AT THE CONTROLS: Wing Commander Michael Que Hee said he wanted to continue the work of those who’d gone before him as commanding officer of the ADF Basic Flying Training School in Tamworth. Photo: Barry Smith 220213BSC06
THE Tamworth-based Australian Defence Force Basic Flying Training School (ADF BFTS)has a new man at the helm.
Wing Commander Michael Que Hee took the controls at the ADF BFTS in October after moving to Tamworth in September from Richmond.
He has previously been posted in Kuwait, East Sale, Williamtown, Pierce and the ACT.
While he loves moving every three years (or less), he said he enjoys being able to influence pilots of the future and go home to his young family every night.
“We’ve done three moves in three years,” he said.
“My seven-year-old has lived in eight houses.”
This is his 23rd year in the RAAF and has held positions including the executive officer of the VIP Squadron, which involved flying Australia’s top politicians and dignitaries, including governor generals and prime ministers around the world.
“I love the RAAF because it’s so diverse,” he said.
“It’s given me great opportunities to travel and a great insight into government. I’m still progressing in seniority and doing different jobs. Here, it’s still good to go flying and influence young adults and really making a change to their life and still go home at night.”
Wing Commander Que Hee said there were great staff at ADF BFTS, but one of the negative parts of the job was having to tell students they hadn’t passed the course.
He said the defence force had issues recruiting young people because they now had to compete with so many other “cool jobs”.
“We are competing with so many other industries,” Wing Commander Que Hee said.
He said his plans for the next three years at ADF BFTS were to continue the operation of the unit and build on what previous commanding officers Wing Commanders Mark Smith and Dennis Tan had achieved.
“Mark and Dennis have done a fantastic job and I don’t want to reinvent the wheel,” he said.
“I want to continue on and want it to be a family-friendly organisation where people get a bit more time with their families while they’re in Tamworth. I want it to get out there that it’s a fun place to be and not make an environment where I’m constantly changing things.”
When not instructing students and flying at work, Wing Commander Que Hee loves spending time with wife, Sally, and their three children, seven-year-old Alexander, five-year-old Jeremy and eight-month-old Annabel and names his favourite movies as The Princess Bride and Empire Strikes Back.
