Located behind the Snakepit basketball stadium in Gwynneville is the Wollongong Depot, home to Bravo Company, Wollongong’s Army Reserve unit.

The Wollongong Army Reserve’s annual open day will take place on Saturday. 

Bravo Company’s training warrant officer Mark Bransdon encouraged anyone who’s ever thought of joining the Army Reserve to attend. 

“The good thing about this open day is they’re talking to the soldiers directly; local members of their community who are out there with full-time jobs and families that are also doing reserve work.

“You’ve got young soldiers, 18-year-old’s, and we’ve had soldiers who have been in the reserve for 30-odd years.”

He said reserve soldiers are trained with the same equipment and to the same standards as the regular soldiers.

“So when they go and join these Battallions they fit in quite quickly and are able to head overseas if required. 

“Reserve soldiers do deploy overseas, so if people do want to join up and that’s something they'd like to do, it does happen and it’s happening a lot because of how highly trained the reserve soldiers are becoming.”

The open day is on from 10am to 2pm at the Wollongong Depot (located at 91 Gipps Street). 

There will be military vehicles and equipment on display, local Reserve Unit demonstrations, weapon and fitness displays, Army communication demonstrations, virtual reality and flight simulators and more.

READ MORE: Wollongong's Army Reserve open day a success