Scott McMahon

(OTG 1995)

Over time, I have reflected on my years at Trinity and the friendships I made there, the activities and things I did and were exposed to. While I may not have appreciated these things at the time, with the benefit of hindsight and other experiences in my life, I really draw upon my time at Trinity and the experiences and go “Wow, that set the foundations for me.” And not just from an educational perspective, but in my personal growth as a man.

I think a lot of schools have them, but the House system was one which I always found rewarding. I’m not a musical person – I was a maths, science sort of person generally at school and played sports like cricket and football – but the House system exposed me to different areas and relationships in that way. One of the things that still sticks out in my mind was when I was the House Vice-Captain in Year 12. I was in Henty House and during the House Music competition that year, we did Priscilla Queen of the Desert for the musical. Despite not being a musical student, I threw myself out there into one of the lead roles. I had two boys who could actually sing either side of me, but I was front and centre in front of the entire school in drag singing and dancing, well out of my comfort zone. But it was sort of something that you wanted to do because of that House spirit and bond.

I was focused on joining the Air Force and becoming a pilot. And that was my pathway until about August of Year 12 when I did some extra testing with the Defence Force and they said, “Look, you don’t have the spatial awareness it takes to be a pilot, but you can look at other areas within the Air Force.” I wasn’t prepared for that at the time, so I moved on and wasn’t quite sure what to do. So, with three or four months to go in my Year 12, the one thing that I had my mind set on wasn’t going to occur. That adage of putting all your eggs in one basket came back to haunt me in a big way, and I had to quickly figure out what I was going to do.

I completed Year 12, did well academically, and got accepted into the University of Melbourne to do an Arts degree. At the same time, I joined the Army Reserves unit that is located in Surrey Hills. I was attending the Army on Tuesday nights and some weekends, and was really enjoying it. I applied to go to the Australian Defence Force Academy with the Army midway through my first year out of Trinity (1996). After more testing and passing a selection board, I was accepted and moved to Canberra and commenced my studies and training at the Academy in January of 1997.

There a lot of things that you reflect on that you did at Trinity and get involved in at Trinity – sometimes quite obvious things. The passive learning and development that occurred throughout my years at Trinity I have found to be very complimentary to the culture and values of the Army, and it is those aspects and experiences which made my move to the Army feel so natural for me.

In the Army, there are different employment areas like Infantry, Armoured, Signals and Supply areas for example. I’m in the Transport area and I’m an Officer. I often explain to people unfamiliar with the Army, that it’s a bit like being a deputy headmaster at a school. I’m responsible for scheduling of the courses, all the resources requirements associated with these courses like making sure we’ve got enough fuel, ammunition, cash, vehicles, instructors and the like. It’s very much a coordinating function working directly to the Commanding Officer.

In Afghanistan, I was a Movements Officer. I was coordinating what we call the intra-theatre lift, which was the movement of Australian personnel and equipment into, and throughout, Afghanistan. It involved a lot of planning and engagement with coalition partners, making sure we had the right people and the right equipment, on the right flights, getting to the right areas. It was great, and I had a lot of independence in my role. My higher headquarters was based in Kuwait at the time, so it was essentially me and my small team undertaking this role. It was a real challenge, but it was one of those great challenges that you remember. It was exciting.

In late 2004 there was the Boxing Day tsunami in South East Asia, and I was part of a force that went to Indonesia to provide immediate disaster relief. The acknowledgement and thanks that we received from some of the locals was rewarding. The same thing can be said of my deployment to Timor Leste in 2006. The appreciation from the civilian population for what we were there to do was gratifying.

There is also the reward in just getting to do your job. When it’s something that you train all your career for, and then to actually get to go out and do your job, there is a sense of achievement in doing that. Finally, the opportunity to work with some of the people that I’d been able to work with, who have come from all facets of Australian life, has been extremely rewarding. We’re all from different backgrounds with one aim, one goal, and when you work together collaboratively in a team, you can achieve some great outcomes.

Read Patrick Jaffe's story

“After graduating Trinity I took a gap year in the UK working at the school, helping out with the boarding, coaching a bit of sport and being a teaching assistant as well…”