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Michael Thorne - Mid-Life Crisis For Deployed Diggers

To ease the pressures of their East Timor deployment, Townsville soldier Craftsman Michael Thorne, 39 and his mate Corporal Troy Cornell, 39, from Shepparton VIC, have formed a group to play away the stresses of overseas duty.

A 'jam' at their makeshift studio, which is also their office in Dili, East Timor, helps unwind after a hard days work maintaining the fleet of military vehicles, which ranges from Landrovers to Unimogs and Mack trucks.

And what is the name the two 39-year olds have selected for their band? Mid-Life Crisis, of course.

Soldiers like Michael and Troy are members of the Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and they are not often in the limelight — but they are every bit as critical to the success of operations as front line infantry.