As Anzac Day approaches and a nation readies to remember those who served and died in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations, it is also a time to consider what the Anzac spirit has imbued in generations of Australians.
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There are about 59,000 permanent members of the Australian Defence Force and thousands of those men and women have been inspired to join the ranks by Anzac stories passed down the generations.
For the 38,000 part-time members of the ADF, that spirit and drive to serve is just as strong. Reserve units fill a niche role in the defence force and are often called upon to bolster aid to civilian communities.
Army reservists have provided assistance in flood areas and bushfires, as well as overseas in Malaysia and Timor.
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"It's that willingness and wanting to help other people," said Captain Ian Mason, the battalion operations officer of the 1st/19th Battalion, the Royal New South Wales Regimen reserve unit.
He said the reservists gave up their time to be part of something bigger than themselves. "It's wanting to do service for something other than one's self," Captain Mason said.
"They commit an awful lot of their own time and most of them do it for that sense of pride, that sense of belonging ... for most of them it's not about the finances at all."
Wagga Private Alex Turner, 26, has been a reservist for eight years. By day he is an assistant in nursing and he sees that as something that goes hand-in-hand with his reserve role.
"So many people have a full civilian career and a full reserve career and those two can inform each other," he said.
The reserves were a good fit as he was able to remain in Wagga but also serve on domestic deployments, such as the 2019-20 bushfires.
Coming from a military family, being a reservist is following a tradition of service for Private Turner and it is something that he will reflect on come April 25.
"It's a reflective, commemorative time. Remembering my grandfather and other members of my family who have served," he said.
Corporal Lochlan Tulloch, 30, is a full-time infantry corporal in the ADF now posted to the reserve unit in an administrative role.
He admits he didn't know too much about the reserves prior to his posting, but working closely with the unit he has developed a respect for the crucial role they play at home and abroad.
Like Private Turner, he hails from a military family and he sees April 25 as a day of reflection.
"It's nice to have a day where people like my father and others of the older generations can walk down the road and get clapped and cheered on," he said.
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