Up Close: Conversations with Modern Veterans

Mar 06 2022 7 ep. 24 mins 352
Up Close: Conversations with Modern Veterans Podcast artwork

Adam Shand navigates raw conversations with recent Australian Defence Force members about their lives in service.  From enlisting, to the challenges that come with training, conflict, and life after the uniform, these are real stories of the highs and lows of military life.

  Society & Culture
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Always a veteran

Mar 06 2022 27 mins  
Reflecting on what it meant to serve, each of the veterans speak honestly with Adam about their time in uniform and how it impacts where they are today.  Fred and Lorraine explain why they regret nothing from their time in service, and Fred shares how he continues to help others.  Lorraine finds her calling through volunteering, and David explains why being a veteran does

Returning home - Life after service

Feb 27 2022 24 mins  
After experiences that were far from normal, the veterans discuss their return to a life that was supposed to be.  Fred opens up to Adam about the mental impacts of that night in 2004, sharing how it still impacts him today.  Lorraine reflects on returning to an empty house after a deployment where a quiet moment was unheard of, and discusses the challenges that she faced

Support in a time of need

Feb 20 2022 33 mins  
Having now felt the physical and psychological impacts of a life in uniform, Adam discusses the support that the veterans received both during their deployments and when they came home.  Fred shifts into a more people-focused role, and he and Lorraine both talk about the importance of having a partner who understands military life. Believing support to be about more than just

Australia goes to war

Feb 13 2022 32 mins  
The nature of the job changes as Australia goes to war and the veterans must put their training into action.  Fred explains how a routine patrol day became anything but routine, Lorraine shares how her comrades were able to deal with life on a military base which was regularly bombed, and David recalls how a training scenario suddenly and unexpectedly became very real.  K

Finding a new family as training begins

Feb 06 2022 26 mins  
Adam investigates the training stage of the veteran’s careers.  Having initially enlisted to avoid school, Fred ironically finds himself back in the classroom as he reflects on a standard day of training.  After transitioning from a family of 11 to a ‘family of thousands’ Lorraine shares the challenges that she faced as a female recruit during an importa

Choosing a life in uniform

Jan 30 2022 23 mins  
What draws someone to a life in the Defence Force?  Adam Shand learns that the answer to this question is often as varied as the people that enlist.  In this episode he meets Fred, who was seeking an apprenticeship as an escape from school, Lorraine, who was driven by job security, and David and Kim, who were both raised in families already immersed in a li

Up Close: Conversations with Modern Veterans - Trailer

Jan 17 2022 3 mins  
Adam Shand navigates raw conversations with recent Australian Defence Force members about their lives in service.  From enlisting, to the challenges that come with training, conflict, and life after the uniform, these are real stories of the highs and lows of military life.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.