As I sit in my study in 2024, in the autumn, if not the winter, of my life, I often reflect on how it all happened.

I was born in the coal-mining town of Greta but avoided the pits when my parents moved to Sydney. I started school in Glebe, which, at the time, was a very working-class suburb. The high school I attended finished at the end of the third y ear, and I imagined working as a clerk.

Then life changed when my parents were granted a Housing Commission house in North Ryde, and I transferred to Holy Cross College. I repeated the first year to take academic studies and the following year joined the school cadet unit. I became a drummer in the band and so began a military career that lasted for the best part of 50 years.

I was lucky enough to gain entry to RMC, Duntroon, and became part of the engineering class. At the last minute, I changed my preference for corps allocation to the Royal Australian Corps of Signals, a decision I never regretted. And so began a career that saw me posted overseas, appointed Director of the Corps, and later, Director-General Joint Communications – Electronics Branch, the senior communications officer in the Australian Defence Force. I was a Visiting Fellow at the Australian Defence Force Academy and retired from the Regular Army in 1992.

Soon after retiring from the Army, I was appointed Colonel Commandant Royal Australian Corps of Signals and, later, Representative Colonel Commandant. How did this all happen?