103 proud soldiers from the 15 and 16 platoons march out at Kapooka

As 103 new soldiers stood on the parade ground to mark their successful completion of their first 12 weeks of training on Friday morning, Chaplain Brenton Fry was watching just one.

His son Dylan sold his business to follow in his dad’s footsteps and join the army. 

“He’d trained as an apprentice electrician and had his own business,” he said.  

“But that feeling of wanting to enlist still niggled away.” 

Chaplain Fry has served 35 years in the military, 20 as a soldier and now as Chaplain at the Royal Military College. 

“I did my own recruit training here at Kapooka,” he said. 

“It just feels like coming home.”

New recruit Private Dylan can now call himself a third generation soldier. His grandfather served on the north coast of New Guinea in WWII and younger brother Jacob graduated military training last December.

“All of our children just grew up in and around the army,” Chaplain Fry said.

For him, service is about “compassion and caring for people.” 

It’s a tradition that has endured. 

“Every single soldier has done this since the 1950s,” Regimental Sergeant Major of the 1^st Recruit Training Battalion Tas Mcginley said. 

“Today signifies the last day of their training, 12 weeks ago they were civilians straight off the bus.” 

Lieutenant-Colonel Elizabeth Stephens, commanding officer of the first recruit training battalion, thanked the families and loved ones of those marching out. 

“Their journey would not have been as successful if it was not for the foundation you set,” she said. 

The fresh new soldiers spent the day off-base with their families, before they progress to the next stage of their military careers on Monday – Initial Employment Training. 

“Be proud of your achievements, you are joining that khaki line, you are wearing that badge of honour,” Col Stephens said.