Defence Force Members - Other Ranks
Provide specialised military services to the Australian Defence Forces.
Day three of flood recovery
You are a soldier in an engineering section helping a flooded town clear roads and make buildings safe, working under your section leader. It is 6am and cold. The section has a list of streets to clear before dark, the river is still high, and you have had very little sleep. Your section leader is giving the morning briefing.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
Right, listen up. We have until dark and a lot of road. I want everyone on the brief and nobody going off alone. Anyone injured or unwell, tell me now, not after lunch.
Say nothing about the blister that is already bleeding, because you can push through it
By midday the blister has become infected and you are pulled off the line. A small problem that could have been treated in the morning has cost the section a pair of hands for days.
Tell the corporal about your blister and ask where you can get it dressed
The medic dresses it in five minutes and you carry on with proper cover. The corporal makes a note that you spoke up. Reporting a small problem early is part of looking after the team.
Wait until the corporal is looking elsewhere and quietly ask a mate to cover for you
Your mate covers a while, but the corporal notices that you are slower and asks why. You would have been better off telling him at the start.
My late husband's photo albums are in the cupboard just inside that door. It will only take two minutes. Please, you're strong and you are already here. Would you go in for me?
Go in quickly because it is only two minutes and she is clearly upset
The floor inside is unstable and you slip, narrowly avoiding a bigger fall. A cordon is there because the section leader has seen what you cannot. Sympathy cannot move the line.
Tell her you are sorry you cannot go in, and take her details so the recovery team can arrange a safe retrieval
Mrs Pham accepts it reluctantly. The request is logged, but she is left waiting without knowing when. You did the right thing, though a time estimate would have helped her.
Explain kindly that you cannot cross the tape, and ask your corporal to pass on her request
The corporal radios in a request, and two days later the albums are retrieved by a team with the right gear. Mrs Pham writes the troop a note. Holding the line was the kinder thing in the end.
I am wrecked and I think I left the radio battery charger back at the base. If the corporal finds out I will be in trouble. Can we just say it broke? It would save my skin.
Cover for him and say it broke, since he would do the same for you
The false story unravels when the corporal looks at the equipment log, and you are both in trouble. Looking out for a mate is not the same as hiding the truth from your leader.
Tell him you will not lie, but you will go with him to tell the corporal straight away
The corporal sighs, sends a runner to get a spare, and says an honest mistake is easy to fix. Wallace is relieved. Being straight with a leader keeps the section's trust.
Refuse to get involved and let him sort it out himself
Wallace finds a way to hide the problem for the afternoon, and radios cut out in the middle of a task. Staying out of it left the whole section less safe.
How it went
The light goes and the section stands down, muddy and tired but proud. Military service in peacetime often looks like this: hard physical work, strict teamwork and doing the right thing when nobody is checking. Does being part of a tight team with a clear chain of command appeal to you?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The house that was marked as clear
A fictional case set in an army engineering troop supporting a flood recovery in a fictional river town.
The situation
During flood recovery in the river town of Millbrook, Private Aiyana Cook's section was clearing debris along a street already marked clear on the map. While moving a fallen fence she noticed a curtain move in a house that was supposed to be empty. The section leader was a hundred metres away and the team had a long list of streets to finish before dark.
What they did
Aiyana did not walk in alone. She called her section leader on the radio, said exactly what she had seen and where, and stayed outside in view of the street. Corporal Sandhu came over, they knocked together and an elderly man answered. He had returned the night before to collect his medications and had not told anyone. They checked he was safe and called it in.
How it turned out
The man was connected with the council recovery centre and moved to a safer place that evening. The map was updated so other teams would not skip the house. The troop talked about it at the evening briefing, and the corporal reminded everyone that a cleared street can change.
What would you do?
- Why did Aiyana call it in rather than just check the house herself?
- What does this tell you about following a plan and still using your eyes?
- How would you feel about interrupting a busy team to report something small?