Todd Burton C-17 Defence Veteran

My name is Glen Ive, and I was a serving member of No. 36 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), working on Boeing C-17A from 2009 to 2016. In 2012 a young and unassuming Avionics Technician called Todd Burton was posted to 36 Sqn. Initially, with the support of others, I helped him settle into life working on the Squadron. Due to his "can do" attitude, Todd became a trusted Technician, and everyone wanted Todd to work with their team in very little time. Todd quickly endeared himself to the C-17 community in Australia. His calm demeanour, work ethic and all-around ability ensured that he was well respected and liked by all he served with. Todd deployed to various places in the world and became the number one request to contribute to team selection when it was critical to have the right skills and attitudes to achieve mission success.

Beyond his Defence family, Todd had a wife and four young children that he adored. In 2021 Todd decided to leave the RAAF to stay in the vicinity where he had purchased a home for his family and gained employment with Raytheon Australia and, more recently, with Boeing Defence Australia, which allowed his family to avoid the upheaval associated with Defence service.

To everyone's shock and disbelief, Todd passed away suddenly on Saturday the 26th of March 2022. Todd leaves behind a wife and four children, who now need to find their way in this world without him. Whilst Todd's family now need to figure out how to live in a world without him, his Wife also has the burden of covering the costs of now raising four children alone.

I want to appeal to the entire Defence, C-17 and the wider Veteran community to come together to support one of our own whose family's battle is just beginning. Anything you can give will directly be attributed to his family and allow them to deal with their loss.