Mark McMillan is a Wiradjuri man from Trangie in NSW. Mark enlisted at the Royal Military College at Duntroon in 1988, two years after his older brother Michael enlisted in the Army. Mark was discharged after only 18 months due to sustaining a serious knee injury. In his interview, Mark reflects on the differences between his and his brother’s experience in the military and he also talks about military attitudes toward homosexuality from his perspective as a gay man. Mark has a Masters and PhD in Law and said that his experience at Duntroon was ‘life-changing’, shaping him in fundamental ways, particularly his strong sense of his Aboriginality and the way he processes the world in thought. He also discusses what he sees as a significant failing of the military – namely the failure to support people transitioning out of the military and its highly regimented way of being.

This interview took place on 12 May 2017 in Melbourne and was conducted by Dr Allison Cadzow and Dr Noah Riseman with Craig Greene, as part of the Australian Research Council-funded research project Serving our Country: a history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the defence of Australia.

The interview recording above is made available to be viewed here by permission of the interviewee(s), Mark McMillan. The recording may not be copied, reproduced or communicated in whole or in part without the prior permission of the interviewee(s). Requests for permission for use of this material should be made to the Serving our Country research project: our contact details.

• Return to Mark McMillan’s participant page.