Harry Allie looks back at his 23 years of service in the Royal Australian Air Force with unusually fierce pride. 

"There was that early mateship, a sense of the strong helping the weak and the weak helping the strong."

Coming from a rural Queensland background, he left school at 14 and worked first as an assistant pastry cook then as a postal officer before applying for the air force when he was 23. 

It took Harry a few more years than most to get the confidence to apply and he wasn't surprised when he heard the air force didn't recruit Aboriginal people. This was in 1966, a year after Indigenous Australians were granted full voting rights nationally and in all states, Queensland being the last.

Harry is a proud descendant of the Gudjala Tribal group and two of his uncles and an aunt had already given service in World War I and World War II. So he pushed ahead and on 15 January 1966 he enlisted. After two days of psych and aptitude tests was selected among 14 successful candidates in the North Queensland region to enlist in the RAAF. 

What followed were 10 weeks of basic training in Adelaide and two months at Wagga Wagga, NSW, where the newly minted Aircraftsman (AC) Allie was given his first posting in Sale, Victoria.

Harry was discharged after 23 years in the Royal Australian Air Force. He then used his skills, knowledge and experience to work in the defence industry on major contracts. Following this were roles in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) policy and advocacy area as well as in community engagement with the Department of Families, Housing, Community Servicers and Indigenous Affairs.

In retirement Harry remains actively involved with Indigenous issues as well as community programs at the local, state and national levels. 

Appointed by the Chief of the Air Force as the Inaugural Air Force Elder, Harry has also been selected as an Ambassador for the NSW Centenary of Anzac Advisory Council.  

Proud of his experiences and knowledge, Harry takes every opportunity to improve the position and opportunities available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as well as all those in vulnerable communities.