Role gives former salt refinery worker a big lift

Mum-of-two SGT Chloe Pentland saw an Army job ad featuring a photo of a forklift and knew the role was for her.

Working in a salt refinery in North Queensland and holding a forklift ticket, SGT Pentland was keen to operate heavier machinery.

“The ad was for an Army cargo specialist,” she said.

“It had cranes, it had forklifts, it was physically and mentally challenging, plus you get to go on Navy ships. It ticked all my boxes 100 per cent.”

Eleven years later, SGT Pentland is troop sergeant for the amphibious beach team, part of 1st Landing Craft Battalion in Townsville, which specialises in amphibious operations.

The 24-member team has been part of the Australian Amphibious Force embarked in HMAS Choules for Exercise Keris Woomera with the Indonesian National Armed Forces, the ADF’s largest overseas training activity in 2026.

“Cargo specialists operate the ship’s crane and are in charge of loading and unloading the ship,” SGT Pentland said.

“It’s our job to get all the vehicles – which carry the explosives and cargo – on and off, loading them using forklifts and cranes.”

Seeing a female soldier driving a crane surprises some people.

“It’s funny when you arrive at a job site and get out of the crane and everyone looks like, ‘Wow, she’s a female’,” SGT Pentland said.

“The look on their faces makes me laugh, and feel proud too.”

Cargo specialists are nicknamed ‘termites’ because they can lift 1000 times their bodyweight using cranes and forklifts.

A vehicle breakdown is the worst scenario for SGT Pentland during a transfer from sea to shore.

“When a vehicle is on the beach it’s a massive target so we can’t afford to get stuck in the sand or break down,” she said.

“If we have a vessel breakdown, that puts the recovery of all of our assets and vehicles in jeopardy.

“A successful mission is all vehicles and cargo off the ship and onto the beach, and the forward-on location, fast and effectively. So we’re not a target sitting on the beach.”

When vehicles do break down, the team performs a dead vehicle recovery, clearing the beach lanes for further operations.

Life at sea is good for the termites, who appreciate the food, showers and beds.

“I’ve been on Choules six or seven times and love ship life,” SGT Pentland said.

“Plus you don’t have to do piquets, which in the Army means being on night watch, for the enemy.”