A Local reader near and far

At The Local we like to randomly select a winner of our popular quiz each month. 

But when Aaron of New Lambton sent us his entry recently we knew he had to be our winner for last month.

Along with his quiz answers Aaron wrote to tell us he was an avid reader of The Local. So much so that his family sent him a copy in a care package while he was on deployment with the Australian Army in the Middle East during 2018.

“My family sent me a copy of The Local whilst I was deployed in 2018 and it was great to see what was going on. As I look towards another deployment to Afghanistan in December I will definitely be asking them to send each issue over.”

Born and bred in New Lambton, Aaron did his apprenticeship as a diesel mechanic when he left Lambton High School. While he had long had a desire to join the services he found work in the Hunter Valley mining industry. 

Eventually the  dream of joining the Army took hold and he enlisted in the Army. After various postings both here and overseas he was deployed to Kuwait as an Intelligence Analyst.His work with the Army took him to many places including in 2017 a flight in Marine One, the US President’s helicopter, Donald Trump’s at that time.

Returning to Australia after his Middle East deployment Aaron worked for an Australian government agency in Canberra and considered his future. 

He opted for coming home to New Lambton where he married his long-time sweetheart Laura last year and purchased a home in New Lambton. 

Aaron has decided to return as a civilian contractor for a Australian company and will leave for Afghanistan before the end of the year. He will be on a 14 week rotation consisting of 8 weeks in Afghanistan, two weeks Covid-19 quarantine in Sydney, then four weeks at home in New Lambton.

We wish Aaron every success and a safe return trip home each three months. 

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