Educator Lisa is leading a double life, one which colleagues “struggle to comprehend”

When talk at Lisa McIntyre’s early childhood education and care (ECEC) service turns to what people did over the weekend, the room goes quiet, and Lisa’s coworkers “sometimes struggle to comprehend” what she calls her double life.

“They don’t really believe what I get up to when I tell them about combat shooting,” Army Reservist Trooper McIntyre said. “It’s hard for civilians to really properly understand what we do.”

This changes at home though, with the Sydney-based mother of two getting high praise from her sons, who love video games and understand just how difficult it is to land the perfect shot. 

Trooper McIntyre recently participated in Exercise Waratah Run at Singleton, one of 5th Brigade’s main warfighting activities of the year, as part of her involvement in the Army Reserves. 

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 the Army in 2017, she said, 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 5th 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.

To learn more about the Army Reserves, please see here.