A member of the North West Mobile Force (NORFORCE) in action, a unit James worked with.
Captain James Hook (1983). He may share a name with Peter Pan’s arch nemesis, but BGS alumnus Captain James Hook is a far cry from the fairy-tale pirate villain. Although James tells us that his army career started less than heroically, with an “undistinguished period of service” with Brighton Grammar’s Army Cadets, he is now a Military Public Affairs Officer in the Australian Army Reserve. James attended BGS from 1978 to 1980. He would have been in the Class of 1983, but left the School when his family moved to Singapore, where he finished high school. While training as a journalist back in Australia, James did the hard yards working nights at The Australian in Sydney, but his tenacity paid off. In his long and varied media career, James has travelled all over the world, working with The Financial Times in London, as a media adviser to the NT Government, and has even set up his own media consultancy. In 2004, James moved to Darwin, and enlisted with the Army Reserves, working in
military public affairs. He joined the Darwinbased North West Mobile Force (NORFORCE) – a regional force surveillance unit best known for its Indigenous soldiers who patrol their traditional country and share their extraordinary knowledge and culture with their non-Indigenous comrades. At the time of writing, James had just returned from a six-month deployment in Iraq in the role of public affairs officer for Task Group Taji, which comprises some 400 Australians and New Zealanders. Taji’s mission is to support the Iraqi Army by helping train thousands of Iraqi soldiers to defeat the Islamic State terrorist group. It’s work James takes great pride in, but it’s also tough. “We have developed relationships based on mutual respect,” says James. “The Iraqis are fun-loving and friendly. When I ask Australian soldiers what they think of the Iraqis, the most common response I receive is: “They’re just like us.” It’s not easy to send these men off to fight, even knowing that the training they receive with us will increase their chances of success and survival in combat.” SUMMER 2016/17
69