Dave Jolly
The results of Obama’s paring of the military are leaving more American servicemen and women looking elsewhere to further their military careers or to just find a job in today’s struggling job market. Where do they turn?
Some of them are turning to Australia. Unlike the US where Obama is slicing and dicing the American military, Australia is beefing up their defenses. Their military budget for this year is estimated to be around $26.5 billion. By 2023, which is only 9 years from now, that military budget is proposed to grow to $50 billion.
That Australian Defense Force has been looking at military personnel from other countries to help fill vital vacancies and for future growth. For example, the Australian Royal Air Force is looking fighter pilots, air combat officers, electrical engineers, medical officers and intelligence analysts. Their website states:
“The Australian Defence Force looks to overseas candidates to fill gaps in our Services, which can’t currently be satisfied by standard recruitment.”
“We are looking for serving or ex-serving foreign military personnel, who can directly transfer their job and life skills to whichever Service they join, with limited training and preparation.”
Over the past decade hundreds of military personnel from Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand and the US have transferred into the Australian military. Along with serving in the Aussie military comes Australia citizenship.
One of them is Capt. Thomas Tilque who served 10 years in the US Marine Corps doing tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. After seeing an ad in Stars and Stripes, Tilque applied for a position with the Australian Defense Force and after 15 months of paperwork and visa application, he was assigned to the 2nd Combat Engineer Regiment in Brisbane. Tilque says that serving in the Australian isn’t that much different than his experience in the US Marine Corps.
So if you are in the US military or recently discharged and looking for opportunities to use your skills and training, you may want to look into the Australian military opportunities. Since Obama doesn’t appreciate your talents, skills and training, perhaps our Down Under friends will.
