‘The standard we measure ourselves against’: Honouring the past, helping today

Growing skills and leadership

But CommBank benefits as well. Johnston says having a military career as well as a civilian one has allowed him to get training and develop skills highly relevant to his day job. "There's a big overlap between the two roles for me. There's lots of learnings from complex project deliveries I've had at Army that I've brought into CommBank," he says.

One of the biggest crossover skills is in planning. "As an officer, you spend a lot of time planning. You plan individually, you plan as part of groups, and you execute tasks," he says. There are also great opportunities to develop leadership and people skills in the military. But as a business lender, possibly the biggest crossover is learning to safely and responsibly manage risks, Johnston says. "That's something that I got my head around quite early in my officer career, because of my experience in writing business loans," he says.

Connecting veterans at CommBank

Two years ago CommBank established a dedicated Veterans Employee Network to connect curernt and former service personnel employed by the bank. Johnston says it's a great way to make connections and share experiences. But network secretary Julie Hall says it's just as important that it supports spouses, partners and other family members.

For example, military service often means relocating, she says. "Spouses and partners sometimes only get quite short notice when their partners are transferred," Hall says. "That disrupts not only their current role, but their career development, so CBA supporting them with transitioning locations is really important." CommBank also has dedicated business bankers to assist veterans and families make the transition from service to business ownership once they leave full-time service, she says.

Supporting families of veterans

Whether it's moving, setting up a business or embarking on a new career, transitioning to life after military service has its own challenges.

But it can also be tough, and never more so than for families of service personnel that tragically don't make it home. Founded in 1923 to help widows and children of soldiers that fell in the First World War, Legacy continues helping families profoundly affected by military service and conflict today.

Sydney Legacy acting President David Glasson says the people he deals with as a 'Legatee', as the organisation's volunteers are known, range from a 104-year-old widow of the Second World War to young families. The help Legacy provides can be as simple as a phone call or as involved as help navigating services says Glasson, himself a former Royal Australian Air Force pilot and a continuing member of the Air Force Reserve.

"A lot of our elderly widows live alone, and they don't necessarily have too much social contact. So just a visit, a cup of tea, a call on their birthday means that they feel like they're still connected to people," he says. "And sometimes it can be bigger, like helping people to get work done around the house or essential services when they're getting more elderly and more frail."