Wings of Change: The inside story of Australia’s first female Green Beret Commando and her fight for change - Tapa blanda

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Robyn Fellowes was born and raised on a farm near Toowoomba on the Darling Downs, Queensland. As a young woman, she had a very promising athletic career but decided to join the Army instead of becoming a professional athlete. Robyn served in the Army for over 35 years, as a Regular and Reserve member, in training and operational planning roles. She deployed to Bougainville in 1998 as a Patrol Commander. In 1999 she was the first woman in the Australian Defence Force to qualify for the Commando Green Beret. She proved that women are capable of performing all combat-related roles - that they have the same mental and physical resilience, and self-belief as the men. Sadly, other women did not have the opportunity to attempt selection again until combat jobs were finally open to women in the Australian Defence Force in 2014. In 2002 Robyn deployed to East Timor as part of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor and again in 2006 in Iraq - in senior communication roles. In 2015 Robyn deployed to Afghanistan as the Senior Lessons Learnt Staff Officer in the Afghanistan Assessment Group. She worked closely with the Gender Advisors, a new military capability, to learn how they planned to conduct their role, given the constraints and cultural beliefs surrounding Afghan women in their Army and Police. On her return, Robyn was seconded to Canberra to help set up the operational Gender Advisor capability for the Australian Defence Force. The job not only required qualified operational planners but also people who had a humanitarian bent. Robyn had the desire to make the world a better place for men, women, boys and girls. Robyn deployed to South Sudan in 2018 as the Military Gender Advisor to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. She focussed on the empowerment of women in the Security Forces. Back in Australia, Robyn has spent the last three years working in Headquarters 1st Division focused on planning operations, actions and activities in the South-West Pacific. Robyn took a sabbatical in January 2022 to write a book about her story of overcoming adversity, helping vulnerable people and driving positive change.