A former soldier has revealed how the work ethic he learned in the military got him into trouble in his first civilian job after leaving the military.
Sam Bamford, 34, from Adelaide, joined the Australian Defense Force straight out of school in 2009 and served his country on a six-month tour of Afghanistan in 2012.
Mr Bamford’s tour was marked by a ‘green on blue’ attack in August that year, which turned Afghan soldiers against their NATO allies, killing three of his fellow Australian soldiers and an Afghan interpreter, while still once nine were injured.
Two Australian Defense Force soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash on the same day.
“This is our worst day in Afghanistan,” then Prime Minister Julia Gillard said at the time.
Adjusting to life on ‘Civvy Street’ was always going to be difficult after such a harrowing experience.
But Mr Bamford was caught off guard for a few days when, aged 23, he got his first ‘normal’ job on a construction site working on the Adelaide Oval redevelopment.
‘It was just a completely different world for me. I didn’t really understand some of the unwritten rules,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
Sam Bamford (recently pictured), 34, from Adelaide, joined the Australian Army straight out of school in 2009 and served his country on a six-month tour of Afghanistan in 2012
Mr Bamford’s tour was marked by a ‘green on blue’ attack, which turned Afghan soldiers against their NATO allies, killing three of his fellow Australian soldiers and an Afghan interpreter, while wounding another nine.
‘Like the fact that you’re not supposed to work in the rain. Weather plays no role in the military. It can be hot, lightning or hail – the war doesn’t stop when it rains in Afghanistan.’
The former paratrooper said the Army kept its soldiers in a “fight” rather than “flight” mode during their deployments so they were ready for action at a moment’s notice.
“If you are in Afghanistan and you are being shot at, you have to fight back. “If there is an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) attack, you have to respond, or if there is a casualty, you may have to patch him up,” he explained.
“But when I got out of the military, they didn’t really give you that desensitization training to maybe be more in the middle of that fight or flight response.
‘One day it started to rain on the construction site and I continued to work. This guy came up to me and kind of attacked me. he said, “Hey buddy, what are you doing?”
‘And my response was, ‘what the hell does it look like? I’m working. I’m not stopping just because it’s raining.’
Mr Bamford said the man accused him of being a “scab” and brought in a senior union representative, who approached him in a similarly aggressive manner.
Mr Bamford (pictured on duty in the ADF) was caught off guard for a few days when he got his first ‘normal’ job at the age of 23 on a construction site working on the redevelopment of the Adelaide Oval, when a union official accused him of a ‘scab’ for working in the rain
“I just went to that combat response and told everyone to get out again,” Mr Bamford said.
Mr. Bamford’s supervisor eventually told union leaders that he had just come out of the military and did not know the rules around working in the rain, diffusing the situation.
“I understand that clearly now because there are safety rules and regulations and worker rights,” he said.
‘That’s not how the military works. “They do a great job of keeping Soldiers as close to that combat response as possible,” he said.
“But when you get out, there’s nothing like desensitization to get you back into a normal state of mind so you can function in society.”
Mr. Bamford, who now hosts a podcast called 2 worlds collide where he hears from fellow veterans about their experiences in conflict and at home, said his experience on the construction site was indicative of the wider struggles veterans face in adapting to ‘normal’ life.
In April he aims to raise $100,000 by running more than 1,000km from Melbourne to Adelaide along the Great Ocean Road for a charity called Aussie Front Line, which helps veterans and first responders.
He will run 52km a day for 20 days – more than a marathon.
“We forget about our first responders and what they deal with every day,” Mr. Bamford added.
Mr Bamford, who now has a podcast called 2 Worlds Collide where he speaks to fellow veterans about their experiences in conflict and at home, said the construction site episode was indicative of the wider struggle to adapt to a completely different way of life.
“We military, we go on a mission for six months and we can stay in that zone, that combat zone, while we’re away without distractions.
‘But police officers, firefighters and paramedics are deployed every day. “Imagine having a family of four in an accident, having to pull them out of the car, and then taking your own child to a soccer game that night.”
Australian Defense Force veterans die by suicide at higher rates than the general population.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, suicide rates for ex-military personnel are 26 percent higher than for the average person, while for ex-military personnel it is 100 percent higher.