11 May 2025
As a veteran, having a child join the Australian Defence Force gives a great sense of pride and admiration.
Joanne Sharpe, a former Air Force cook, will testify that having three of her four children join the ADF has been her greatest point of pride.
“Having children, as any mother will testify, is the greatest achievement of my life,” Mrs Sharpe said.
“The immense pride and love I have for my children is reflected in the price they are prepared to pay.
“My role in the RAAF taught me to push past the norms of physical endurance and gave me a great sense of what is possible and as a mum, I wanted that for my children and my goal was to raise them to be self-sufficient, productive people who have hearts of gold.”
Squadron Leader Brittany Sharpe knows that her family, especially her mum, have been a driving force behind her willingness to serve. This has been especially apparent during times of sacrifice and hardship.
“During my 18 years of service, there have been many times when I have needed to remind myself of the family motto: our God given gifts are not for our own ambition but to be given in service to others,” Squadron Leader Sharpe explained.
“It has not always been easy for each of us, and at times I know myself and other family members have been challenged by service life, but we always encourage each other to remember it is a heart posture and service to others that is a much longer sustaining internal fire than being in service to oneself.”
'My mum has always empowered us and pushed us to do our best each day.'
The youngest of the family, Logistics Officer Flight Lieutenant Amy Sharpe, took inspiration from her mother, father, sister and brother, when she decided to join Air Force in 2018.
“I strongly recall attending my sister’s first parade when I was eight years old, being the CDF Parade at ADFA,” Flight Lieutenant Sharpe said.
“I was fascinated and thought that the slick white jackets, rifles and precision drill was so cool. I remember turning to my mum and saying, ‘I’m going to do that one day’.
“My mum has always empowered us and pushed us to do our best each day. She is the one that has kept us on the straight and narrow. Without her continued guidance, love, and support we all know we would not be where we are today.”
While not having children herself, Flight Lieutenant Sharpe reflected on the importance of celebrating Mother’s Day in the Air Force.
“To all RAAF mothers, I am in awe of your strength and ability to balance raising children and remaining devoted to the duty of service,” she said.
“Having no children of my own, I just think all parents are superheroes, no matter what they do for work – parents deserve to be celebrated, and today is our day to celebrate our mums.”
With her mother as her role model, Squadron Leader Sharpe strives to be the same inspiration for her daughter, but has experienced the difficulties and complexities that come with service life as a parent.
“As mum to Finn, my four-year-old daughter, I’d be lying if I said it has been easy to balance service life with mum life,” she said.
“I used to think I knew what exhaustion was after long crew days whilst on deployments, then I had a child.
“However, somewhere in between these days, I feel immensely proud to balance two of the greatest privileges a person can have: one in service to their nation and the other raising a little person who loves to look at all the knitted poppies on Anzac Day.”
