Lance Corporal Corey Wooten

Corey Served 5 Years in the Australian Regular Army as an Infantry Soldier in the Royal Australian Infantry (RAInf). Corey was posted to the 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (7RAR) known as the pig battalion, at Darwin, Northern Territory, and later moved to Adelaide where he now resides as was posted to 10/27 Royal South Australian Regiment (10/27 RSAR).

As an Infantry Soldier, Corey’s role was to seek out and close with the enemy, to kill or capture him, to seize and hold ground, to repel attack, by day or night, regardless of season, weather or terrain.

Corey was deployed on Operation Slipper to Afghanistan with the 7 RAR as the Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force – 1 (MRTF – 1). MRTF – 1 was similar to that of the Australian Army Training Team (AATT-V) in Vietnam, with a focus on mentoring the ANA 2nd Kandak, and also enhancing the tactical employment of the battalion and focusing on counter-insurgency against the Taliban.

Corey has received the following honours and awards for his service:

Australian Active Service Medal (AASM) with Clasp ICAT,

The Afghanistan Campaign Medal,

The Australian Defence Medal,

The NATO Non-Article 5 Medal with Clasp – ISAF,

Infantry Combat Badge, and

The Soldiers Medallion.

I met Corey way back in 2007. I was posted to 7 RAR and marched him into the unit. Corey is like a brother to me, he has always been there to talk to me and give me advice, and we have had a lot of fun out in the wild chasing down some goats.

I asked Corey to be a part of this project and I could sense that he was a little hesitant at first but he eventually comes around and comes on board. Corey is one of the nicest blokes I know and he is also guarded about his military experience. Pulling down his walls to participate in this project is no small feat. to open up and express yourself in an artistic way can be daunting; however, Corey has done just that and has found some good in doing so.