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was to be conducted at the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base down the road. Not knowing what else to do, I walked back to my room. On my way, Harty stopped to ask me if I knew what was happening with my travel. I said I didn’t know.
    She asked me to wait in my room while she made me a coffee. She’d then go to find out what was happening and get back to me. I was shocked. Harty wasn’t speaking to me as though I were the scum of the Earth, lower than low, as she had when I was a recruit. I was a private now, and that meant she could speak to me as she would a normal person. It was really weird. I knew that our treatment during army training was not indicative of life afterwards, but the transition was still extremely unsettling.
    I sipped on my hot coffee, trying to calm my nerves. I sat in my room for more than two hours, too afraid to go wandering around the barracks. Even though I wasn’t a recruit anymore, I wasn’t going to risk getting a bollocking. Eventually, Harty came to get me and my kit: it was time to go to the Wagga Wagga RAAF base.
    I knew from the moment I started the dental assistant course that it was not for me. I didn’t mind studying the theory and science behind dental procedures, but the applied side of the work just didn’t do it for me. Although I passed the theory and practical tests with ease, the incentive to excel just wasn’t there. Dental nursing is great for those who enjoy working in a medical environment, but it wasn’t what I had joined the army to do. I knew that what I was really after was something that would challenge me. It was one thing to recognise that I wasn’t cut out to be a dental nurse, but another to go from bad breath and cavities to a job where the action was.

AFTER SIX MONTHS I had finished all my training. A fresh-faced nineteen-year-old, I was posted to Brisbane, which was where all my recruit mates were being sent as well. As soon as I arrived at the airport, I was picked up by Ranch. Ranch had trained as a truckie after her time at Kapooka, and was posted to my dental unit as a driver. I was ecstatic to see her. It meant that I had at least one friend in my unit.
    I asked her what kind of driving tasks she was getting to do in the unit, and she told me she’d been stuck with all the mundane ones. She had to drive a HiAce van around the base completing admin tasks for the unit, like picking up the mail. What a waste! I thought. She didn’t get to do any of the cool stuff the male truckies did, like drive giant Unimogs around the place.
    Ranch was excited that we would be in the same unit. The dental unit was quite small compared to infantry company’s, so we’d be able to see each other during PT sessions and our lunch hour. Ranch drove me over to our accommodation, explaining that she and I would be sharing the unit with two other girls. We each had our own room, but we’d be sharing the bathroom and common room. It was like share-housing with three friends. I felt so grown up.
    I had arrived on a Friday evening, and Ranch was determined to show me around Brisbane. I barely had time to unpack before she took me out nightclubbing. We went to the local army hangout in the city called ‘The Pit’. The place was throbbing with army guys and civilian chicks, all trying to pick up. It was a great way to start life in a new city. I bumped into all my friends and got to hang out and be dickheads with them.
    The next day Ranch took me out again. She showed me where the Brisbane markets were, took me to some cool scenic spots, and then we went grocery shopping. The army provided all our meals for us, but we still needed to buy snacks. Towards the end of the weekend, I started to get nervous. The next day I would be starting work as a dental assistant. I would be meeting new people and adjusting to a new environment. Thank goodness Ranch would be there with me. It would make things far less scary.
    The next morning Ranch and I walked down to the dental unit.