A RAAF officer has been recognised in the Australia Day Honours for his leadership during Australia's response to the Israel - Hamas conflict.
Flight Lieutenant Scott McNichol was awarded the Conspicuous Service Medal as Commander of the Air Task Unit for Operation Beech between August and November 2024.
As leader of Task Unit 631.10.5, Flight Lieutenant McNichol commanded two RAAF C‑130J Hercules, a C-17A Globemaster III and up to 90 Air Force personnel who provided air mobility support to the DFAT evacuation missions.
"It was pretty amazing to step back and think that we were able to take 90 people and three planes to the other side of the world at very short notice and sustain that for three and a half months," Flight Lieutenant McNichol said.
Although Air Mobility Group and Combat Support Group each had personnel and aircraft identified, the execution came unexpectedly on a Thursday in August, triggering a last-minute trip to Headquarters Joint Operations Command for a briefing with the Joint Force Air Component the following morning.
"I got home on the Friday afternoon, was coordinating the deployment by phone while coaching my son's soccer team on Saturday, and was on a plane on Sunday heading to Cyprus," he said.
Once in-country, the task unit's role was to be prepared to conduct evacuations of Australians from Lebanon and Israel as a military operation if required by DFAT.
'People are first and foremost, and if you can get them working together as a team, you can do anything.'
Flight Lieutenant McNichol said one of the biggest challenges was maintaining the team's ability to quickly and safely execute the job after long periods of uncertainty and waiting.
"Keeping our aviators ready to go, ensuring they were focused on what their actual job was, while maintaining the edge on the team, keep them training and keep them integrated so that we were able to meet our notice to move," he said.
In October 2024, the task unit supported DFAT's evacuation of more than 3200 people from Beirut - many of them elderly or vulnerable Australians - and helped to process arrivals into Cyprus and ongoing travel.
"There was a lovely couple in their 80s, both in wheelchairs, who were just amazed and grateful for the support they were receiving," Flight Lieutenant McNichol said.
As part of a staged drawdown, the task unit repositioned to Royal Air Force Base Brize Norton in the United Kingdom, where Australian crews conducted tasking into Europe under the Air Transport and Air Refuelling Exchange Services arrangement.
This included operating in extreme winter conditions uncommon in Australia and landing a RAAF C‑130J on a beach runway for the first time during joint training with the Royal Air Force.
While he was grateful for the recognition, Flight Lieutenant McNichol said the operation was a success because it was a team effort.
"I'm very humbled to have been acknowledged in this way as the leader of the task unit, but what we did is a massive credit to the Air Force in general," he said.
"People are first and foremost, and if you can get them working together as a team, you can do anything."
