Before you graduate from RMC, they tell you to ask questions and to learn where you can. To lean on your Senior Non-Commissioned Officers (SNCOs) and learn from your mistakes. Whilst I’ve been a lieutenant for almost two years, and I’m not an expert on anything yet, I can say that the above sentence is true. This article is written to cadets about to graduate from RMC, in the hope that it helps you post-graduation and in your first year as a commissioned officer.

Graduating in December 2019, before the 2020 bushfires and COVID-19 affected Australia, I was fortunate to be allocated to the Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps and was posted to 1 CSSB in Darwin. I imagine the pride I felt is shared by almost every officer who graduates and moves into the real Army. It’s a distant future we dream about during training.

My first year as a lieutenant was quite different from that of my predecessors. Logistics Officer Basic Course (LOBC) was shortened due to the ever-closing borders in March 2020. Most of my company was deployed and I found myself part of rear details, in charge of 15 soldiers. Then when the Melbourne lockdown occurred in late July 2020, I was deployed to command all of 1st Brigade’s Combat First Aiders (CFA), to assist with testing surge centres. The command of 50 soldiers was an enjoyable and privileged time, being a commander on a live task. Once I returned, I was appointed as the Company OPSO to ensure continuity over the Christmas period, and am still in that position.

There are many things I have learnt since graduation and, whilst it’s hard to generalise, I’ll outline two key things I’ve learnt and some things I wish knew prior to leaving the college.

Communication – As a staff cadet, you are primarily taught infantry skills; which suits the general knowledge all officers require and should be continued. However, in a logistics setting I needed to adjust my communications skills, which became incredibly prevalent during my deployment to Melbourne on OP COVID-19 Assist. My training had prepared me to deliver orders face-to-face – gather my troops around me and pass on my intent. Due to social distancing and the virus’ restrictions, I found myself commanding via online group chat and face-to-face command was limited. As such, I would send out orders online and confirmed any questions from my section commanders over the phone. If there were any critical points to pass on then I would gather small groups together, but for no more than fifteen minutes. Necessity made this work, but I lost the personalisation I could add to a conventional delivery of orders. The lesson is: you don’t need to practice conventional college-based leadership to be effective. During COVID-19 I couldn’t lead from the 'front'. The front was all around us, and only detectable after fourteen days or via a COVID-19 test, so leadership took on another form and was still effective. It was incredibly interesting to see an operation in a domestic context and see how one virus can change so much – except the core principles you are taught.

I found communicating in the battalion was different as well; I was given freedom to speak and request information and tasks from the other sub-units and the battalion. As a platoon commander you are somewhat limited to official tasks and request that go through your operations cell. As the OPSO though, this was my core job. What I then needed to consider was that I was giving clear and concise information to my peers and their platoons.

Planning – Foresight, one of the principles of logistics, is a core value all officers learn. It was interesting to transition from planning an attack or an ambush, to planning and predicting the sustainment of a battle group or combat team during their operations. This was further highlighted once I became company OPSO. The role of OPSO required me to think in a completely different way, moving from planning for just 30 people, to 80-90 personnel as well as equipment and commodities. Despite best intentions to create a plan and execute it, logistics is an ever-changing pathway and therefore we need to adjust plans where required.

The juxtaposition with our training to plan with a platoon and planning in a company context as an OPSO challenged me in many ways. There were consistent tasks and requests for information coming through my inbox – I needed a method of which to track and organise it all.

What I wish I knew

Task Trackers – My operations sergeant created a basic task tracker that is coloured coded and provides the user with a brief understanding of the date, time, nominations, and requirements of the task at hand. I found this to be incredibly helpful and would recommend it to any other junior lieutenant who is placed in a similar role.

Objective – A major function of my everyday job in barracks is the use of Objective. I can’t speak for other officers and cadets going through the college, but until an ad hoc lesson from a former clerk turned lieutenant, I knew little to nothing about it. If I could suggest anything to add to the RMC-D curriculum, it would be Objective. I understand there is a campus course on it, however a small lesson from the Chief Clerk would go further in any cadet’s mind. Useful tips, for example; how to set up your handy, how to efficiently link and organise your aliases, how to work the standard command structure for the files, what document goes into what folder, and how to search for anything. Having a basic understanding of this would – in my opinion – greatly increase the confidence and efficiency of a new lieutenant from day one.

Administration – Another key function of my everyday life that I learnt is administration. When I first graduated, I felt an immense pride that I was leading soldiers, but with this came the responsibility of ensuring their wellbeing and quality of life. The effect of delaying a piece of administration could vastly affect the life of that soldier and their family. It is essential to ensure it leaves your desk on time and in a correct manner.

Exercise documents – As an OPSO, I completed the planning for the field training my company was to conduct this year. I completed my first Every Movement Security Plan, helped create a health support plan and created the company ORBAT. These were documents I’d never even considered during training and I’m sure I have many more to discover. These may seem trivial to others but for myself it was a steep learning curve.

My advice to others is the same that is presented to us during and upon completion of our training: ask questions. I acknowledge that my experience during my first two years as a junior officer will be different to any other person regardless of their rank. My main points are that the Army and indeed the military is ever changing, but also stays the same. The core and fundamentals we are taught will help and guide us through our careers; however, we must ensure we remain flexible with anything and stay open minded to new information that could increase the effectiveness of the ADF.