Tenison Woods College 2019 graduate Breydon Verryt-Reid (pictured) is encouraging others in the Limestone Coast to join the Australian Defence Force after recently completing his training and study at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA).

Mr Verryt-Reid is now a Pilot Officer with the Royal Australian Air Force.

He undertook all his senior schooling at TWC and was awarded the Australian Defence Force Academy Education Award in 2019.

Mr Verryt-Reid said he ‘absolutely’ thinks more people should join the defence force.

“I think it’s a real shame that in Mount Gambier it’s not very accessible or encouraged as far as at schools or the opportunities to talk to people about it,” he said.

“It’s not something that we see often out of Mount Gambier, I think I’m the second ADFA graduate in probably the last 6-10 years from Mount Gambier.

“I’d encourage people to just make the phone call to Defence Force Recruiting (DFR), do their research online and know that it’s achievable.

“The beauty of the recruiting process is once you make that initial phone call, and you start the inquires and the aptitude tests you will find a job that is suitable for you.

“Anybody can do it if they have the aptitude, they have the fitness and if they set their mind to it.”

Mr Verryt-Reid said his interest in aviation started as young as four years old when he received a small model aircraft from his uncle, who was a private pilot license holder.

“Then I had the opportunity to do a few hours of flying instruction out at the flying school out at the airport,” he said.

“I never got a license, but I guess that was just another fire that was lit under me in terms of pursuing the career of aviation as well.”

Mr Verryt-Reid said he further sparked his passion in the Air Force in high school after joining the 612 Squadron Australian Air Force Cadets, located at Mount Gambier Airport.

“That was a big motivator about the Air Force side of things for me, something that was really interesting, and I really enjoyed working in a team environment where there were a lot of professional opportunities and a very professional work environment,” he said.

“Also, a big part of being in defence is the mates that you have and some of the friendships I have made and the experiences I have had as a cadet definitely encouraged me to pursue a career in defence.”

Mr Verryt-Reid officially started his journey in 2019 with a phone call to Defence Force Recruiting and several conversations with Tenison Woods College careers adviser Jodie Elliott and Vocational Education and Training coordinator Sharon Brodie.

“I had a couple of conversations with them about what we need to do, and then got a conversation with DFR, about getting that first interview set up, we did the interviews and went through that process,” he said.

“That required me to travel a few times during Year 12 up to Adelaide to sit for the interviews and the aptitude tests, and so forth but DFR covered all the costs for that.

“After that, we travelled to Sale in Victoria, which is where I’m posted now, and we did another aptitude test over eight hours over two days which tested if we were suitable for aviation training specifically.

“If you were considered suitable we then travelled to Canberra and I undertook an officer selection board which was a full eight-hour day of job interviews, group assessments, writing assessment, basically screening your suitability to be an officer and lead others and lead yourself.”

Mr Verryt-Reid said after following the process, he still needed to complete Year 12.

“Year 12 just went as per normal, just there was a big focus on really getting good results,” he said.

“I got my SACE and my ATAR and I required my ATAR to join the Australian Defence Force Academy along with an offer from the Defence Force for a job in the defence force,” he said.

“I have joined the Air Force as Officer Aviation – Mission Aircrew, and I have spent the last three years now at the Australian Defence Force Academy undertaking officer training and gaining my degree through the University of New South Wales.

“While I was at university I studied a Bachelor of Computing and Cyber Security with Distinction.

“I finished my training at the academy last year at the start of December and I graduated from university at that same time.

“Then we commissioned and gained our first officer rank, for me – as a pilot officer.

“The cyber security and the computer science study that I did, I always have been fascinated by computers and technology and my final year research project at university was on creating a form of intelligence … to detect fake news about COVID in Twitter posts.

“That kind of thing just fascinated me and how we can apply it to our world and solve a lot of problems.”

Mr Verryt-Reid is completing his officer aviation training at the Royal Australian Air Force base in Sale.

“That’s going to take me at least through the next 12 months,” he said.

“Once I have completed that it means I’m ready to do my job and then I will be posted to another location anywhere in Australia where I can do another specialisation of the officer aviation job.

“Basically, I have just done my military training at ADFA for the last three years, now my job/ employment training here in Sale and after that I’ll do specific training for a particular platform or job type that I’ll work for the rest of my junior officer career in the defence force.

“I’m looking forward to enjoying a career as a junior officer in the Australian Defence Force and seeing what opportunities that brings me.”