Liz Cosson - Pre-deployment training

Transcript

So being on land headquarters, I did have the opportunity to meet with those who had gone on previous rotations and those who had had experience in peace monitoring. So yeah, and we did that for every rotation. And certainly with your pre deployment training, you have the opportunity to get all those briefs.

And I'll always remember, in our pre deployment training, we were educated on culture and language and just getting to know about the people that we're going to support and never losing sight of why we were there. And it wasn't for ourself, it was for the people of Bougainville, to help them through a period of where they were trying to rebuild, and they were still going through hand back of weapons, they were trying to find that peace. They are trying to rebuild community, they are trying to be rebuild schools and church and, and we never lost sight of why we were there.

And it was for the people wasn't for ourself because sometimes you can forget that, that it's not about us. And understanding the perception and how they see you and their culture and gaining that appreciation to all that pre deployment training was key for the force when we went over there.