REMINISCING ABOUT RUFUS Michael ‘Doc’ Pepper recalls
His name was Dean Presley Rule. We were gunners together in 10 Pl D Coy 1 RAR in the ’80s. He then went to Recon Pl. A great bloke but Blue Gleeson, the CSM of D Coy at the time, didn’t think so. Blue’s welcome to our coy was “You blokes better not be like that other arsehole that came from Singo”. He was always in the shit at Singo too when we were there. Trouble just followed him. He really liked BBTs (Benedictine, Bourbon and Tequila). Some of you blokes may remember his birthday at The Exchange.
Taz Ranson recalls
If he was the real deal, he would have “made in Box Hill” tattooed on his head if my memory serves me correctly. He was promoted and busted on several occasions. At one promotion parade the CO actually commented “Now, we aren’t going to get shitfaced tonight and do something stupid so that I have to take this stripe off you again tomorrow are we?” Guess what?… He did… Legend!!!
Dino Cowtown recalls
The best NCO I have ever worked with. Officers hated him, lol. Philip Des Macmillan recalls
Rufus Rule, the only Australian ever found drinking a beer while taking a dip in an American rubber water tank in the Port of Mogadishu wharf area!!!
Shane Malone recalls
I heard in Somalia that he got his section to stand to attention on piquet and throw the Nazi salute as the flag was going down. Fucking legend!
Cameron Simpkins recalls
An officer’s nightmare. A very, very good field soldier. Solid to the core. Loyal to his mates. Just needed a war to go to.
Armed with $50, two cans and a Hawaiian shirt, he was an unguided missile.
Then there was the story: when Rufus was a snake. He was posted to some log group or training unit. Anyway, he was in PT gear sitting in his office, giving some female digger a bollocking. Probably for not throwing the Nazi salute…
She was looking all over the place. She couldn’t look him in the eye. Rufus, angry at this, shouted at her to look straight ahead. She replied that she couldn’t, sergeant. It turned out that Rufus was wearing a pair of those Army running shorts, with no jocks on, and sitting feet wide astride. The poor digger couldn’t face a bollocking from Rufus, and look at his goolies at the same time. Apparently, Rufus, unfazed, told her to ignore that. She wouldn’t get any, and focus on the issue at hand…
Gary Heit recalls
I punished Rufus in the Sergeant’s Mess School of INF to the wee hours of the morning last year, ringing the bell from the HMAS Sydney and making him drink port. Harden up, kitten.
Greg Hopgood recalls
I remember having a few beers at the Metropole Hotel with a few mates from C Coy. It may have been a piss-up with our platoon funds. Anyway, Rufus was drinking on the other side of the bar and a few civvies were being smart to us soldiers. We stuck out back then because no civvie had short hair. Rufus was aware what was going on so he quite calmly climbed on a table next to these civvies and in his 1 RAR pt gear he started yelling out to them, thumping his chest, “I AM A SOLDIER!” Well, they could not hide their fear so they left. He then continued drinking.
Story has it that one day as a safety officer on one of the grenade practices, a digger dropped his grenade, so Rufus threw the digger around the corner. He realised he’d run out of time so he jumped on his back and covered his nuts! The grenade went off. Everyone was at panic stations and then all you could hear from the bay was “NEXT”.
