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The Australian Army has opened new opportunities for civilian photographers to join Army’s ranks.
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New reservist soldiers will be able to attend 21 days of basic training at Kapooka, which can be completed part time if a photographer already has full-time employment. Reservists are expected to do at least 20 days of work for Army each year.
There are multiple new part-time reservist positions available in capital cities, as well as some regional centres such as Townsville and Rockhampton. There are also a small number of full-time positions.
The main tasks for photographers will include capturing photos and videos of local training exercises and events to help tell Army’s story and include opportunities to deploy on exercises and operations across Australia and around the world. Most of the imagery is published by Defence and supplied to Australian and international news media.
Major Tom Maclean, of Military Public Affairs Trade and Training at the Defence Command Support Training Centre, said many professional civilian photographers had already expressed an interest in serving.
“Our ideal candidate is a civilian news media photographer, a similarly trained or experienced professional or TAFE graduate who would initially like to serve part time,” he said.
Previously the only way to become an Army imagery specialist was to undertake three years’ service in another trade before applying for a corps transfer.
Army imagery specialist Warrant Officer Class Two (WO2) Rob Nyffenegger said because new imagery specialists would already have photography knowledge, their Defence initial employment training would focus on adapting their technical skills to a deployed military environment.
“The training is a flexible online delivery model suited to the part-time force. Reservists will be required to meet all the assessment criteria, but they will have longer to achieve it. We will work closely with the learners, their home unit, and supervising staff,” WO2 Nyffenegger said.
Prospective photographers interested in a career as an Army imagery specialist can email the Military Public Affairs Training Team at:
Australian Defence Force photographers have traditionally operated independently or as a member of a military camera team and contributed work towards military public affairs content.
Last year, the Australian Army also announced a new Army Initial Foundation Training continuum undergoing trials that could accelerate recruit training at Kapooka to be completed 25 per cent faster.
The new continuum is designed to be a common pathway for full and part-time recruits and started its second stage of trials at Army Recruit Training Centre – Kapooka on 22 August.
Once completed, the continuum will be reviewed for effectiveness before being considered to fully replace the current Army Recruit Course in January 2024 and become part of initial entry training for staff cadets entering the Royal Military College in Duntroon from January 2024.
