Gabrielle met Jordan at just 19 in the very first week of his Darwin posting. Jordan’s ability to make her laugh won her over, and the rest as they say is history. Over eight years, Jordan and Gabrielle experienced the ups and downs of military life, including a 10-month deployment to Afghanistan, several more months apart for deployment preparation training, many interstate moves and ‘fresh starts’ away from family and friends.
Jordan discharged from the Australia Defence Force in June 2014 to explore his potential and build a career as a civilian. He was adamant to continue contributing to the community and to his and Gabrielle’s future, through his next employment.
In attempts to assist Jordan in the pursuit of his new career, Gabrielle said goodbye to her family and job in media, and together they packed up their life and headed for NSW…then WA…. then back to NT, all before settling in the ACT.
Jordan and Gabrielle started to find stability since Jordan’s discharge in June 2014, largely due to, “the welcome and ongoing support that we received from Soldier On.” This support ranged from social and mental health support, to education and employment support. Whilst their personal journey was at times hard and confronting, and remains a challenge for the both, becoming a part of the Soldier On community has given them the chance to build a life and future to get excited about.