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Why I Want
To Be An Army
Officer
Amy Hale
Guns and war aren’t my thing. Neither is getting my pretty little nails
dirty or even wearing a jumpsuit. I would rather live oblivious with a
Starbucks cup in one hand and an iPhone 6 in the other. I don’t want
to live with a gun in my right and fear in my left. Maybe this makes
me a bad person? I don’t think it does. I think it makes me the same
as everyone else.
Lance Corporal Eamon Hale, 27 years old. Tall, big build. Muscly.
Ginger/brown hair with blue eyes. Moustache. That’s my half-
brother in a nutshell. He’s categorised, known as Hale. A name, but
he’s so much more than that. He’s selfless, brave, loving, kind and
intelligent. But he’s an Army Officer. Why? How would I describe
him? Eamon is 27 years old but to be honest he acts about 57 at times,
and seven at others. He gets mad when I flick channels on TV too
quickly, and he likes Doctor Who. He tickles my little sister and
taught me how to juggle. He has really big, buggy eyes and I hate his
moustache. He makes it curl at the ends because it makes him look
‘sophisticated’. He carries a comb around and talks like he’s an old
man. He’s classic, original. I couldn’t imagine him even going near
Starbucks. He’s very different to anyone else I know. I couldn’t
imagine him in combat either because he wouldn’t hurt a fly. I think
that’s why he’s such a good soldier. He won’t hurt a fly, but he will
protect people. He’s not a weak protector that stands up for people
because he has to, he’s strong. The strongest person I know.
Personally, my family was very worried when he went to
Afghanistan. He told me that I shouldn’t be worried because he isn’t
going into combat; he’s just going to keep the peace. What a powerful
peace it is. Peace isn’t silence or resolution. Peace is protection.
Eamon keeps the peace, that’s what he does. He despises conflict
which is annoying at times when I want to tell him off for eating all
the good yoghurt. It’s good in others because he doesn’t crave conflict
like others where he works. When I tell people that my brother is in
the Army, they get all awkward and mumble, ‘I’m so sorry, is he okay?’
Because the reality of it all is the only Army stories we’re told are of
tough men with tattoos who get killed in combat. What about the
others? They don’t know my brother and his best friend Tilly. Tilly
is a short Aboriginal man who’s really awkward but with a killer
smile and a contagious personality. I often joke to Eamon that they
should get married, because they act like they are already. Mates.
They call each other mates, but they’re brothers. Fighting together
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