But more than a sprinkling of women dropped by the Wollongong Depo to check out for themselves the type of career opportunities available in the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

This pleased Nic Kenter, the Officer Commanding (OC) at B Company Wollongong Depo.

‘’It is great to see such a good cross section of the community here today,’’ Mr Kenter said.

‘’The aim of today is primarily to recruit people for the Army Reserves but it also presents us with an opportunity to engage with the community and show them what we’re all about.

‘’We want the community to see what we do. Hopefully they like what they see and go away and think about joining the reserves and possibly a career in the Army.’’

Bronte Barrett, 15 from Shellharbour definitely liked what she saw.

‘’I came today because I want to be a medical corps officer with ADFA (Australian Defence Force Academy) when I finish school,’’ she said.

‘’I’m a member of the Air Force Cadets in Warrawong and really enjoy it. I came today to find out a bit more about what I need to do to join ADFA.’’

The open day featured recruiting information sessions and family fun activities.

There were also interactive military vehicles displayed and live demonstrations of equipment and Army communications.

The dummy grenades throwing activity was one of the most popular, especially for the children in attendance.

‘’The kids absolutely love this activity. We set targets and they love the challenge of trying to hit the targets,’’  Mr Kenter said.

Many also checked out the tents showcasing Army weapons such as rifles, grenade launchers, machine guns and anti-armour rocket launchers.

The impressive mortar tube artillery which can fire 81 millimetre mortars up to five kilometres, also had a lot of interested onlookers. The G-Wagon, the Army’s latest utility vehicle was also popular with young and old alike.