Childcare worker stuns coworkers with Army side gig

When talk turns to what Trooper Lisa McIntyre does at weekends, her workmates sometimes struggle to comprehend the Sydney childcare worker’s double life.

CAPTION: Army Trooper Lisa McIntyre ‘out bush’ during Exercise Waratah Run at Singleton, NSW. Story and photo by Corporal Jacob Joseph.

“They don’t really believe what I get up to when I tell them about combat shooting,” Trooper McIntyre said.

“It’s hard for civilians to really properly understand what we do.”

But the mother-of-two’s video-game-loving son has a better of idea of what mum does when she goes away.

“He thinks me being in the Army is cool and interesting,” she said.

Trooper McIntyre recently participated in Exercise Waratah Run at Singleton, one of 5 Brigade’s main warfighting activities of the year.

While on exercise, the 1/15 Royal NSW Lancers cavalry scout worked within a protected mobility vehicle, transporting Royal New South Wales Regiment infantry units between training activities.

Cavalry scouts conduct reconnaissance for armoured units and can operate heavy weapons.

Trooper McIntyre didn’t usually work with infantry but said meeting new people and having new experiences was one of the best parts of her job in the Reserves.

Joining Army in 2017 has given her out-of-the ordinary experiences from her day-to-day work at a preschool.

“The Reserves were something different, something where I got to come out to the bush and meet new and awesome people,” Trooper McIntyre said.

“The weekends away for exercises, combat-shooting courses and machine gun live-fire activities are amazing as well.”

Exercise Waratah Run was the foundational warfighter exercise for 5 Brigade, held at the Singleton Military Area in March.

It was the culmination of a series of lead-up activities and featured live-fire section attacks and a field-training component, culminating in a combat team clearance of an urban operations training facility.

 

 

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