Operations Service Medal for Corporal Kovacs
BY ALEX TIGANI
Members from the Borneo Platoon were not the only ones recognised at last month’s march out at the Australian School of Infantry, Singleton.
Corporal Paul Kovacs was presented the Operations Service Medal for the Greater Middle East region.
As his proud wife Natasha watched on, he admitted it was honour to be presented with the award.
“It was a really nice and humbling award for myself and my family to experience,” he told The Hunter River Times.
After enlisting on February 8, 2016 he completed his Infantry training in Singleton and marched out on August 12 that year.
Five years and one day later, he was tasked with evacuation of innocent civilians out of Afghanistan.
His job was to pull people with the correct documentation in at the airport’s north gate and to begin the evacuation process.
“We were part of the RCT (Ready Combat Team) and we were enacted in August last year for the Afghanistan humanitarian effort that went on out there,” he reflected.
“We were enacted to a very short-noticed task to deploy over there and assist with a non-combat evacuation effort.”
He was presented his award by Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Richard Thapthimthong.
Fittingly, last month’s ceremony marked six years to the day since his own march out parade on August 12, 2016.