Active duty

It all changed after September 11, because many of the troops were sent overseas to Afghanistan and the National Guard got called up to active duty. That’s how I found myself shipped off to Bosnia, doing Humvee patrols with a mechanised infantry battalion. I was there on a stabilisation mission: peacekeeping patrols, weapons collections, that sort of thing. There was a strong sense of camaraderie and so many incredible experiences. I’ll never forget the time a few of us were selected to do an overflight in a Blackhawk Helicopter to map the earth. That feeling of sitting there flying 150 metres over the treetops was like being on a rollercoaster. It was absolutely amazing.

During my military career, I started out as a Private and worked my way up to Sergeant, but after a certain time serving, you have to denounce your Australian citizenship and become a US citizen. I wasn’t willing to do that, so I moved back home. I looked at what army skillsets I had, and it was all about the heavy vehicles, none of which were in places that really appealed to me. I wanted to be in Canberra where I have family and friends, so I fell back into construction.

There are definitely skills you can take from the army to the construction industry—mainly around leadership, having the ability to assess a situation and understanding what needs to be done. You also operate in a team environment just like in the army, you have that sense of camaraderie as you work towards a common goal.

A rewarding career

I love everything about working in construction. The way you walk away at the end of every day thinking wow—we built that! From delivering a tangible product to the people you meet and the experiences you have along the way, it’s fantastic. FDC is a massive company—approximately 600 people Australia-wide—but they really operate like a family business. The directors here know you by name and remember details about your life—it feels very personal. And the broad-spectrum of projects that we deliver keep it interesting every day. My first project with FDC was a $20 million fitout. Now I’m working on a high-end end-of trip facility, and I recently finished a public swimming pool out in rural New South Wales.

The transition into construction from military, can be a pretty natural progression. In the military, you have that understanding of processes—you start at the bottom and work your way up. It’s the same in construction. It’s a step by step-by-step process and that’s very much the military mind.

I love being site manager, and I also have a heavy interest in health and safety which is a pathway I’d like to explore in future. FDC is very supportive of progression, which is great. Construction is a tough industry, it can be stressful, and we work hard, but we achieve things together. When you work in a team like that, you develop a bond. It’s a rewarding career—and every day is a learning day.

Army life begins

I started as a Private in an infantry battalion, not just any infantry battalion but D Coy, 6 RAR. You will know this unit from the Battle of Long Tan (in Vietnam), Redgum Song “I was only nineteen and the recent movie “Danger Close”

From there it was a Corps transfer into RAEME (Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) where I did my heavy vehicle diesel mechanic training. As a Craftsman and vehicle mechanic, my main role was keeping all the military vehicles safe and serviceable. The event I was most proud of was developing the Bushmaster vehicle.

We had to test the vehicle, modify and develop it as well as write all the repair manuals like how to take the engine out – and that became the defence document. To see that vehicle go to Iraq and Afghanistan and know it was saving lives was really special. Hundreds of people were dying every day because their vehicles didn’t have the capabilities of the Bushmaster. The development of the Bushmaster meant that our guys were surviving those blasts.

A change of scenery 

It was the late ‘90s, early 2000s and Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq were still some time off. We played a role in Iraq, but not like we did later. I was sent to Bougainville, the easternmost island of Papua New Guinea in the Solomon Sea as part of a peace monitoring group, during the civil war there. We were unarmed, and even though I was a mechanic, our job was to get the local heavily armed tribes to hand over their weapons. It’s a bit scary when you think about it, but it was one of the most beautiful places, with the most beautiful people I’ve ever experienced in my life. It became common to walk through the jungle and find WW2 Sherman tanks or be flying in a chopper and see a Japanese Zero fighter aircraft that had crashed into a reef.

In the army, you’re always travelling. I did about 11 moves in nine years, which meant you always got to see something different. From 2000 to 2004, I spent about 40 weeks a year away. I got married in 2000 and was spending less than 10 weeks a year at home, which was one of the reasons I returned to civilian life. I’m passionate about the defence force, have a long family history of military service and I am proud of what I was able to achieve. The contribution it makes to Australia is significant.

