Service and Beyond

Matthew Smith is a former Air Force Super Hornet pilot and Qualified Flying Instructor. Matt and I trained together to become ADF pilots, with Matt's career taking him to the venerable Vietnam era DHC-4 Caribou before moving into Air Combat Group to fly the F/A-18F Super Hornet, and finally onto a training role where he mentored and developed the nation's future fighter pilots.

Matt shares the highs and lows of his military flying career, from working in a team environment on transport mission flying the Caribou, through to the intense training and operational environment of Air Combat Group where Matt deployed to the Middle East on Operation Okra.

Matt talks about dealing with failure in the high pressure air combat training environment, a near mid air collision in a night training mission, and finding new personal meaning and satisfaction in a flight instructional role.

We also discuss Matt's approach to weighing career and family priorities, and his decision to transition into a contracted training role where he continues to work closely with his former ADF colleagues.

This episode is one for the aviation fans, and Matt and I couldn't waste the opportunity to talk fast jet aviation and discuss some of the impressive aircraft and job opportunities available in today's ADF.

Service and Beyond is taking part in the March On Challenge - organised by Soldier On, where we'll run 96kms in the month of March to support ADF veterans' mental health services. You can support the team by donating at https://fundraise.soldieron.org.au/fundraisers/ServiceandBeyond

Jeremy Holder served 7 years as a combat medic in the Australian Army and was awarded the Medal of Gallantry for his actions in Afghanistan when attached to the Special Operations Task Group in 2006.

Jeremy founded TACMED in 2010 translating his experiences in Army to provide emergency medical training and equipment to assist first responders in carrying out their roles in remote, high pressure and hostile environments. TACMED has grown steadily since 2010, employing many of the veterans Jeremy served with in his career. More that half of TACMED's workforce are ADF veterans, and Jeremy and TACMED was awarded the Prime Ministers Veteran Awards, 2020 Veteran Entrepreneur of the Year.

In Part 2 Jeremy Answers the Big 8 Transition Questions that explain his successful move from uniform into business ownership with TACMED.

Support Service and Beyond's fundraising efforts in the Soldier On March On Challenge. We'll run 96kms in the month of March to raise funds for veterans' mental health support services.

https://fundraise.soldieron.org.au/join/serviceandbeyond

Jeremy Holder served 7 years as a combat medic in the Australian Army and was awarded the Medal of Gallantry for his actions in Afghanistan when attached to the Special Operations Task Group in 2006.

Jeremy founded TACMED in 2010 translating his experiences in Army to provide emergency medical training and equipment to assist first responders in carrying out their roles in remote, high pressure and hostile environments. TACMED has grown steadily since 2010, employing many of the veterans Jeremy served with in his career. More that half of TACMED's workforce are ADF veterans, and Jeremy and TACMED was awarded the Prime Ministers Veteran Awards, 2020 Veteran Entrepreneur of the Year.

In Part 1 we discuss Jeremy's career progress through Army, his Afghanistan deployment and range of roles supporting Australia's Special Forces capability and how he approached the decision to separate from Army to continue his clinical paramedic specialisation. Jeremy also discusses identifying the market gap in emergency medicine, starting TACMED from a home office and growing the business.

Jeremy tells of how transitioning veterans have found their fit within the TACMED culture, and how a veteran run workplace is well suited to providing a graduated introduction to business employment and catering for veterans' transition needs.

Support Service and Beyond's fundraising efforts in the Soldier On March On Challenge. We'll run 96kms in the month of March to raise funds for veterans' mental health support services.

https://fundraise.soldieron.org.au/join/serviceandbeyond

Callum Newton served 15 years in the Royal Australian Navy as an Aviation Warfare Officer, operating MH-60R 'Romeo' Seahawk helicopters from Australian Navy warships. He was part of the initial cadre of aircrew selected to stand up a new squadron to accept the Romeo helicopters, prior to operating the aircraft across Indo-Pacific deployments.

Following his service Callum completed an MBA at the Australian Graduate School of Management in Sydney, prior to landing a highly sought after a role with McKinsey global management consulting firm.

In Part 2 of this episode we discuss the assessments and selection process for entry into both the Australian Graduate School of Management and McKinsey global management consulting firm. Callum also answers the Big 8 Transition Questions.

