Force families begin to fit in
With about a 50 per cent turnover in full-time staff, the Pilbara Regiment welcomed a group of new defence families to Karratha on the weekend.
Captain Matt Jones said in a sparsely populated region, the regiment was a tight-knit organisation with 50 staff alone in Karratha.
He said with new staff came plenty of wives, partners and children who needed to acclimatise to a new location and settle in to new schools.
"We support each other out here and try to look out for each other because at the end of the day you're here for work, but you also need to establish a good social network," he said.
The family weekend allowed newcomers from Newman, Tom Price and Karratha to get to know each other and meet representatives from groups such as the Defence Community Organisation.
Capt. Jones said the DCO was established solely to provide support to defence families in situations outside the norm.
"DCO is there and they have resources available during crises and the day-to-day stuff," he said.
For new staff coming from places such as the East Coast, Capt. Jones said it was the DCO that would help set them up in places that can seem alien in comparison to home, such as the Pilbara.
