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When I was in the Reserves, I was always interested in,
obviously, going to become an officer, and decided to do the
18-month course.
And 18 months later, here I am now.
My name is Lieutenant Christian Difabio.
During the 18 months at Duntroon, it's quite a mental
and physical challenge.
It's separated into three blocks, three classes, a
third, second and first class, and you progress from that,
becoming a basic soldier, learning your basic skills,
all the way up to becoming a leader of platoon-sized
groups, roughly around 30 soldiers.
So you cover a lot of tactics, overall obvious strategic
environment, as well as your military fitness, your battle
fitness, and other forms of administration that the Army
has its officers do.
The College Continuum is designed so you are
effectively able to lead troops, or platoon groups on
operations, domestically and overseas.
It's a long journey, the 18 months, and to finally be able
to get the actual privilege of commanding soldiers.
In my specific trade at the moment, where I'm posted, it's
aerial delivery.
So it involves anything through air drop, external
lift and air land of equipment, being it vehicles,
ammunition, other supplies, medical equipment, et cetera.
I would say to someone considering joining the
Australian Army to prepare yourself for a different
challenge, whether it be the soldier stream, or the officer
stream, physically and mentally, and be prepared to
spend some time away from your loved ones, but also the
thrill of being involved in something quite unique, and
the uniqueness of being deployed on operations, and
working with such a strong team.