CORPORAL CAMERON BAIRD VC Mg and SERGEANT ROB MUGRIDGE BOTH ROMEO 31 CALLSIGN.

On 7 March 2026, a small yet meaningful gathering was held to honor a 2 Commando Regiment veteran with a piece of Australian Military history. Corporal Cameron BAIRD VC MG was killed in action on 22 June 2013 in Ghawchak village, Uruzgan province, Afghanistan. For his bravery that day, Corporal BAIRD MG was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) for valor.

During that operation, Corporal BAIRD VC MG led the Romeo team in Bravo Company, 2 Commando Regimen

t. His call sign was Romeo 31 (R31).

Also present in the same action was Corporal Rob MUGRIDGE, who led Quebec 2, with

the call sign Quebec 21 (Q21). Rob’s team served as the southern cutoff during the operation in which Corporal BAIRD VC MG was killed.

After returning to Australia at the end of that deployment, Corporal MUGRIDGE was appointed as the team leader of Romeo Team and was given the call sign Romeo 31 (R31) for training leading up to the TAG role.

The significance of being Romeo 31 was not lost on Corporal MUGRIDGE, who considered it an honor to follow in the footsteps of a true Australian hero.

Corporal MUGRIDGE served honorably in that role until he later pursued other career paths.

Corporal, later Sergeant MUGRIDGE, retired from active service in October 2021.

While listening to a Zero Limits podcast about Sgt MUGRIDGE, it was revealed that he was assigned the Romeo 31 call sign. Recognizing the importance of this, I immediately contacted Doug BAIRD to inform him. Upon hearing this, Doug suggested it would be fitting to present Rob with Cameron’s original R31 call sign patch, which was in the possession of the BAIRD family.

The BAIRD family feels honored that Sgt (Ret) Rob MUGRIDGE is the custodian of a part of Corporal Cameron Stewart BAIRD VC MG's legacy.