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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Aston Brown

We want you! ADF recruitment rates are growing, even as the odds of conflict rise. Why are people signing up?

Eli Holt at his home in Menai, NSW
Eli Holt at his home in Menai, NSW. Eli, who is considering joining the army gap year program, says the defence forces are a comforting career option in the age of AI. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

We’re herded into a sterile elevator by a woman in navy camouflage fatigues and carried up to the 11th floor, overlooking Parramatta’s central business district on a dreary afternoon in Sydney’s west.

At the front of the room, dressed in a khaki green uniform behind a lectern, stands army corporal Joel Kellner. In the corner, a portrait of King Charles III rests on a wooden easel.

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