I grew up in a military family back in Pakistan. My father, grandad and uncles were all in the military, so I always had an interest. However, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it full-time, as my career goals were more aligned towards civilian engineering.

One day I saw a poster for the Army Reserve and researched it. I thought it was very interesting being able to do something apart from your civilian life. I was studying full-time when I applied.

During my Army Officer training, I really enjoyed the planning and leadership side of things. Being able to come up with a plan, communicate it to your team and execute it was a lot of fun for me.

My Army work is divided between Tuesday nights, weekends and some week-long courses or exercises. Tuesday nights begin with PT, then I usually action requests for courses. I speak to soldiers who I think would benefit from certain training, get them onto those training courses and spend time with my soldiers during their training. I finish off with a conference with our Company’s leadership team where we discuss all upcoming activities and any potential issues.

Taking charge of 30 or so people is both challenging and highly rewarding. For me, success is when one of my soldiers gets either promoted or accomplishes a milestone such as completing a course.

I was on Operation Covid Assist for over a month. It was very rewarding as I got to help the Victorian community during this difficult time, working with Navy, Air Force and Defence staff in a joint environment. It was an eye-opening experience and one that I will cherish.

I love the Army Reserve for the mates that I make, the awesome experiences we have and the professional development that you get.

I hope to keep helping the community and would love for the opportunity to deploy on more operations either domestically or overseas. I joined the Army Reserve to make a difference and to contribute, so if I get to keep providing a service to my community, I’m happy.