Joining the Australian Army - Episode 33

Welcome to the latest episode of Women of the Military. This week’s guest is Anna Blanch Rabe. Anna served in the Australian Army as an officer for two years. She left because of a medical issue that still plagues her today. Currently she is CEO of Anna Blanch Rabe & Associates LCC, an eponymous Communications Consulting serving law firms, legal service organizations community minded businesses, non-profits, and social impact business with high quality communications strategy, advice, and content. You may be wondering how I met Anna or how she found the podcast. Anna and I know each other through the military spouse community because her husband is currently serving in the Air Force. I have loved learning about her experience of being a military spouse who recently became a United States citizen and am excited to talk to her about her military life experience in both the Australian military and as a military spouse. Anna was the oldest of four and her parents knew they couldn’t afford to pay for University (college) for everyone. So, Anna’s mom, sat her down and told her that they thought attending the military academy might be a good fit. This conversation led her on a path to apply to the Army and the Air Force. She was accepted by the Army and joined. She still remembers the feeling of walking through the doors and entering the Academy. She ended up getting food poisoning from the dining facility at the Academy and was sent to the hospital and diagnosed with gastrointestinal which ultimately caused her to be medial disqualified from military service and she was disenrolled from the Academy. The Australian Army has a system for those who get injured during combat, but for those who have injuries in training they have a different system. In the end, Anna had to sue the government to get compensation for the medical problem they had caused. When she became a military spouse of an American Air Force Officer she realized how many traditions from her military experience were ingrained into the American military. She also talked about some of the struggles she has faced. One of the main struggles was becoming a citizen. An event that took 5 years to happen and was completed just in time for her and her husband to move overseas. Connect with Anna: Linked In Website Are you considering joining the military? Check out my free guide: A Girl's Guide to Military Life Would you like to be a guest or know someone who might want to share their story for the Women of the Military Podcast? You can sign up here and I will be in touch with you shortly. Don’t for subscribe so you don’t miss the latest episode