Helping recruits find the ‘why’

Improving training outcomes, redesigning milestone activities and collecting recruit swim-test data earned CPOPTI Michelle Bush a Conspicuous Service Medal.

She received the award as part of the King’s Birthday Honours for her contribution to recruit training at the RAN Recruit School at HMAS Cerberus.

Since posting to the school in 2024, CPO Bush has collected and analysed swim-test data to identify trends, track failures and measure how long recruits take to achieve the required standard.

It has helped identify common reasons recruits struggle with the initial entry swim test and informed discussions on how candidates can be better prepared before arriving at the school.

She also redesigned the school’s Mission Readiness Evaluation, creating a realistic scenario that linked activities and gave recruits a clearer understanding of their purpose.

The evaluation is the final milestone activity recruits complete. It tests teamwork, communication, resilience and behaviour through a range of team-based challenges.

Activities include casualty evacuations, obstacle courses, pool-based problem-solving tasks and force reconnaissance exercises.

CPO Bush said giving the activities a realistic operational scenario helped recruits better understand why they were completing each task.

“It’s much easier to conduct an activity when there’s a ‘why’ attached, as opposed to ‘just go do that’,” she said.

“I’ve created a scenario around it, so essentially they’re on an island conducting a humanitarian task and the whole day is based around that scenario.

“I gave it a purpose to explain the why.”

CPO Bush said she discovered a passion for data collection after arriving at Recruit School and saw it as an opportunity to improve training outcomes.

“I love data collection and I thought I can probably make a positive change here using it,” she said.

The most rewarding part of the role was seeing recruits overcome challenges they once thought were impossible.

“The graduation at the end, seeing them achieve what they thought that they couldn’t,” CPO Bush said.

One recruit particularly stood out.

“There was a guy that came in and literally could not swim,” she said.

“Along with the additional swim training we provided and doing his own training in his own time, he ended up passing and moving on with his training.”

CPO Bush said receiving the Conspicuous Service Medal was humbling and unexpected.

“I was shocked and proud,” she said.

After 25 years of service, she said helping recruits succeed remained the most rewarding part of the job and she had no plans to slow down.

“I just want to continue to make a positive difference and leave places better than when I found them,” she said.