When Flight Sergeant Melissa Krause walked her children through the school gates in Malaysia, she couldn't help but think back to her own childhood.
Decades earlier, she attended the same school, caught the same school bus, and grew up in the same multicultural community while her father served with the Royal Australian Air Force in Butterworth.
Today, her children are creating memories of their own.
"It's very special watching them hang out at the hostie," Flight Sergeant Krause said.
"I remember my own birthday parties there as a kid."
The personnel capability specialist first arrived in Malaysia as a six-month-old baby when her father, an Air Force medic, was posted to what was then Royal Australian Air Force Base Butterworth.
She would return twice more throughout her childhood, spending 12 years overseas immersed in Defence life.
"Moving all the time, we didn't have much family around us," Flight Sergeant Krause said.
"For me, Air Force was family."
'Aviators post in and out every few years, but they have been steadily supporting generations of Australians.'
Those early experiences left a lasting impression, shaping not only Flight Sergeant Krause's childhood but also the person and leader she would become.
"I think without even realising it, growing up here shaped how I think and how I lead," she said.
"It taught me there are different ways of communicating, different ways of seeing the world and different ways of building relationships."
Inspired by the community that shaped her childhood, Flight Sergeant Krause followed her father into Air Force service.
More than 20 years later, her career has included operational service in Afghanistan, instructing new aviators and providing support to personnel across Australia and overseas.
Returning to Royal Malaysian Air Force Base Butterworth as an adult, Flight Sergeant Krause has reconnected with locally engaged civilians and Malaysian colleagues who have supported generations of Australian personnel.
"People on base still remember my dad," she said.
"I walked into a meeting room the other day and saw an old unit photo from the 1980s. Dad was in it."
Beyond the base, those connections continue in unexpected ways.
One of the groundskeepers at her children's school recognised her from her own time there as a student, while old school friends still stop to say hello.
"Someone wound down the car window and yelled, 'Melissa!'" she said.
"It was a Malaysian I went to school with - I couldn't believe it."
'There's a genuine respect and friendship there that you don't always see until you've lived and worked here.'
For Flight Sergeant Krause, these moments reflect something deeper than coincidence. They speak to the enduring relationships built through Australia's long-standing presence in Malaysia.
"The locally engaged civilians are the stability here," she said.
"Aviators post in and out every few years, but they have been steadily supporting generations of Australians."
Today, she continues her family's connection to Butterworth as a member of 19 Squadron, which recently provided critical ground and logistics support to Operation Gateway, Australia's longest-running bilateral operation.
As Operation Gateway marks 45 years, Flight Sergeant Krause believes its greatest legacy lies not just in operations, but in the relationships forged over time.
"I've learned a lot from them over the years," she said.
"There's a genuine respect and friendship there that you don't always see until you've lived and worked here."
Forty-five years after Operation Gateway began, Flight Sergeant Krause's story is a reminder that its legacy extends beyond aircraft and operations.
It lives in friendships, families and the generations of Australians and Malaysians connected through Butterworth.
"For us, Butterworth feels like family," Flight Sergeant Krause said.
