Darwin Salvo couple say they have ‘best job in the world’
BY KIRRALEE NICOLLE
Australian Defence Force personnel stationed in the Northern Territory have a welcoming place to find a cuppa, a biscuit and an understanding ear thanks to the work of The Salvation Army.
To this day, The Salvation Army’s Red Shield Defence Services (RSDS) carry on the historic work of the Sallyman and Sallyma’am, a role which first appeared during the Second Boer War in 1899.
In Darwin, these roles are currently filled by husband-and-wife pairing, Karl and Sheldron Adams-Brown. The couple, who attend Darwin Corps, were enrolled as Senior Soldiers last year.
Between them, the pair, who are parents to three children and grandparents to two, come with many decades of experience in military service, paramedicine, midwifery and more recently, psychology and social work.
Karl and Sheldron met while working as paramedics in the NHS Ambulance Service in the UK. Since moving to Australia, Karl continued to work in the Queensland Ambulance Service, then the army. Sheldron retrained in Australia as a midwife, then went on to study psychology and work in social services. They have found their combined training to be an invaluable preparation for their work with defence personnel.
“I don’t think there’s a lot of difference – other than [we’re] not catching babies or [treating] physical injuries – but just that visual assessment [and] verbal assessment and just being able to be comfortable to sit in those uncomfortable spaces with people, those things are very similar,” Sheldron says.
The pair have also walked the sometimes long and emotionally draining road of basic training and long months apart. Karl at one point spent 10 months away from home, and their son Jarvis also joined the army and was forced to leave his wife and child behind for long periods.
“There’s quite often people who reach out on social media to [community pages] who are struggling at home with a baby, no family up here, husbands, boys are on exercise wherever for however long,” Sheldron says. “There’s a lot of isolation for the spouse.”
When not out on a job, Sheldron spends her time seeking to care for those left behind. She says some spouses are left confused and upset when their partners don’t return their calls or text messages. She can then gently explain to them that when personnel are out on exercises, phone access is often prohibited and reassure them that their partner is not purposefully ignoring them. On the other end of this scenario, they have also been out on exercise with personnel who are worried about their partners or children at home.
“If they’re really, really concerned about something that’s happening at home, we’ll let them use our phone or we’ll send a message on their behalf, just to reduce the stress really,” she says.
Karl and Sheldron out and about with RSDS - serving drinks and snacks, chatting with ADF recruits and members of the Thai Army, and fixing wheels on the Sallyman truck. Images: Supplied
When dealing with other causes of stress, Karl says he enjoys sitting with those who are having second thoughts about their choice to join the military or what has come with that decision. He says this experience is one to which he can deeply relate, and he likes to reassure them that they can change their minds, and their life plans are not set in concrete.
“Because I’ve done it [too], whatever they say, I can empathise with,” he says.
Karl encountered the Sallyman himself when he was in the army, and the pair say he knows exactly what is important to servicemen and women who “have been out there sitting on the dirt for hours and hours and hours, waiting”.
“When you’re in basic training, everything revolves around food and sleep,” he says. “It’s just [about seeking] a distraction. That’s the kind of thing that a Sallyman can do – bring a complete deflection from the hardships and the mental strain that you’re under at the time,” Karl says.
“It’s always a happy event when the Sally truck turns up. You don’t try and make anything sad and morbid; you try to keep it elevated and keep [them] distracted. Give them a few laughs and always try and make it nice and light-hearted.”
Sheldron says because Karl also looks the part of a serviceman, defence personnel give him a lot of respect, some even calling him ‘sir’.
“Especially the younger ones coming in just out of training school – they look to him for a bit of advice, how to do this or how to handle that,” Sheldron says. “Karl’s very humble, but he will support younger soldiers [with advice].”
Karl says ADF staff have even noticed the difference in scores at the shooting range when the Sallyman truck was there, and when it wasn’t.
“The [personnel] that have been in the army for years and years, they know the difference that it makes to people. The [RSDS] really reduces the risk of depression.
“Just that morale booster – it’s a no-brainer. It’s a definite boost to performance.”
And it isn’t just the ADF and visiting international military who benefit from what the Sallyman and Sallyma’am roles can offer.
“It’s the best job in the world,” Karl says. “Everyone is pleased to see you.”
“There’s never anybody who’s not pleased to see you,” Sheldron adds.
For more information on the Red Shield Defence Services, click here.
