Ballarat soldier Jeremy Janson's Australian Army experience

There was never any doubt in his mind that he would join the Australian Army, following his Army Reserve father and brothers into the service.

And even though he decided to step away from the regular army life after returning from Afghanistan, he didn't go far - joining the Army Reserve where he now works full time as a quarter master or storeperson, looking after the battalion's supplies.

But that doesn't mean the skills he gained during training, exercises and overseas deployment as an infantryman and protected military vehicle (PMV) driver now go unused.

Pte Janson recently returned to Ballarat after taking part in the massive Exercise Talisman Sabre, which involved more than 34,500 military personnel from Australian and United States alongside soldiers, sailors, marines and aviators from Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of Korea, Tonga and the United Kingdom.

The exercise, conducted throughout five states and territories over two weeks, builds relationships and operational ability between forces.

It allowed him to get back behind the wheel of the Bushmaster PMV to help conduct security and "presence" patrols throughout three different sectors of the exercise in Queensland.

"It feels like driving my own car - once you get back in, it feels really familiar," Pte Janson said.

"It was great to get back in the PMV after several months and refresh my driving and vehicle maintenance skills."

Although it was the first Exercise Talisman Sabre he took part in as an Army Reservist, he also took part in one while in the regular army in 2017, working with US Marines in the Northern Territory.

During his years in the Australian Army, Pte Janson part of the 5th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (5RAR), based in Darwin where he was a rifleman and PMV driver.

He was deployed to Afghanistan in 2019 as part of Force Protection Element 12 (FPE-12), driving PMVs as "guardian angel bodyguards" to protect Australian and Coalition advisors as they trained, advised and assisted Afghan security forces.

"It kept us on our toes," he said. "Pretty much when anyone joins (the army), at the end of the day you want to demonstrate your capability and you want to deploy for your country."

As a PMV driver, Pte Janson also had to perform basic maintenance and repairs on the move while wearing full body armour.

"The added complexity of having to conduct maintenance in full body armour provided an interesting challenge in a tough environment," he said.

"It was a steep learning curve working alongside Australian military advisers in Afghanistan, but I enjoyed stepping out of my comfort zone to utilise my skills and training outside Australia."

The return from Afghanistan came with a realisation that it was a career highlight and it would be hard to return to the same routine in Australia after such a big experience in a conflict zone.

"You will never feel that cool again," he said.

At the same time, the life of an infantry soldier started to take its toll.

"Being an infantry soldier takes a toll on your body. You carry a lot of weight on your back, you start to hurt, my lower back started hurting, and my feet and knees, so I thought I'd better get out."

In June 2021 Pte Janson transferred to the Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps to work part time with the Army Reserve as a storeperson, and part time in security in Ballarat. That transfer also allowed him to gain more skills and qualifications.

"When I corps transferred, I was able to get my high risk forklift license and my heavy rigid license, which was a big bonus," he said.

But with his security job demanding more hours than he wanted, and more hours available in his Army Reserve role he again chose the military life.

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"They were looking for extra hands there so I put my hand up and it's become a daily thing so I'm pretty much doing full-time hours, but as a reservist, which is pretty good. I'm getting some time on the tools again and every now and then there's a job from a field brigade that comes up.

That might be helping run a course at Puckapunyal Army Base, or helping out where needed.

Last year he volunteered to help with flood relief efforts in northern Victoria, driving Bushmaster vehicles through floodwater to assist locals and emergency crews.

"It was definitely an eye-opener driving around in the Bushmaster seeing so much water. I never knew such a mass of water was capable in the middle of nowhere," he said.

"It gave me the opportunity to pretty much use the tools that I used in the regular army, in the reserve world, and help the locals."

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