Glen Ferrarotto joined the regular Australian Army in 1998 after a short stint in the Army Reserves and university. As a reserve soldier, he served in the 4/19 Prince of Wales’s Light Horse and qualified as an Armoured Personnel Carrier driver before training as a mechanic.
After completing his trade qualifications, Glen was posted to Darwin with 5th/7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (5/7 RAR). From Darwin, he was posted to Malaysia and served as a section commander in Rifle Company Butterworth.
He returned to Darwin and was sent to Sydney, attached to Special Operations Command, and then despatched to Kuwait in 2007. He spent 2 months in Kuwait with a forward repair team readying Special Forces vehicles for transport to Afghanistan. When Alpha Company 4 RAR rotated back to Afghanistan, Glen joined them as part of a mechanical support team working at Camp Russell in Tarin Kowt.
On returning to Australia in early 2008, Glen started training for a commando selection course. He had only been home 2 months when he was offered an opportunity to return to Afghanistan with Bravo Company 4 RAR. He chose to return, this time serving outside the wire, providing direct mechanical support to the patrols, which was a new innovation. On several occasions, his presence allowed for the timely repair of vehicles that enabled the patrols to continue their work.
