy have any words of wisdom for people thinking of following the same kind of career path? Starting from such a young age, Liz reflected on where it all started, going with her brother to his BARB test. BARB stands for British Army Recruit Battery and is a computer-based psychometric test someone must take before they can serve in the Army, to decide if they are suitable.

Chinook crew ‘chick’ Liz McConaghy on PTSD and military life Chinook crew ‘chick’ Liz McConaghy on PTSD and military life

Veterans are their own worst enemy.” McConaghy explained. “We never ask for help, mostly because it’s been bred into us. You’ve got to be strong. You’ve got to be resilient. All those things that the military teach you to be becomes your make-up. So, it’s really hard to ask for help when you’re getting out [of the military] or are out. I think if you want that extra ‘ohh, isn’t she amazing? Look, she’s the girl doing this job,’ you’re almost saying that they’re not capable of it in the first place.’ Aged 21, Liz was the youngest member of the aircrew to deploy to Iraq and the only female crew member on the Chinook wing for four years, so her story is entirely unique. After calmly writing a suicide note to her family and friends, she began to swallow 95 pills, one by one, before closing her eyes for one last time, “my brain finally at peace”.Yes, I have,” she said. “Having had the book come out [all her mental health challenges are] now completely out in the world. And the more I’m talking about it, the more it is genuinely OK now. On this week’s podcast we speak with former Wing Commander Sharon Bown (Ret'd) completed her Bachelor of Nursing at the University of Tasmania in 1995. In 1999 wanting more of a challenge Sharon joined the Air Force RAAF. Born and raised in Hobart, Tasmania, Sharon served as a Nursing Officer in the When I went to Iraq, I was the youngest aircrew member. Not only that, but I was limited combat ready. You learn to fly on a little helicopter, which is the Griffon (training helicopter) and then you get posted to whichever helicopter type you want to go on, and for me, that was always the Chinook.” The book is an honest and humorous account of Liz’s ‘ best of times and worst of times’ and how her experiences flying on the Chinook have changed and moulded her into the woman she has become.