Catering Corps Dining In Night 2008
Coupled with twin ambitions to help organisations perform to the best of their ability - be they companies or charities - and a desire to have a positive effect on veterans ’ lives , he is ready to enter the new battlefield . He said it was difficult to recognise the right time to leave military service . “ In the end , I got a little push , but it ’ s the push that was needed and I was able to plan my exit and was really , really happy with it ,” he said . John passed several of the milestones at which he may have left if he had been left to follow his own impulses . “ When I finished being CO 1RAR , I thought : ‘ That ’ s it , I have just commanded an infantry battalion on operations , the same Battalion my father commanded . What more can there be ?’,” he said . The answer of course was : lots more Canberra . “ I joined to be a regimental soldier , not a pencil pusher ,” John said . “ It held no appeal .” He and Narelle discussed leaving at that point . He was in his 40s , the best time in life to change careers , they owned their own home in Annandale , in Narelle ’ s home town where her parents still lived . The time seemed right . John was a bit later than most getting unit command ( he had taken a huge risk by opting to wait to compete for the 1RAR job , rather than accept the first unit command he was offered ), and he was due to be promoted to colonel when he left the Battalion . He was on operations in East Timor and did not spend a lot of time there thinking about what lay ahead for him in his career . Nonetheless , the wheels of Army continued to turn in Australia and his career manager was active on his behalf . “ I had three colonel ’ s jobs offered to me while I was in East Timor and it was just a matter of working out in which order I would give my preferences ,” he said . Then , when he returned from East Timor , Head of Personnel BRIG Mark Evans ( later a major general ), told John that Chief of Army LTGEN Peter Cosgrove had chosen him to be his next Military Assistant John was dubious . “ Sir , why would I go back and take a job as a lieutenant colonel ?” John asked . BRIG Evans didn ’ t hesitate . “ LTGEN Cosgrove thought you would say that , and he has given me one thing to tell you ,” BRIG Evans said . “ You are to go and talk to your father before you give your answer .” John ’ s father Barry joined the Army as an enlisted soldier and retired as a lieutenant colonel when he handed command of 1RAR to then LTCOL Peter Cosgrove . He was John ’ s first commanding
Tarin Kowt , Afghanistan 2009
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