Defeating the sum of your fears

Separating from loved ones in the course of duty is always a big call. All of us have to do it.

Sometimes, it’s very easy, because the separation isn’t for long and we might well be going somewhere great and we know what’s going on. Other times, it’s quite difficult, because the separation might be for quite a long time and we might be going into a situation that we haven’t experienced before, and we don’t know what’s going to happen.

I remember my first night at Kapooka as a brand new 17-year-old recruit. Enlisting from Brisbane, we were all put on a train to Sydney and then bussed out to Wagga Wagga. Kapooka seemed a very strange and hostile environment (it basically was!). On that first night, I slept like a newborn baby (which meant I woke up every 15 minutes, screaming).

Years later, I worked with recruits as a chaplain. I noticed that some recruits took to this new life easily and some did it harder.

Certainly, the attitude that we have is the key to how well we will cope. Our units and welfare agencies usually do a great job when it comes to separations, but so much depends upon us ourselves having a positive and willing attitude to face our new ordeals.

The Army probably deserves a lot more credit than it gets for the way it does business. Nearly 10 years ago, I received a posting to be Chaplain of 3RAR at Holsworthy. I didn’t tell anyone that I was just totally terrified of heights and I wasn’t too sure how I would go with this parachuting business!

And so, it was with awful dismay that I saw those very, very tall towers as I drove towards PTS at the start of the course.

But it is an enormous credit to Army training that a padre-of-pathos like me — who wouldn’t dare climb a ladder — can be engaged in the training and taught how to parachute. You follow the drills. You have faith in the equipment. You have faith in the people around you. And yes, you have faith in God. And then you can do things you never thought you could. I got my qualification and then spent two very happy years as Padre to 3RAR.

On the other hand, a ‘no can-do’ attitude defeats us all. I knew I could have given in and walked off that course. Fears are real and we can all give in to them.

But when we do that, we let a lot of people down. We let ourselves down. As persons, we become diminished and somehow imprisoned by our fears.

Times of separation can be tough times. You might be a new recruit reading this. You might be an officer cadet. You might be a soldier or officer deployed to the Middle East, or East Timor, or Bougainville.

Yes, you might be concerned and a little anxious about it all. You might be lonely. You might be wondering where it is all going to finish up.

But you are there right now because a whole lot of other people believe in you. They believe you can make a difference, to yourself, and to others. Maintain a strong attitude, an attitude of confidence, an attitude of strength and you will find that five-sixths of your ordeal has already been overcome.