8 November 2024
Enlisting in January 2011, transport Sergeant Rey Munoz III has posted across Australia from Darwin to Townsville and Puckapunyal.
He has been a recruit instructor, a VIP driver and deployed to the Middle East, but said his recent deployment as an Army linguist for the Joint Australian Training Team – Philippines (JATT-P) was a career highlight.
Sergeant Munoz has supported domestic activities and exercises as a linguist, but JATT-P was his first overseas opportunity, and held a special point of personal significance.
Sergeant Munoz operated with the JATT-P contingent in Ternate, south of Manila – a stone’s throw from his childhood home town.
“I was born and raised in the Philippines. My home town is only an hour away from the Ternate marine base, so when it comes to local knowledge, I know the location in and out, I know the people and their behaviours too,” he said.
Defence linguists must pass three assessments to be recognised in their chosen language: reading, writing and interpreting. But Sergeant Munoz said it was the unspoken elements of communication that made a good linguist.
“My main job as an Army linguist is to close the communication gap between the two nations to ensure there are no points of confusion or miscommunication,” he said.
“I think the most important part of being a linguist is giving the correct advice to my superior officer in terms of understanding culture, customs and expectations of how they do things in the Philippines.”
'In my honest opinion, learning language is one thing, but understanding the culture is another thing. There’s no point learning just the language; you must also understand the culture itself.'
As both nations worked, trained and ate side by side during the six-week rotation, it was important to understand one another’s customs and traditions.
“In my honest opinion, learning language is one thing, but understanding the culture is another thing. There’s no point learning just the language; you must also understand the culture itself,” Sergeant Munoz said.
He said understanding culture created a genuine sense of camaraderie among the soldiers as they integrated on and off duty.
Having moved from the Philippines to the small town of Jerilderie in NSW with his family at age 17, Sergeant Munoz said it was great to have the opportunity to visit his home town while representing the ADF.
“I joined the Army to give back to the nation who gave me a secure place for my family,” he said.
“Duty comes first, so I was grateful to be able to visit some of my relatives and they were really surprised and happy to see me … I was also very happy to eat Filipino dishes again.”
Sergeant Munoz recognised the support of his wife and daughter in Australia.
“Being in the Army is not a normal day job, it's more of a lifestyle, so having a strong family unit makes it easier to focus on the job, especially away from home … but saying goodbye is always the hardest part,” he said.
Sergeant Munoz hopes to continue working as a linguist to ensure the relationship between the ADF and the Armed Forces of the Philippines remains strong.
“This has been a highlight in my career so far and I'm hoping that I can continue to work more in this role in the future, maybe even a posting to the Philippines,” he said.
