North Camp to South Camp charity walk at Operation MAZURKA

ADF personnel deployed to Operation MAZURKA in Egypt have walked 457km in a single day to support Defence veterans.

The ADF contingent of 25 Navy, Army and Air Force personnel recently gave themselves the challenge of walking the equivalent distance from North Camp in El Gorah to South Camp at Sharm El Sheikh as a fundraiser for the Integrated Service Peoples Association of Australia, which provides unconditional support for our Defence veterans from all conflicts.

The Australian contingent, as part of the Multinational Forces and Observers, is deployed on Operation MAZURKA in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt with personnel from 12 other countries.

Warrant Officer Class 2 Mick Chattin was the lead for build–up training, which consisted of seven weeks training requiring each member to complete six sets of 5km endurance marches per week wearing Modular Combat Body Armour System.

“Halfway through, the training started to feel like ground-hog day, with individuals becoming familiar with the Sinai Salt Bush, commenting how it had not grown much,” he said

“The distance and time for this activity was 457 km in 24 hours.

“Most of the team completed the training and were well conditioned for the challenge ahead.

“Unfortunately, due to security measures, the activity was confined to the camp so that resulted in the distance being covered on treadmills in the gymnasium.”

Warrant Officer Class 2 Chattin said the row of treadmills ran constantly for the 24-hour period with only short stops to change walkers and all members on camp were encouraged to visit Australian contingent and make a donation towards the activity.

The response was fantastic with an approximate figure of US$960 placed into the tri-service hats.

To no surprise, the slouch hat had received the most money.

At the completion of the walk, North Camp personnel were treated to a Forces Entertainment Tour, which had an impressive attendance and during the concert, two very unselfish Australian Contingent members offered their slouch hats to go up for auction. To the great enjoyment of the crowd, the hats raised another US$750.

All Australian contingent members raised nearly US$1800 for the Integrated Service Peoples Association of Australia.