Veterans give Royal Wolf a competitive advantage
From boarding boats in hostile waters to visiting some of the most beautiful places in the world, Tenielle Maskell lived an adventurous life as an electronics technician in the Australian Defence Force.
“I miss the ocean, the sunsets, and the stars,” says Royal Wolf’s Brisbane-based Customer Care Manager. “Then there was swimming with sharks in Palau, and visiting beautiful places like Christmas Island where there is some of the best fishing.”
Her key role was maintaining the electrical equipment on board Armidale Class patrol boat HMAS Larrakia – overseeing everything from radar and HF communications to holding engineering officer of the watch duties and maintaining a 25mm Bushmaster M242 autocannon. This cannon had a rate of fire of 200 rounds per minute and was controlled remotely from the bridge.
“Every morning, as part of routine, I would calibrate the gun system by aligning the camera on the bridge to the gun barrel to make sure we were going to hit the right spot. This role held a lot of responsibility and a lot of excitement,” she says.
But there were more confronting and challenging parts of the job, including boarding illegal fishing boats and refugee vessels as part of border control duties.
Commitment to veterans
Maskell says while she has not suffered any significant trauma from her experiences in the ADF she knows many veterans find it difficult to step back into civilian life and work.
“When you discharge from the Defence Force it takes a bit of time for your feet to settle on the ground.”
Maskell is an advocate for Royal Wolf’s partnership with the Veteran Employment Commitment (VEC) which recognises an organisation’s workplace policies and practices that support veterans transitioning into civilian careers.
“It is wonderful being part of a company who acknowledges the time you have spent serving your country with a VEC program that is there to help and provide support when it’s needed.”
Fiona Van Duuren, Royal Wolf Human Resources Manager, says veterans who are no longer serving in the ADF offer a diverse and highly skilled level of talent that gives a company a competitive advantage.
“We have several veterans employed in the business and the VEC program enables us to enhance our support to them, and future veteran employees, to create a work environment where they can perform at their best.
“They bring everything from problem-solving and critical thinking skills to leadership, loyalty, and risk management expertise,” she says.
The call of family and friends
After six years in the Defence Force, Maskell started to miss her family and friends.
“This isn't to say you can't have a family in Defence, but I really wanted to put some roots down. I started to miss my friends and family. Friends were buying houses, having kids, and as much as I loved the Defence Force, I was ready to build something else for myself.”
Before joining Royal Wolf in 2016 Maskell worked in the tourism industry at Mission Beach (“It was full of palm trees, beaches, it was beautiful.”), ran her own cleaning business, and had stints in the mining and solar sectors.
By 2016 she had moved to Brisbane, met her partner and entered the role of Sales Executive at Royal Wolf. Tenielle recently married her longtime partner and is now mum to two boys, Koda 10, and Kyan 6.
Old skills, new tricks
For Maskell, the wide range of skills she learned in the Defence Force set her up for her current leadership position at Royal Wolf.
“Being so young, and joining Defence, you're not really sure what you're capable of. They teach you survival skills that transfer over to everyday life.
“It instils a belief in yourself, builds your confidence, and teaches you how to work as a team which has played a key role in developing my leadership skills.
“Through the Defence training I realized how strong I am, how resilient you can be, and it builds your confidence in the decisions that you make.
“I also learned how to take direction so there’s lots of teamwork. I think through all the training, and the day to day, you really learn what you can achieve and that's pretty much anything you set your mind to.”
