Community & Business
20 April, 2022
Home town hero for ANZAC Day
Most ANZAC Days the Greenmount commemoration is very capably addressed by an officer from either of the Australian Defence Force establishments close to home - Oakey of Cabarlah, - but this year, the guest speaker will be someone who couldn’t be closer to her original home.
The main speaker for the upcoming ANZAC service at Greenmount will be Captain Candice Priebbenow, a born and raised Greenmount local who is returning for the day to join in honouring those previously and currently serving our great country.
Candice started her schooling at Emu Creek State School from Pre-school to Year 3 and then transferred to Greenmount State School for the remainder of her primary years.
She moved on to Clifton State High School to complete her schooling years.
In 2011 Candice was successful in joining the Australian Army and started her aviation career by first completing a degree with the Australian Defence Force Academy.
She commissioned to the rank of Lieutenant after graduating from the Royal Military College Duntroon, at the end of 2013.
Her flight training started in Tamworth flying the CT4 in 2014.
Next was Oakey where she achieved her helicopter wings in 2015, with all the local family present for this great day.
While awaiting Chinook training, she completed AS350 Squirrel training with the Navy.
Finally in 2016, she was off to Fort Rucker in Alabama in the United States to undergo CH47F Chinook training.
While based at Townsville Candice was promoted to the rank of Captain, and with her training she has been able to not only support defence training and operations but has also assisted the community during Cyclone Debbie, the North Queensland floods, the bushfires in Victoria and New South Wales in 2019-20 and while in Papua New Guinea she was among those who airlifted supplies and staff to vaccinate for Polio in the outer regions.
She has thoroughly enjoyed her work in serving the nation.
In 2021 Candice deployed as the Australian contribution to the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation as a military observer in Lebanon for eight months.
She now is based in Canberra working in the Defence Flight Safety Bureau.
It will be wonderful to hear from Candice when she addresses the ANZAC service at the Greenmount Memorial Park, which starts at 9.45am on Monday next, 25th April.
