The Bush years were a challenge in many respects, mainly due to the conflicts involving the United States that required a significant number of collection resources at a time when manning levels weren’t always sufficient. It was difficult to entice government civilians with children to move halfway around the world after they had heard of the reduction in benefits that had occurred over the years. Most were unwilling to uproot their families, change schools and accept a remote assignment in Central Australia if the perceived benefits didn’t significantly outweigh the costs. The benefits for a government civilian employee with no family concerns were quite good, however: I received approximately US$50,000 more per year when I resigned than I would have received in Maryland (my gross federal earnings when I resigned slightly exceeded the annual base salary of a US senator and representative[2]). However, with some families, removing children from familiar surroundings and taking them away from their family and friends was often not worth the extra pay the parents (or parent) would have received.
While work continued to be rewarding for me in many ways, my personal life during the Bush presidency had once again undergone some traumatic upheavals. My Australian wife and I no longer enjoyed a good relationship, and although I loved being stepfather to my stepson, after seven years of marriage, my wife and I decided to separate, divorcing two years later in 2004. It was easy to say we were simply two personalities who didn’t complement each other, and after we separated, I felt I needed some time to myself to reflect on why I had two failed marriages, and to learn how I could improve the quality of my relationships. I had no desire to date anyone when we separated, but about six months later my personal life, along with my career, changed direction in a way that I could never have imagined.
PART III:
GETTING A ROUND
9: NO TOWN LIKE ALICE
Narrowing the gap between the American and Australian cultures occurred within and outside of work, and while the shift work at Pine Gap often sapped one’s energy, there was no better place to unwind and enjoy a relaxed atmosphere than ‘a town like Alice’. Alice Springs is called home by people from many cultures and for a town with a population of only 28,000,[1] this diversity can be found in the various places of worship, sporting activities, arts, cultural events, and the variety of cuisine—there’s even a Swiss–Indian restaurant.[2] The American population is probably the largest presence in Alice Springs following Australians of European descent and the local Aboriginals. The American way of life can easily be observed through the large number of left-hand-drive cars, participation in softball and baseball leagues by many locals, several American chain restaurants, and the American-style food that is available in local supermarkets. For more than forty years, the Americans and Australians in Alice Springs have shared their cultures, including joint celebrations of national holidays such as Australia Day and the Fourth of July. While the Yanks learned cricket, rugby and netball, many became even more Aussie-like by becoming experts at the traditional Australian three B’s: barbecues, boomerangs and brewing beer.
The Americans could be relied upon to participate in local activities such as the Bangtail Muster, the Camel Cup, the Finke Desert Race, the Masters Games, and the annual Henley-on-Todd Regatta.[3] When I first heard about the Henley-on-Todd, I couldn’t imagine a regatta in the dry Todd River bed, but the people of Alice Springs can be quite creative! Bottomless boat races, the Bathtub Derby and the Battle Boat Spectacular are absurdly silly events that are always fun to watch with a beer in hand. The American military were particularly keen to show off their physical prowess by participating in many of these events.
The sporting life in Alice Springs provided me with the opportunity to make friends with some of the locals who didn’t work at the Base, and as a certified personal trainer, I was addicted to keeping fit and couldn’t wait to spend time outdoors. With the large American population, a gridiron team—the Alice Springs Redbacks—was formed in the mid-1990s. While the Aussies caught on quickly to the finer points of gridiron, the Yanks participated in various forms of rugby as well as indoor and outdoor cricket (the latter bearing some similarities to American baseball, though I know most of my Aussie friends vehemently would disagree with this).
I also joined a softball team in a league that had two rules: you always took a tinnie with you when you were fielding, and if a batter hit the ball and the ball knocked over a beer, the batter was out. Hence the name: Alice Springs Beer League Softball. It was certainly different to playing softball back home!
For families, sporting events involving their children’s teams were a great way to meet new people and integrate into the local community. Children were encouraged to participate in some form of organised sport as these activities were heavily supported by the Alice Springs Town Council. It was quite common to see American children in primary and secondary school playing a sport that they had never heard of back home such as cricket, rugby or netball. Most of the American children found it easy to make new friends and typically thrived in the school system.
Another benefit for new arrivals was the education subsidy for American children, with almost 100 per cent of education expenses paid by the United States Government. Thus, American children could afford to attend the best of the five high schools that Alice Springs had to offer, which included three public high schools and two Catholic private schools. As the Catholic private schools didn’t exclude non-Catholics, many American children received a private education that would have been financially prohibitive in the United States.
A rich, cultural aspect of my new home was living in a town with a large Aboriginal population, consisting primarily of the Arrernte people, whose name for Alice Springs is Mparntwe. Of the approximately 18,000 people living in Alice when I first arrived, about 3100 were Aboriginal. The Aboriginal culture is reflected in the abundant artwork and artefacts visible and available everywhere in Alice Springs such as boomerangs, dot paintings, pottery and didgeridoos. Tourists can visit sacred sites and be taken ‘out bush’ to learn about the land and feast on traditional Aboriginal ‘bush tucker’ delicacies such as witchetty grubs and honey ants.
For me, learning about Aboriginal culture was a novel experience. I met many Aboriginals and people of mixed blood in various businesses and as guides or caretakers at the various tourist sites in and around Alice Springs. I also learnt more about the Australian Dreamtime through stories that explain the natural world and how people came to live in it. One of the local Dreamtime legends in Alice Springs relates the story of the caterpillar beings who are said to have formed Emily Gap and much of the landscape around Alice Springs. An ancient rock painting of the caterpillars can still be seen at Emily Gap, which became a very special place for me. In 2004 I commissioned a local friend and very talented artist, Craig Saunders, to paint what became an incredibly beautiful painting of this unique place. To an American this was all a fascinating history, and I found the local Aboriginal people very friendly and helpful. The many and varied Aboriginal paintings found in my home serve as fond memories of my time in the Alice.