You get out of it as much as you put into it. Plus, you get to experience wonderful opportunities that you would never have imagined.

ADF Careers ran a seminar at my high school and my best friend said that he was extremely interested in signing up. I also felt like the Army Reserve could provide the challenges, coaching and mentoring to be able to shape myself into a better person.

I began my Army Reserve story when I was 18 years old in the Military Police. I was able to deploy overseas a few years later to countries I’d never been to before, working with people I would never have been able to meet before I joined.

The Army Reserve provided me with skills and experience. I improved my interpersonal and leadership skills, allowing me to better understand and effectively communicate my intent in my civilian job.

I am currently an Officer Cadet. The training I’ve been through was both challenging and rewarding and included leadership training that thrusts you into the deep end while allowing you to discover your own potential.

Rewarding moments included deploying with the Military Police in Operation Bushfire Assist, starting from Sale, Victoria and assisting the Australian people all the way to Mallacoota. I felt like I wanted to do everything that I possibly could and utilise my core skills and experience to assist those affected by the fires.

I want to further develop my communication and leadership skills to be able to inspire, motivate and empower a larger audience, as well as making more of an impact on people’s lives.

The hardest moment was being deployed on Rifle Company Butterworth, going through jungle warfare training and assisting with another nation’s law enforcement through government agencies. But that was also highly rewarding and could only have been experienced through a deployment.

The Army Reserve provides me with the challenges but also helps me grow, giving me new skills or enhancing the ones I already have.