Army recruits Tianita McDonnell and Shayla Cummings say the decision to join the army changed their lives.
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They were two of 15 graduates to complete the Indigenous Pre-Recruitment Program (IPRP) on Thursday.
It’s a program based on mutual respect, according to Kapooka’s acting commandant; blending the culture of army with the traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander peoples.
The new recruits said they would recommend the six-week program to anyone.
Recruit Cummings said she had wanted a life change and a stable job when she joined.
“Where I used to live was like … you know Western Sydney,” Recruit Cummings said.
“Something just kicked in me to turn my life around.”
She said it had been a shock to the system when she arrived at the Blamey Barracks six-weeks ago.
“I was never really brought up around the culture,” Recruit Cummings said.
“Everyone’s like ‘wow’ when they get here.”
Recruit McDonnell said she was extremely proud of her weight-loss achievement, dropping 17 kilograms across the course.
The Queensland woman said she hoped to join the military police.
“A lot of the younger members have learnt more about their culture, past defence members, they’ve research their own totems and tribes they comes from,” Recruit McDonnell said.
“That’s helped them.”
At the ceremony on Thursday, Platoon commander Major Marty Alsford said the IPRP was fantastic.
“The approach we take is it’s ‘walking in both worlds’,” Maj Alsford said.
“We’re here to learn about their culture … they educate us and we tell them about the army culture.”
Acting-Commandant lieutenant colonel Sean Kearns said the program worked hard to change a past “narrative”.
“A narrative that didn’t give credit to Indigenous Australians where credit was due,” LTCOL Kearns said.
“(A narrative) that didn’t recognise indigenous Australians in the service they provided that should have.”
He said the success of the program would herald the start of an important change, giving pride back to the people who deserved it.
“As I look into the steely eyes of the men and women today I see confidence,” Lieutenant colonel Kearns said.
“I see pride in what they stand for (and) I see a great pride in their new uniforms … combined with their traditional dress.”
The 11 army and four navy graduates will now undertake recruit training at Kapooka, while the navy graduates will tackle recruit training at HMAS Cerberus.