The Operator Supply soldier is a member of the Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps (RAAOC) which is one of the largest logistic organisations in Australia when compared to civilian companies. It is responsible for a very large range of tasks not only supporting the Army but also the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force.

RAAOC is concerned with the provision of logistic support to the Army, specifically with providing, managing, warehousing and issuing all the Army's equipment. RAAOC is also responsible for such things as the demolition and disposal of explosives, salvage of battle-damaged equipment, re-packing of parachutes and many other support services.

The Operator Supply is a multi-skilled, highly versatile member of an integrated logistics team. An Operator Supply performs functions associated with providing supply support to the Army and its various units. As a supply specialist, an Operator Supply could perform technical clerical stores functions including stores accounting and electronic ledger entry, warehousing duties including receiving and issuing stores, planning supply support to repair and maintenance programs and/or driving the various vehicles in the Army's inventory.

An Operator Supply can be employed in a variety of jobs from providing support to an individual unit or to a group of units either on exercise, in a battle zone or in barracks. Within the trade there is a variety of differing employment opportunities due to the diverse nature of supply support.

An Operator Supply is one of the few Army trades that perform the same role and duties in peace and in war. As an Operator Supply progresses through the trade and ranks, they gain a great deal of useful logistic skills including personnel management, materiel management, financial management and concepts of logistics. These skills make an Operator Supply a very attractive proposition for civil industry.

Primary Duties

The duties listed below are those that could be expected to be performed. Note that not all duties are performed in each position:

• Performing technical clerical duties on the Australian Defence Forces electronic supply information system including stores accounting, receipt and issue transactions and loan stores transactions;
• Performing technical stores handling including selecting, packaging, distribution, destruction of surplus or damaged stock, and non-technical inspection;
• Handle, store and distribute dangerous goods such as hazardous materials, ammunition and explosives;
• Assist in the planning of stores requirements for repair or maintenance of military equipment and process maintenance tasks on a maintenance information management system;
• Assist in the calculation of unit resource requirements and basic financial management;
• When in the field, on exercise or in a battle zone, in addition to normal trade duties, perform basic soldiering skills including manning defensive positions, patrolling, traffic control, camouflaging of vehicles and field equipment, and navigation; and
• Operate on and off pavement forklifts, cargo trucks and tow motors. Some positions require the Operator Supply to be able to drive the various vehicles under their control including trucks, forklifts, cranes, motorbikes, armoured personnel carriers, tanks, and light armoured vehicles.

• Better than average promotion prospects as this trade has a minimum period of time in rank of only three years and no backlog of personnel awaiting promotion;
• There is significant employment diversity in the trade ranging from supporting a Brigade in the field to planning and supporting maintenance for the new Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter. At various times throughout the career of an Operator Supply, additional training is provided to ensure that the right skills are available for any of the large variety of jobs available;
• An Operator Supply can well expect to work with a variety of material from repair parts to ammunition to food;
• There is a substantial geographic diversity associated with being an Operator Supply as they are employed in every Australian capital city and many other major population centres throughout Australia;
• Operator Supply personnel are deployed on virtually every overseas deployment due to the ongoing requirement for supply support to the mission. It should be noted that not only fighting units deploy overseas. For every Infantry Battalion or Armoured Squadron that deploys overseas, there is a large amount of logistic support that accompanies them of which an Operator Supply is a key component; and
• All training is fully accredited with formal qualifications. An Operator Supply can gain up to a Diploma of Logistics Management. An Operator Supply gains valuable skills that are useful in civil industry. This isn't just the trade skills that are gained as previously listed, but also the human resource management, training management and financial management skills that are gained throughout the career of an Operator Supply. This makes an Operator Supply an attractive asset to any business that needs human resource, financial and training managers or specialists.