From submarine hunter to history keeper: Andy McCabe's second tour of duty

For Warrant Officer Andy McCabe, the Cold War wasn't fought on a single front. It was fought in the water, one sonobuoy at a time. 

Now in his 47th year of service, Andy's career began not in the Royal Australian Air Force but in the Navy, which he joined in 1980 to complete an apprenticeship in air technical communications. His path to the RAAF was set by an unlikely moment of geopolitics: in 1982, the Falklands War proved so costly for the Royal Navy that Britain asked to renege on its contract to sell HMS Invincible to Australia. With no replacement carrier coming, the Navy's Fleet Air Arm was disbanded. 

"We were told we could join the regular Navy, or we could join the Air Force," Andy recalls. He chose the Air Force, transferring in 1984.

Cat and mouse over the Iron Highway 

One of Andy’s first deployments would come to define his career: Operation Gateway.  

From a base in Butterworth, Malaysia, RAAF Orion aircraft and crews patrolled the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca – nicknamed the ‘Iron Highway’ for its relentless procession of shipping – around the clock, 365 days a year. 

"We would fly really low to have a look at what they were carrying, looking for arms carriers and see who's selling what to who," Andy says. "Basically, it was intelligence gathering on all the shipping activities in that region." 

Andy inside a P3 Orion 

The real game, though, was underwater. If intelligence suggested a Soviet ballistic missile submarine had been ‘put to sea’, Australian aircraft would work alongside British, American and Canadian forces to keep a plane over the submarine's position around the clock – a task Andy describes simply as “cat and mouse”. 

“They're trying to evade you; you're trying to find them. You don't want them to know that you've found them,” he says. 

To do it, crews dropped underwater microphones, known as sonobuoys, into the ocean: first to measure water temperature and work out how sound would travel, then to listen. A single mission might launch fifty sonobuoys in the water at once, each transmitting back to the aircraft. Crews learned to identify individual submarines by their acoustic signature and could even calculate a vessel's speed by counting propeller rotations or using the Doppler effect.  

It was precise, secretive work with Andy only able to give his wife the briefest of details. It was also unpredictable.  

"99% of the flying I did up there was general Gateway patrol," Andy says. "But the minute one of those subs came along, it was laser focus."

Andy inside the centrifuge during Aviation Physiology training

Grounded by choice 

In the late 1980s, Andy was one of a handful of personnel chosen to help establish the RAAF's first dedicated electronic warfare capability – developing electronic warfare systems for intelligence gathering purposes. What began as a small, improvised unit is now one of the world’s most advanced. 

After his daughter, Paris, was born in 1999, Andy made a deliberate choice to move into ground roles. He trained as an Aviation Physiology Officer, teaching aircrew how to recognise and respond to conditions like hypoxia at altitude, and after years spent away on detachment, this new role marked an important change for Andy’s family.  

He retired from the Air Force in 2011 and has served as a reservist ever since, moving to Townsville eleven years ago.

Andy during his time in the Navy, 1982; Andy with his daughter, Paris, and wife, Lindy; Andy in 2025.

From the cockpit to the Heritage Centre 

Today, Andy is the Officer in Charge of the RAAF Townsville Aviation Heritage Centre, leading a team of seven reservists and 30 volunteers.  

The Centre reopened to the public in August last year after an extensive half a decade renovation and tells the story of aviation in North Queensland from the Second World War onward. That includes Townsville's transformation from a town of 25,000 to a wartime hub of 90,000; the city's own experience of Japanese bombing; and a display dedicated to the Cold War featuring a photo of an Orion and the sonobuoys Andy once dropped by the dozen. 

There's also a display of Andy himself, in the Centre's ‘Aviator Hall’. With 5,000 hours logged in the Orion, he's often on hand – sometimes still in his old flying suit – to bring the exhibits to life for visitors. 

"Some people will just go ‘yeah’, and other people will want to talk for hours," he laughs.

At the opening of the RAAF Townsville Aviation Heritage Centre with Phillip Thompson OAM MP, Federal Member for Herbert.

Passing it on

Looking after veterans and keeping their service visible and valued is the shared purpose Andy sees in both the Heritage Centre and his membership of Townsville RSL Sub Branch.  

“I’d say 80% of our volunteers are ex-serving," he says. "I'm very big on mental health, and keeping veterans active in their retirement is also really important to me."  

Even through COVID closures, he made sure volunteers could keep coming in. "I find that very similar to RSL Queensland’s mission – giving veterans a purpose after their service, whilst also looking after their wellbeing." 

That sense of purpose extends to the next generation. The Centre regularly hosts school groups, activities during the school holidays and tours for families and childcare groups. 

When asked what he'd want a younger visitor interested in a military career to take away from a visit, Andy doesn't hesitate. 

"I'd want them to know that the sky is the limit! If you're prepared to work hard, anything is possible.” 

With almost 47 years of service behind him, and an ambition to reach 50 – age extension permitting – Andy has become something of a living exhibit himself: proof, for every schoolchild, cadet or curious visitor who walks through the Centre's doors, of what a life full of adventure and service can look like. 

"I'm proud to talk about it and to show them how important serving your country is," he says.