After completing high school in 1979, I started work in a bank but a chance meeting with some fellows on Pilot’s Course a couple of years later caused me to look into a career in the military. Working in the bank was simply a job but these pilot trainees inspired me with their absolute dedication to passing their course.
Not long after meeting them, I applied to join both the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and the Royal Australian Navy.
Being under the age of 21, and also a female, there were limited jobs as an Officer that I could apply for. My parents got such a shock when I told them I had applied. No one in our immediate family had ever served in the Defence Force.
In the end, the Air Force was the first to respond and I commenced my service at RAAF Base Pearce in January 1982. After about a week at Pearce I boarded a RAAF 707 for my first ever flight and headed off to RAAF Base Point Cook for my Officer Training Course. I was 19 years old and a Pilot Officer. This was my first experience of living in communal accommodation with shared bathrooms and laundries as well as sharing a Mess for meals and recreation.
On completion of the Officers Training Course I went to RAAF Base East Sale to complete my Air Traffic Control Course. I was the only female on both of those courses which was quite an experience. Whilst the treatment/behaviour wasn't always appropriate, that is how it was at the time and you just had to get on with it. If anything, it made me stronger and more resilient.
I served in the Air Force as Air Traffic Controller, was promoted to Flight Lieutenant, with postings to RAAF Base Richmond and RAAF Base Laverton until January 1989.
Whilst at Laverton I transferred to the Navy as a Lieutenant becoming a Communications Officer and then an Administration Officer. As I had already served in the Air Force as an Officer, I did not have to do the full Officer Training Course but a shorter version that was also completed by undergraduate officers like dentists, doctors and chaplains. This was conducted in the beautiful surroundings of HMAS Creswell. I next moved on to HMAS Cerberus to complete my Communications Officers Course. I remained at HMAS Cerberus for my first posting before moving on to Campbell Park Offices in Canberra.
Whilst at RAAF Base Laverton I met Flight Lieutenant David Ball, a RAAF Engineer working at the Radio School. We were married in 1990 and both continued to serve in our respective services.
I completed a number of staff type jobs in Canberra until I left the Navy in 1996 when I was pregnant with twins. I served just over 15 years in the Defence Force in the end, a career that had its lows and highs but which overall I would say I enjoyed and was proud of.
What I really enjoyed and always valued, was being able to do things not normally done in civilian world; such as jumping out of a helicopter into Jervis Bay and then being winched back up into the helicopter, seeing the Black Hawk when it first arrived in Australia and having a familiarisation flights in several military aircraft. One time I even managed to fly home to Perth to visit my family on a C130 Hercules because they happened to have a spare seat.
Being a member of the Australian Defence Force is unlike any other job. Your colleagues and staff become a second family and the friendships and connections often last a lifetime.
After devoting a number of years to raising our children I decided to start an organisation dedicated to supporting the men and women of the Australian Defence Force. This is something that I felt was much needed in the Australian community.
Many people told me that they wanted to support our servicemen and women but did not know how to do so. On 1 January 2012 the organisation Aussie Hero Quilts (and Laundry Bags) was created and I began coordinating volunteers around Australia who made and sent handmade quilts and laundry bags to ADF members on overseas deployments. The response of serving members to the first few hundred quilts and bags was so enthusiastic that within months we started to accept requests for personalised quilts and bags.
For a number of years, whilst we had many ADF members on operational deployments in the Middle East, we concentrated on filling requests from deployed members. As deployment numbers reduced, we evolved and now, around 12 years later, we still send personalised quilts and bags to members on deployments in locations with AFPO [Australian Field Post Office] addresses but we also include many others.
As well as those on deployments in places such as the Middle East, and our Peacekeepers in places like the Sinai and South Sudan, we also look after HMA [His Majesty’s Australian] Ships, sending quilts and bags to whole crews, including the Major Fleet Units and Minor Fleet Units, including submarines, patrol boats, and mine hunters etc. Additionally, we identify specific groups deserving of recognition. Quilts are given for a number of compassionate circumstances such as ill health, both physical or mental, and we also recognise end of service, including medical discharge. Additionally, we make special quilts we call Fallen Warrior Quilts to present to the loved ones of veterans who have passed away.
In 2020, Aussie Hero Quilts became a registered charity and since its inception in January 2012 we have sent over 16,000 quilts and 34,000 laundry bags to veterans all over the world and Australia.
Running Aussie Hero Quilts, in many ways, has brought me back into the military family which has been such a pleasure. It has also enabled me to witness many changes that have occurred throughout defence since my resignation in 1996.
In 2016 I was recognised with the presentation of a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to our Australian Defence Force members. That remains one of my very proudest moments and it is an honour that I work hard to be worthy of.
This is the story of Jan-Maree Ball as told to Carla Edwards.
