2021 Royal Military College Duntroon cadets brave toughest training year tainted by COVID-19

The Royal Military College Duntroon held its first graduation ceremony since the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday, with 84 new officers reaching the milestone.

The virus disrupted the trainees' initial 12-week training at Majura Training Area in 2020, forcing them to spend six months in austere conditions away from family.

Captain Jack Dorning said these were some of the most resilient graduates he had ever seen.

"The cadets that are leaving today are proven to be strong leaders of character, highly resilient, and they've got a very close-knit bond with each other," he said.

"There were quite a few people who didn't make it through."

"It makes us a lot more confident too that those that are leaving the programs today are ready."

Captain Dorning said the graduates felt "euphoric" at hitting the milestone, which is the first step before heading off to specialist units.

"For a lot of people, this may be the most challenging thing they've ever achieved," he said.

Senior Under Officer Lachlan Fletcher won both of the two major awards, the Sword of Honour for best marks and the Queen's Medal for leadership.

After a challenging 18 months, Mr Fletcher said he was relieved to finish, adding the coronavirus pandemic had created extra stress for cadets.

'I don't think it's been at a detriment; we've actually been a lot better for it,' he said.

"For a lot of [the cohort], it's been a massive change coming from civilian to army officer.

"It's got us used to the changing environment that we're going into."

Nine of the recruits were from overseas armies, including two each from New Zealand, Pakistan, and Vanuatu.

One staff cadet each from Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and Qatar also graduated.

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Captain Dorning said Australia was strengthening its alliance with those countries by helping train their best soldiers.

"We see it as a contribution about making the region more harmonious if you will, which sounds odd from a defence perspective," he said.

"But if we're all training together, it means that we don't have to worry about each other, and there's not going to be many misunderstandings."

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