Georgia's Experience:

During the second week of the October school holidays in both year 10 and 11 I attended work experience at the Royal Military Collage Duntroon, which is located in Canberra. I was fortunate enough to be chosen both times (along with a cohort of about 30) from many applicants all over Australia to spend a week at Duntroon, interacting with not only people with the same goals as mine, but also people who had already achieved these same goals. For those of you who may be unaware, RMC-D is the Australian Army’s officer training school and prepares cadets by promoting leadership and integrity, and instilling a sense of duty, loyalty, and service to our nation. Over the week I spent at Duntroon these values were greatly emphasised to our cohort through the various activities that we undertook.

These activities included “briefs” or lectures from officers, soldiers, or cadets on many different topics like structure of the army, communication, deployment stories, how to apply, training, etc. The other activities were very exciting; every day we did at least an hour of PT (physical training), which could be cardio, weights, circuits, or my personal favourite; battle PT, wherein we had various tasks to complete whilst under heavy fire, that simulated a battle situation, we completed both the RMC and ADFA obstacle courses in full DPCUs (camouflage pants and tops) and boots (which we were issued and got to keep), and we went out to the nearby training facility Camp Blake where we completed various communication, navigation, camouflage, and leadership exercises. The two highlights of my experience was getting the chance to test fire blanks from a F88 Austeyr and laser shoot the same gun in the WTSS (weapons training simulation system), as well as having every meal with the cadets at Duntroon which granted me an insight into their daily lives and experiences.

This work experience was the most valuable experience I have had so far in regards to my future career and was so worthwhile. Of course it was a challenging experience, but this accurately mimicked what a career in the Australian Army would be like and reinforced that it was what I wanted to do with my life. I urge anyone interested in a career in any part of the Defence Force (be it Air Force, Army, or Navy) to look into the Defence work experience program, and even if you’ve never considered a career in this area, but are interested in having an exciting, adventurous and fulfilling career check it out. I guarantee that at the very least you will learn things you never knew, have the best week of your life, make some great friends, and walk away with some awesome gifts!