In 1976 I joined the Royal Australian Air Force, I was 23, I had had sexual encounters with men and women and didn’t think I was gay, the term Bi didn’t exist then.
I found the experience of showering with all of these gorgeous bodies a difficult thing to cope with, I began getting up earlier so I could be the first in the showers. I had sex with two of the guys on my rookies course, we actually got in bed together but didn’t sleep with each other. When you’re sharing a room with 3 other men it can be challenging.
In my first unit I was intimately involved with about 6 men, half of them were married. I did make the mistake of asking one guy if he’d like a blow job, he reported me and the service police were brought in to check me out, every photo of a man were queried, why didn’t I have a stash of porn? Every guy on the unit was interviewed and I suppose I was most fortunate because not one other person backed this guy up. I was cleared of suspicion. I started to buy Playboy so I had a stash!
My next unit I was a block NCO with responsibility for about 200 men in the living quarters, I had sex with 4 men, two were rewards to guys who had passed their exams against all odds, one was a guy who failed, and another was a birthday present. All one off.
The next unit I had a long term relationship with a married man. I also had sex with a couple of women and had casual encounters with a few men. There were a few opportunities I turned down, I wouldn’t have sex with someone with a lower rank, that would have been an abuse of power and I wouldn’t have sex with anyone ****, we had 17 year olds.
Those rules meant that I declined a couple of encounters that I wish I’d followed up.
I had one long term friend who I came out to and was cut off, immediately.
No one else seemed to mind,
The RAAF is not an ultra butch organization, we considered ourselves to be part of the Defence Forces, and that was our role, to be the frontline defence of the nation. My last unit was a joint unit with the Army and Navy and I was lucky enough to,have sex with soldiers and sailors.
I had 10 years in the airforce and I enjoyed the work I did, I was mostly a librarian in different schools, or involved in recruit training, the comradeship and the experience was beneficial.
I knew one other guy from my recruit course who requested discharge from the RAAF because he decided he was gay, but he wasn’t thrown out, just allowed to leave. More guys got thrown out because of drug use.
I hope this is of interest to someone out there