Colin Watego reached the high rank of Warrant Officer First Class in the Australian Army. In his interview he talks about the Defense Forces, family life, youth community organisations and his religious beliefs; and the links between them all. This interview is part of a project called ‘Honouring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Men and Women who Served Their Country.’
My own father was artillery, he was a gunner, and I think for me, when I took over as the Regimental Sergeant Major of the 8th/12th Medium Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery – which is now located in Darwin – their colour patch, the patch that those soldiers wear to identify themselves to that unit, is exactly the same colour patch my father wore when he was a serving soldier. So, to me, that’s very important. I put a lot of emphasis and a lot of significance on ceremony, protocol and tradition and, for me, I must admit that that was one of the highlights of my own military career. The pinnacle for me was, I was the, what we call in artillery, the Regimental Master Gunner, which is the absolute top job in artillery for the Warrant Officer Class 1. I was the Corps RSM for artillery, and that was a fantastic appointment and obviously with it comes a lot of responsibility and a lot of challenges. Given that my family, the men in my family, have been gunners – it has even more significance for me.
