COUNCILLOR CENTRAL HIGHLANDS MUNICIPALITY

Councillor Robert L. Cassidy has been serving the Central Highlands municipality, since 18 November 2014 to Present.

Get to know me.

Integrity is my number one value. My word is my oath. If I say I am going to do something, I do it. I believe in doing any job right, the first time. My wife, Aimee, and my black Labrador, Rocco, are the centre of my universe and keep me grounded.

When I was a boy, my father always talked about immigrating to Australia. I am living his dream come true, which became mine. Whilst overseas enjoying Crew Rest between flights, in the InterContinental Hotel, in Taipei, Taiwan, in October 1998, I met my wife in the lobby. In August 2000, I immigrated to Australia and became an Australian citizen, on 11 February 2005. Prior to those life-changing events, I enlisted in the US Army, when I was 20 years old, in December 1974 and did Basic Combat Training with Company C, 5th Battalion, 3rd Regiment (C-5-3) at Fort Ord, California, where many other notable people had served. Then, I trained as an Army Medic at Fort Sam Houton, Texas and was transferred to Germany, where I was assigned to the wrong unit, located not far from the former East/West German border, with the 2nd/11th ACR, for nearly a year. Turning adversity to my advantage, I was the first Army Medic, in the unit’s history to earn “Soldier of the Quarter” award, before being transferred to Frankfurt, Germany assigned to the US Army 97th General Hospital Emergency Department, where I graduated second in my class as a Paramedic (Emergency Medical Technician). I worked hard and received an Army Commendation Medal for meritorious service.

Less than three years after my enlistment, in September 1977, I was selected for the US Army’s Warrant Officer Rotary Wing Aviator Course 78-37, but not before completing my three years tour of duty in the Federal Republic of Germany. I began training on 27 May 1978. I wanted to be a pilot since I was eight years old, when parents had brought me to an airshow to see the USAF Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team. I was selected as the first Candidate Class Leader and held that position longer than any of the subsequent Class Leaders. On 23 March 1979, I graduated as a newly appointed Warrant Officer 1 and pilot of the Bell UH-1 Iroquois. Unbelieveably, I received my first choice assignment to the 237th Medical Detachment (Air Ambulance) as a Medevac pilot, at Fritzsche Army Air Field, Fort Ord, California.

Then, I was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer 2 and awarded an Army Achievement Medal, for my Planning and Emergency and Rapid Deployment Plans. They became the model EDRE Plans at Fort Ord, California, which closed in 1994, due to Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC). To rapidly advance my flying career, I left “Active Duty”, in March 1982 and joined the reserves as a Bell Iroquois pilot. I was promoted, again, to Chief Warrant Officer 3 and graduated from the Army’s Aviation Maintenance Officer and Maintenance Test Pilot Courses. Though it was announced in the ‘Army Times’ I had been promoted to Chief Warrant Officer 4, I did not accept the commission and resigned, as my international airline career became my focus. I have traveled to forty-seven countries, where I have lived or have been based, in several, for varying periods. Twenty years after graduating Army flight training, I became a Captain flying new Boeing 747-400 jumbo jets. My first trip as a new Captain was to Australia, 20 September 1999. Below is a photo of me flying a Boeing 747-312 jumbo jet.

When I was employed as a contract captain flying Boeing 737-800 and 737-700 jets, I lived in the Chongming District of Shanghai, a city of 23 million people, where noise pollution and air pollution were oppressive 24/7, I wanted to get as far away from that hubbub as possible.

The scenic beauty of Tasmania captivated my interest as a photographer, when I came across a photograph by Peter Dombrovskis. I began considering where I would like to live that was breathtakingly scenic, higher altitude and cooler climate, as well as being able to purchase one acre of land with a decent sized house on it that was affordable and about one hour drive from a metroplitan centre. Bothwell’s Irish convict heritage, particularly John Mitchel, was a also lure I could not resist. November 2009, I purchased my house and property, in Bothwell and called Tasmania “home”. It is the longest I have lived anywhere.

I retired from my aviation career that had spanned thirty-six years, in late 2014. You elected me to represent your interests that same year. In the meantime, aside from photography, I wrote a book and have had numerous aviation-safety articles published in Australian aviation magazines. So, I have found my own way to give back to Australia and the Central Highlands. There is more to me than meets the eye. Trust that I am as dedicated and diligent to serving your needs as a Councillor.

Contact me using either my mobile: 0458 737 747 or my Council email address: rcassidy@centralhighlands.tas.gov.au, if you need a problem solved.

Special Note: This complies with Local Government Act 1993, Division 5, Section 278 and Central Highlands Council Media Policy 2014-20. Any information or views expressed are personal and not as a spokesperson for the Council, on this webpage or website.

Authorised by Robert L. Cassidy, 1 William Street, Bothwell, Tasmania 7030