Canberra Defence dad Travis spending Father's Day so far from home

Lieutenant Commander Robinson is a nursing officer deployed as a United Nations military observer to Operation Paladin, the Australian Defence Force contribution to the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation.

As a military expert on the mission, his role is to report and investigate any potential violations to the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, with his work spanning Southern Lebanon - a far cry from his nursing officer role back in Australia.

On Father's Day on Sunday, he will be thinking about his eight-year-old son and six-year-old daughter.

Lieutenant Commander Robinson admits that life away from his young kids will be tough during the 12-month deployment, but technology has made maintaining the connection easier.

"Deployed members are no longer waiting six to eight weeks for a letter in the mail and can voice or video call regularly - which is great for morale," Lieutenant Commander Robinson said.

While being so far away from family can be difficult, Lieutenant Commander Robinson is driven by a sense of duty and providing the best medical care to the Australian Defence Force and broader Australian community.

"There is no greater feeling than being able to represent Australia both on deployments overseas and within Australia," he said.

"Although not working as a clinician on this particular deployment, as a nursing officer I have had great privilege in being able to take care of our wounded and ill service personnel in places like Iraq and Afghanistan as well as on land and at sea at home.

"Similarly, I have had the opportunity to help the Australian community at home and deployed numerous times assisting in things like flood emergencies and on Bushfire Assist where I was a member the Navy's aeromedical retrieval team.

"I regularly work in civilian emergency departments to maintain my clinical skills, currency and competency which allows me to provide a high level of clinical care to our service personnel, and also volunteer as a Surf Lifesaver on most weekends."

Lieutenant Commander Robinson hopes to set an example to his young ones of the importance of service.

"As a single father, I am lucky to have family and friends, as well as the ADF to assist in my absence," he said,

"But I definitely miss my hugs and I'm looking forward to seeing [my kids'] smiling faces and getting a huge hug and plenty of cuddles on the couch when I'm back home."

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: