Ayrlie Served four Years in the Australian Regular Army as an Air Defence Operator in the Royal Australian Artillery (RAA), with 16 Air Land Regiment (16 ALR) previously known as 16 Air Defence Regiment (16 AD REGT) at Woodside in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia, Australia’s only ground-based air defence (GBAD).
As an Air Defence Operator, Ayrlies roles would include using a range of sophisticated radar systems to spot and analyse potential threats and use the high-end ground to air missile systems to defeat them within a team role.
Ayrlie deployed on Operation Slipper to Afghanistan with the unit Joint Task Force 13 (JTF633) from late 2012 to early 2013 where she was tasked with controlling CRAM, A device that intercepts incoming indirect fire from the enemy, protecting the troops within the Forward Operating Base (FOB).
During her service, Ayrlie has received the following honours and awards:
Australian Active Service Medal (AASM) with Clasp ICAT,
The Afghanistan Campaign Medal,
The Australian Defence Medal, and
The NATO Non-Article 5 Medal with Clasp – ISAF.
After I was medically terminated from the army, I began working as a Correctional Officer, and that’s where I met Ayrlie. We continued to support each other through hard times whilst I lived in Queensland, where we both participated in a body transformation challenge. Having Ayrlie there to push me along was amazing. She spoke the same language and knew when things were not the best, she has a caring nature, but she is as tough as nails. Ayrlie has volunteered to be a part of The Righteous Side of Hell, and I am proud that she has. Expressing your emotions and displaying vulnerability is not an easy task, yet she has stepped up and done exactly that.
