SERVING THE AUSTRALIAN ARMY FOR 1o YEARS
Following her graduation from Loreto Toorak in 2010, Alice Dunn studied Science at The University of Melbourne. She joined the Australian Army in 2012, and completed a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Indonesian Language and International Politics, at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA).
Alice trained to be an Army Officer at the Royal Military Academy Duntroon in 2015. This training covered a broad range of areas—military strategy, tactics, logistics, administration, and leadership—and she was commissioned as a Lieutenant (LT) into the Royal Australian Corps of Transport in December 2015.
In 2016, Alice was posted to Brisbane to the 5th Transport Squadron, 7th Combat Service Support Battalion, a logistics Battalion that supports approximately 5000 people. As Troop Commander, she was responsible for 37 soldiers and more than 40 vehicles. Over the next two years, Alice was transferred twice; firstly, as the LAND 121 Trials Troop Commander, where along with her soldiers, she developed the use of armoured vehicles across the ADF, and secondly, as the Liaison Officer to the Commander of the Army’s Logistics Brigade. After being promoted to Captain in 2019, Alice was employed as the 2IC of the Road Transport Wing (RTW), at the Army School of Transport in Puckapunyal, where her role was to manage the welfare of the trainee drivers.
One of her career aspirations was to become a translator within the Defence Force. In 2020, Alice undertook further studies in Indonesian at the Defence Force School of Languages and is now a qualified Indonesian translator. Interestingly, she was deployed to the Philippines in 2021 where she provided logistics support to a training team. In 2022, Alice was posted back to Australia to Headquarters 1st Division in Brisbane where she was the lead logistics planner for the ADF’s work on the Southwest Pacific region, while concurrently completing a Masters of Logistics Management through UNSW.
Most recently, Alice has been posted to Canberra to work as the ADC (Aide-de-Camp) to the Chief of Defence Force, a role which promises to be an amazing experience.
Given the breadth of opportunities Alice has experienced in the ADF, it is difficult to pinpoint a specific highlight. The diversity in postings has afforded her a broad spectrum of skills not easily acquired for those working outside the ADF. The Army has enabled her to grow professionally, continuously offering training and the support required to do her job.
In her spare time, Alice enjoys reading and travelling. She hopes to explore Canberra and its surrounds while bush walking and trail running. She is planning to visit her sister, Emma, who is based in London, as well as her sister, Maggie, in Sydney. Career-wise, she is working towards being promoted to Major, and hopes to work in Indonesia sometime in the future.
Alice feels that her education at Loreto Toorak set her in good stead. She was taught to grasp every opportunity and to try everything which placed her in a positive position when she joined the Army, a male-dominated workplace. Her belief is that the only person who can hold you back is yourself.
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