Our People in WA
Corporal Tiarn Leslie
More than ten years after she joined cadets, Northam’s Tiarn Leslie has made a career of the Air Force and has been deployed on operations to the Middle East.
Corporal Leslie joined Northam’s 8 Flight Air Training Corps when she was thirteen and later joined the RAAF, working in Force Protection. She has now served in the Air Force for seven years.
She said cadets were a good stepping stone for teenagers considering a military career.
“It teaches them discipline and respect,” Corporal Leslie said, adding that she stayed in cadets for years because it was so much fun.
Normally posted to 382 Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron in Queensland, Leslie was deployed to the Middle East in September for a four-month tour of duty.
Although her job involves a policing role, she said it was more focused on protecting the personnel of the Maritime Patrol Task Group. “I like the fact we’re here to protect our people,” she said.
The former Northam Senior High School student said she this was her first time out of Australia.
“It’s great to see how people in another country live,” she said. “It’s a very different culture here to what we’re used to in Australia.”
Corporal Leslie’s husband is a dog handler with the Air Force, and she said she couldn’t wait to see him and their child when she returns home just after her birthday.