 |
|
BRIDAL
PARTY: SBLT Wendy Castle joined the RAN at 41, and is the
oldest female graduate of the New Entry Officer Course.
|
|
Photo:
ABPH Paul Berry
|
By
Louise Butcher
The saying that life begins at 40, especially applies to SBLT
Wendy Castle. She has turned her life around in dramatic fashion,
recently graduating from the New Entry Officer Course (NEOC),
making her the oldest female Officer ever to do so.
The happy news continued on May 14, when she got to marry her
partner, Jerry Lissing at HMAS Watson with an all-female honour
guard providing support.
Making her story even more remarkable were the odds she had to
overcome to get to this point.
She found herself at age 30 in the middle of a separation from
her husband, alone with three young children. To make matters
worse, she was unskilled, uneducated, had no money and nowhere
to go.
SBLT Castle said she managed to locate temporary emergency housing
for herself and her children but the uncertainty of her situation,
and the helpless state she found herself in destroyed her self-confidence.
“The first morning [in the new housing], my kids had to eat their
breakfast out of their lunchboxes. That was the most devastating
thing as a mother, that I couldn’t even provide a decent plate
for them to eat off of,” she said.
“That was probably rock bottom. From there I decided never to
be in that situation again.” The experience jolted her in to action.
Having left school before Year 12, she had no High School Certificate,
so she enrolled in pretertiary studies at TAFE.
After completing this, she applied at University to a Bachelor
of Education in Teaching.
To her surprise, she was accepted.
“I thought I had won the lottery, I was so excited,” SBLT Castle
said. However, balancing three young children and a heavy university
workload was not an easy task.
SBLT Castle said she often struggled to cope. “The worst problem
I had was school holiday time because university holidays didn’t
coincide with school holidays.
To put the kids in school holiday programs cost such an astronomical
amount that I couldn’t do it,” she said.
“I know on a couple of occasions I had to take them to Uni with
me because I had no other option.”
She said having to work so hard also caused problems with the
kids who wanted her attention. Her family was extremely supportive
during this high-stress time.
“I was always studying and doing homework and they wanted attention
and time.
During assessments, my cousin came down from Queensland and stayed
with us so she could look after the kids and I could do my studies,”
she said.
“I also had my mum. She was brilliant.
At least once a semester would have a mini breakdown and she would
take the kids for the weekend. “It was tough but I was determined
to do it.
I just kept thinking of my graduation day. That was the most important
day for me. I was going to be there and wear the mortar board,
and I was going to graduate.” She finally graduated and started
working at a teacher at a primary school.
After working there for four years, she took up a new role in
the Department of Veterans Affairs. Around this time, her chil-dren
became involved with the Navy Cadets. She was approached by the
CO of TS Canberra to assist him by becoming his XO.
She agreed. “It was all a bit strange for me to end up in a uniform
and have people calling me Maam,” she said.
This marked the beginning of her interest in joining the Navy.
It was during a visit from a recruitment officer at Cadets that
her interest bloomed.
“I just thought because I was a single parent and I was 40, I
was too old.” “I jokingly walked past and said “so you wouldn’t
have a job for me?” and she said, “yes I would”.
I said, “but I am 40”.
She said, “that doesn’t matter”. I said, “but I am a single parent”
and she said, “just come and talk to me”. “So I went and talked
to her and she started to do my application. She said “none of
those things will stop you from getting in the navy”.
It blew me away.” She applied and passed all the requirements,
then graduated from NEOC 29 in 2003 at the age of 41.
She now leaves for an 18-month posting as Training and Development
Officer in Training Authority Maritime Warfare, for a posting
at HMAS Kuttabul, taking on the role of Training Systems Officer.
It was around the time she applied for the Navy that she met her
husband, Jerry.
“I met Jerry in Canberra while he was doing some work there about
three days a week,” she said. “The first thing he asked me was
if I had ever considered applying for the navy and I told him
I was already in the process of applying now.
“He loves it. I am going to have a problem when the Navy doesn’t
want me anymore because he will be devastated.
He loves the fact that I am in the Navy.
He is so proud of me.”
