Why You Should Volunteer With Disaster Relief Australia
If I were to suggest any organization for a potential Australian Defence Force candidate to volunteer with, it would undoubtedly be Disaster Relief Australia. Disaster Relief Australia (DRA) is a volunteer-led organization that brings hope to communities devastated by disaster by uniting military veterans, emergency responders, and motivated civilians to deploy relief teams domestically and internationally. I first joined DRA in 2023, and by age 18, I had deployed across four different operations ranging from storm damage, flood and bush fire relief. As a young person this experience was life changing, as it forced me to overcome my social anxiety and taught me how to introduce myself to new people, build rapport with them, and eventually garner their respect. On a typical DRA deployment, you will live away from home for up to a week at a time living in barracks style accommodation, sleeping in community halls on stretchers. You will be allocated a four person crew or "strike team" (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc.), and you will work with this crew for the duration of your deployment. Your day starts bright and early at 0600 and wraps up at 2200, just like the military timings at Kapooka. Throughout the day, your team leader will allocate tasks assigned to your crew. Depending on the operation, this might involve crosscutting or felling trees, mucking out buildings, or sifting through ash for valuables. The work can often be highly physically demanding, and you will often come back from a hard day’s work feeling physically exhausted. However there's nothing quite like the feeling of looking back on what you achieved that day, swapping stories with your mates. And each night, after reciting the ode, you get to sink beers with the crew around the campfire. How good is that? The biggest value for me was the wealth of information and the people I met. DRA is comprised of 60% ex-veterans. I have had the opportunity to meet and learn from clearance divers, maritime warfare officers, parachutists, commandos, infantry RSMs, tactical police officers, USAR firefighters, Vietnam veterans and many more. This was absolutely priceless to me, changing my entire perspective about the military and ultimately led to me wanting to enlist as an infantryman.