Australian Defence Force nursing officer Jess Limmer knows her deployment in Operation COVID-19 Assist will be something she tells her grandchildren about.
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The second in command of the Army School of Health's health specialist wing trained as a Army officer and a registered nurse.
"To be a military nurse in 2020 is obviously something I will remember for the rest of my life," Captain Limmer said.
"My role was as an instructor and then once the pandemic hit, I quickly morphed into a nurse and assisted at the local drive-through clinic at Wodonga.
"People were thanking us for being there and telling us we made them feel safe.
"Then in June, I went down to Melbourne and was there for nine weeks."
Captain Limmer and her colleague Sergeant Nicola Emsley were testing between 200 and 500 people daily for COVID-19.
"We were going into the unknown, because we didn't know what to expect," she said.
"On the flip-side of that, it was actually really rewarding to be providing support in our own country."
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When Captain Limmer was posted to Albury-Wodonga in January last year, people on the base were responding to the bushfire crisis.
It is an example of the adaptability of the modern-day Defence Force.
"Anzac Day gives us an opportunity to get together and reflect on our service and those that have gone before us for many, many years," Captain Limmer said.
"We don't only reflect on World War I and World War II, where we potentially had grandparents served, but we reflect on our Middle East operations, with our mates we work with everyday serving in those conflicts."