The American Australian Association Scholarship closes 15 March 2021 and is valued at $40K USD this year. https://www.americanaustralian.org/aaa-scholarship-opportunities-apply-now/

Callum Newton served 15 years in the Royal Australian Navy as an Aviation Warfare Officer, operating MH-60R 'Romeo' Seahawk helicopters from Australian Navy warships. He was part of the initial cadre of aircrew selected to stand up a new squadron to accept the Romeo helicopters, prior to operating the aircraft across Indo-Pacific deployments.

Following his service Callum completed an MBA at the Australian Graduate School of Management in Sydney, prior to landing a highly sought after a role with McKinsey global management consulting firm.

In Part 1 of this episode we discuss decision points for a career change, growth mindset, the importance of failure for learning key lessons, deliberate discomfort and immersion into new environments, and the identify shift of adjusting to a new career after 15 years of service.

Christian "Boo" Boucousis served 10 years as an RAAF F/A-18 fighter pilot before the diagnosis of a medical condition ended his military flying career. On leaving Air Force Christian and a friend moved to Afghanistan starting a company CTG Global that rapidly grew from 2 to 1500 employees within 3 years. Following this success Christian embarked upon an extraordinary string of business endeavors, whilst converging on his core strengths and passions which underlie his personal and professional direction today. His story is a remarkable depiction of a veteran who has experienced major life and career setbacks, all the while maintaining the resolve and hunger for growth to pursue continual challenges.

Christian has experienced successes, and also failure owning and founding a range of business pursuits including;

• Commercial construction - Mode Development
• Business training and coaching - Afterburner.com.au
• Media ownership - Australian Aviation Magazine
• Advising ASX listed businesses on strategy to execution
• Authoring his own book - On Time On Target

In a broad ranging discussion, Christian outlines his perspective on his military career, his rapid pivot from medical discharge to starting a business in a warzone, the long process of fully appreciating the traits and strengths he gained in the military and how to apply these to the workplace and to business. Christian also discusses timeframes to transitioning, and finding the right personal fit for the first job role outside Defence.

In this episode Matt reveals the key themes and lessons from his initial guests' transition experiences, he delves into the key tips from the Department of Veteran's Affairs - Transition Task Force findings.

He also discusses the importance of starting the transition journey early, and making early use of the range of transition support offered by Defence, the government and external support organisations.

Transition Task Force - Improving the Transition Experience

https://www.dva.gov.au/documents-and-publications/transition-taskforce

Prime Minister's Veterans Employment Program - Toolkit

https://www.veteransemployment.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-08/Veterans%27%20Employment%20Toolkit.pdf

Tim Walsmley served 14 years in the Australian Army as an artillery officer including tours of Iraq and Afghanistan before injury altered the course of his career.

Tim worked in Defence acquisitions before leaving Army and working for a small Defence company where he identified a problem with workforce labour utilisation. Tim set about solving this problem by founding Bench On in 2016, developing a platform to cross allocate workers to companies with short term contracts.

Bench On is the winner of the Defence Connect Start Up of The Year 2019. The company now serves more than 1600 clients and is expanding internationally.

Tim discusses the keys to his transition success including extensive professional networks, education, close mentoring relationships, a growth and learning focused mindset, and re-instating the daily routine he developed in Army.

Mathew Jones is a former Australian Army artillery officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Later working in capability acquisition, Mat was instrumental in bringing an advanced defensive system into service to fulfil an urgent operational requirement to protect Australian troops. Following his time in uniform Mat moved to defence industry and into business development, where he has worked for a number of major defence contractors.

In 2018 Mathew served as Deputy CEO and CEO of Soldier On, the leading veterans support and advocacy organisation. Mat was closely involved in the evolution and growth of veteran support arrangements, occurring within Soldier On and within Government.

Tarryn Ryan's military flying career began in the South African Air Force where she captained security missions into the Congo, and continued in the Australian Army flying MRH90 helicopters in support of government missions through the Asia Pacific region.

With a varied flying career encompassing service in the militaries of two nations, and including air ambulance rescue missions in South Africa, and marine pilot transfers in both countries, Tarryn's story is one of adaptability and perseverance in the demanding and often dangerous world of helicopter aviation.

Tarryn has twice transitioned from military to civilian career paths, as well as managing the wholesale change of relocating her family and life to Australia, and she shares her perspectives on building a rewarding military career and successful transition from service.