It follows Tuesday’s arrival of the first busload of fresh faced recruits for the year, kick starting Wagga’s Australian soldier conveyor belt for the year. 

Hearts pounding with anticipation, two full platoons of 120 civilians left their old lives behind as they set foot at the Home of the Soldier.

The Daily Advertiser will be following the journey of these recruits as they transition into military life at the First Recruit Training Battalion.

Watch and read as men and women from Echo Company become defenders of the nation, across three months of intensive and often-times gruelling training – training that former chief instructor Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth Stephens last year described as magical. 

A Kapooka spokesman said recruits came from all walks of life, and included seven recruits from Northern Territory’s Army Indigenous Development Program and four women from Wagga’s Recruit Development Wing’s preconditioning program.

“There are a lot of people who want to join the army,” he said. “The army also wants a lot of people to join.

With intakes every week from January, the barracks is expected to be home to more than 1100 recruits before April.