Corporal Davis is yet another example of how the Army can change your life and how great things can come in small packages.

Born in Tasmania and raised in a tiny 10 house hamlet called Golconda - halfway between Launceston and Scottsdale – the diminutive Corporal Tamieka Davis left school in 2006 with the intention of joining the Tasmanian Police but before doing so, spent time helping her father on the family dairy farm as well as working as a contract farmer driving heavy plant machinery.

After seeing an advertisement for the Army Reserve, she decided to give service life a chance and joined the Army Reserve as a combat medical assistant.

She later transferred to the Regular Army and undertook her initial trade training for the Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps and was posted to 3^rd Combat Engineer Regiment as an Operator Supply.

CPL Davis was awarded the 3^rd Brigade Junior Leader Award for May 2010 but she is no stranger to being recognized for her excellence, being awarded student of merit in her Subject 4 for Corporal course as well as student of merit during her recruit training.

CPL Davis thoroughly enjoys Army life and intends on making it her career. She especially enjoys the challenges of working in RAAOC and knows that her work and that of her colleagues is the backbone of any Army operation. One of her recent highlights was her work in Papua New Guinea where she was responsible for local liaison with the PNG Defence Force to ensure that her Regiment’s activities training and assisting the local population ran smoothly. And, as anyone with any knowledge of the Army can attest, it is the unlauded work of people in corps such as RAAOC that is so vital to operational success.

CPL Davis' award especially recognizes her work in helping to create the training patrol bases at High Range Training Area that replicate the patrol bases the ADF is occupying in Afghanistan providing valuable training opportunities for soldiers about to deploy on Op SLIPPER.