Donald Robertson will commemorate Anzac Day in the Middle East on Tuesday.
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It's a far cry from the quiet dawn tribute in Belmore Park in Goulburn NSW, but the sentiment will be all the same.
"It's not that different," Major Robertson said. "It's a solemn occasion, a special occasion."
"I guess there's a commonality, but the extra special thing about being overseas is that you get to make it your own way."
On an Australian Defence Force Base in a nation the ACM's Goulburn Post has agreed not to name, Major Robertson and the other soldiers will rise before the sun to mark the occasion.
"No matter where we are in the world, we get up just before dawn and carry out a traditional dawn service which will be 0500 Middle Eastern time - it will be six hours behind the services on the east coast of Australia," he said.
"We will wake up and have our dawn service and we'll be able to watch back on everything that's happened because it will be early-afternoon Australian time by then."
While the occasion is highly respected in Australia and New Zealand it is also observed in many allied nations like France and the UK where ANZAC troops are recognised for their role in two World Wars.
However, Major Robertson said they will be joined by military personnel from their host nation too.
"We will be sharing Anzac Day along New Zealand Defence Force personnel with representation from the UK military - and our host nation will have representation by their military - they recognise and respect the importance that it has for Australia and New Zealand," he said.
The army engineer is currently serving at a base which includes what Major Robertson said was a great accomplishment in his career.
Between 2016 and 2017 he served in Afghanistan and in the country where he is stationed today and during that time oversaw the design and construction of a large mechanical workshop.
"My Dad was a mechanic, so here I was designing it and now I'm back here and it's operational and in use so I'm particularly proud of that," he said.
Major Robertson said it was actually a chance occurrence that led to a more than decade-long career in the army, he switched schools and had to choose elective subjects.
"I changed schools at the end of Year 10 and couldn't do the subjects I was originally planning to do, so I started Engineering Studies in Year 11 and I fell in love with it," he said.
During a Defence Force visit to the school he learned of the Australian Defence Force Academy and that he could study engineering there, so signed up fresh out of High School in 2007.
"I went and studied Civil Engineering, then in 2010 when over the hill as they call it to Duntroon."
During his undergraduate studies he worked on a children's hospital in Canberra, then in 2015 aided in the Sydney Metro project as part of a one-year training placement with the John Holland construction company.
However, Major Robertson said it's the Defence work he admires most, helping to rebuild schools in Fiji following a cyclone and other projects he can't discuss.
"Building and delivering for people who aren't as fortunate or have been impacted by disaster, that's what got me into Defence and that's the type of work I love," he said.
The engineers oversee a lot for Australia's overseas operations too like airfield maintenance, securing the bases and building accommodation and other facilities.
"We need to have the facilities to support us and the engineers are a big of part of providing that and I'm also proud of that," he said.
Major Robertson said he was looking forward to Tuesday's commemoration.
"We've set up a dawn service that is unique to where we are, we're still commemorating the heritage of the ANZACs and the Gallipoli landing, but closely reflect upon the ADF in the Middle East the last few decades."
He's unsure if family back home will be joining dawn services, but the relatives rarely stray too far from his thoughts.
"I'd love to say hello to my family in Goulburn, my Uncle Ross, Aunty Valerie, Uncle James and all of my cousins in the Robertson clan as well as the Mifsud family, it's been a number of years," he said.
Jacob McMaster
I am passionate about amplifying people's stories and trying to do them justice in the written word. I find pressure washing videos soothing. email me jacob.mcmaster@austcommunitymedia.com.au or 0406 212 845.
I am passionate about amplifying people's stories and trying to do them justice in the written word. I find pressure washing videos soothing. email me jacob.mcmaster@austcommunitymedia.com.au or 0406 212 845.
