By AIDAN KNIGHT AND STEFAN BRADLEY
SOMETHING’S in the air in Traralgon.
Sarah Bryan grew up unsure what she wanted to do after high school.
That all changed when Traralgon College received a visit from East Sale Royal Air Force personnel.
Now, Ms Bryan is graduating Air Mission Training School, and heading to Newcastle’s RAAF Base Williamtown, on her way towards a career as a Weapons Systems Officer.
“I have made the best decision ever. I have no regrets with that,” she said of joining the Air Force.
After her ceremony on Thursday, July 16, Ms Bryan will now move into Air Combat Group, where she will undertake further conversion training on either the F/A-18F Super Hornet or EA-18G Growler.
Initially considering becoming a vet, Ms Bryan ultimately chose aviation.
“If I hadn’t joined here, I think I might have joined … to become a flight attendant or something like that, because I’ve always been interested in travel and flying and just aviation in general,” she said.
“But no, this was the best career I could have possibly chosen for myself.”
Ms Bryan began the recruitment process halfway through Year 11, spending about 18 months working through approvals before joining the RAAF in January, just a month after finishing school.
A Weapons Systems Officer is a specialised aircrew officer who sits behind the pilot and manages advanced munitions, target tracking and aircraft sensors.
AMTS at RAAF Base East Sale trains mission aircrew and operations officers, preparing them to manage complex aircraft and systems.
Ms Bryan said the training has been demanding and study-heavy.
“I typically get to work at about 7.30 each day, leave at about five o’clock or so, head to the gym, come back to my room, do more study,” she said.
“It is very, very study heavy … it’s such a fast-paced course that you really just have to be all over everything.”
Her proud parents Emma and Shane believed she would study at university after finishing school – they never anticipated she would join the air force.
“This all caught us by surprise,” Shane said.
“It’s a very different career path, but we’re very excited for her,” Emma said.
She understands how daunting a career in defence may be, but she urges anyone thinking about it to make the leap.
“I know for a lot of other people, it is a very, very big decision to make. But all I would say is just give it a go,” she said.
“You lose the punches and the shots that you don’t take. Take that leap of faith and give it your all.”
Her interests include music, gym, skiing and other sports, with her experience as a part-time barista keeping her coursemates working through the long hours of study.
She may have started out making coffees for classmates, but now Ms Bryan’s moving on to a very different kind of grind – one that’s set to take her far beyond the Valley, and she’s not planning on pulling the chute anytime soon.