We have so many national treasures but just like our WW1 and WW2 vets, their ranks are rapidly thinning and many of them still carry the physical and mental scars to this day. The Vietnam War is of huge importance to me – the way our Vietnam Vets came home, were treated so badly and disrespectfully is something I’ve been deeply affected by. There’s a number of lines in the movie A Few Good Men, where Jack Nicholson’s character says something like, “You can’t handle the truth … you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall” and “You sleep safely at night under a blanket of freedom I provide…and then question the manner in which I provide it”.

Demi Moore’s character is asked “why do you like them so much” (referring to two accused soldiers) and says “because they stand on the wall and say nothing is going to hurt you tonight, not on my watch”.

I know it’s just a Hollywood movie, but there’s truth in that and all military people have a different understanding of the deeper subtext of that movie than non-military people.

Building a new career

When I joined FDC in 2010 I was given the opportunity as a labourer before becoming the HSEQ Manager – that’s Health and Safety Quality, and Environmental. I’d been in the army handling weapons, so there was definitely an element of safety ingrained in me.

My role within FDC is to guide, educate, and mentor our teams to not only make sure that they all go home safely at the end of the day, but to educate and empower them to follow our systems and processes, not because they have to but because they see the value in what we do and want to do it. It’s how we do business. “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn” Benjamin Franklin.

I feel very lucky to have joined FDC. There’s been a lot of invaluable mentoring and opportunities to grow and develop. Just like when I was in the army, I’ve always felt like I was part of something here. I’ve been with FDC for over 10 years now and have enjoyed every second of it. It’s very rare for a company that focuses so much on support, development, charity and contribution to the community. We’re a construction company, but more than that, we’re a family. It true what we say, “The more we contribute to your success the more we contribute to our own”.

When I returned to the School of Military Engineering in Sydney, I spent a year instructing mine warfare and training new engineer recruits. After a couple more years in Darwin at Northern Command, I joined the SASR (Special Air Service Regiment). In the SASR, I was in a high-performance unit for 5 years, which meant passing their incredibly strenuous selection course. Officers are rotated out of units, to keep them fresh, and give them different experiences, so when it looked like I might be heading for an office-based job in Canberra, I decided to see what else was out there.

A new direction

Being in the army really sets you up with a number of management and leadership skills. They call it imposed discipline – there are no alternatives but to turn up to places on time and do what you’re told, however, this develops your self-discipline. This definitely influenced the way I manage people. My engineering time in the army contributed directly to my management associated with the construction industry. I’ve been at FDC for about seven years now and it’s such a positive culture.

My transition to civilian life was more about missing the camaraderie than anything else. In the Military you go through a lot of arduous things with people, and that brings you together. You look after each other and look out for each other’s wellbeing. I was probably luckier than most, in that I was posted to East Timor for three months and I was in Pakistan with the demining in the early nineties. Sure, I was exposed to some reasonably stressful circumstances, but at the end of the day, I didn’t take anyone’s life.  As I was not faced with those moral dilemmas, it limited my exposure to PTSD.

Cycling for a cause

Supporting veterans is a difficult thing in my mind because everyone has such different needs. Amongst my friends, there’s the whole spectrum of exposure to PTSD – mates that do need help, mates that don’t, mates that need help but don’t know it or are unwilling to accept it. Given that the issues are so complex, and there’s a whole gamut of aspects to cover, people do fall through the cracks. That’s where grass roots veteran support charities really make a difference.

In October I’m cycling 300 kilometres in two days to raise money for 4 Aussie Heroes during their annual Pedals ‘n Medals bike ride. I’ve only been cycling for about 6 weeks. James Hamer, (also from FDC) is a mad cyclist and was talking about the ride. He said, “You should do it – go on, you were in the military!” It’s a pretty daunting task, but he got at me once too often and I said, “Right – I’m in!”

On the ride, we’ll do 150km a day for the two days, and vertically, we’re going to be climbing 4,000 metres. I’ve been punishing myself on the bike for the last six weeks in training. But when it comes to the race, my strategy’s pretty simple: don’t give up – just keep turning those pedals.