Tamworth's Kate Ponto: a resilient veteran on a path to new beginnings

But she's not alone in her quest. With the support of her family, and with her trusty canine companion Pepper by her side, she stands tall no matter what life decides to throw at her.

"My family have been amazing from the time I enlisted to now, leaving under medical discharge. It's been hard, but the support from my family and the Loomberah community has been incredible," Ms Ponto said.

Her two-and-a-half-decade journey as a Command Support Clerk for the Australian Defence Force was filled with diverse experiences and profound challenges, and it started right here in Tamworth.

As a child, Ms Ponto took inspiration from her paternal grandmother, who served as a transport driver in the women's corps during an era of Australian military history when women's participation was still considered highly controversial.

While still attending school at McCarthy Catholic College in 1998, she enlisted for the Australian Defense Force's (ADF) army reserve, her first step towards a lifelong dream of giving back to her country.

"It always would've been some kind of service, be it police, army, navy, or air force. I just wanted to serve the country in some way," Ms Ponto said.

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However, like her grandmother, the young woman's role in the military was shaped by her gender.

Women were not allowed in ADF combat roles until 2011, so despite wanting to drive armoured vehicles, Ms Ponto ended up doing administrative work as a Command Support Clerk instead.

"If I'd had a choice, transport would've been up there. I just think that's the coolest job, driving around the Bushmasters and the APCs and that kind of stuff," she said.

Although she never got to fulfil that particular dream, she now encourages other young women to take up the opportunities that are now available to them.

"If women want to go into the combat arms course, and they can do it, definitely go for it. Obviously I didn't have that access back when I joined, so I did support roles, but things are so different now," Ms Ponto said.

Over the years, Ms Ponto served in various domestic postings, mainly in capital cities, but her heart always leaned toward small regional areas like her hometown of Loomberah.

"Most of my time was up in Brisbane, but I always preferred the small regional areas," she said.

Her country roots also came in handy at one point.

While stationed in Tamworth the Hunter River Lancers sponsored the support clerk as an entrant into the city's Queen of Country Music contest for two consecutive years.

She said the comrades she made quickly became like a second family.

"Things like ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day are like family reunions, I see people I don't see all year," Ms Ponto said.

In addition to her time on Australian shores, she completed two overseas deployments, one in East Timor and the another to an air base in the Middle East, supporting personnel going into Afghanistan and coming out of Iraq.

"Timor I really, really enjoyed. I almost didn't want to come home. I loved the way of life over there," Ms Ponto said.

The road home for Ms Ponto was not easy, and leaving behind the service she thought would be her lifelong career brought a host of challenges.

"It was hard to leave the service because I always thought I'd be a lifer, serving through my sixties. Unfortunately, I was medically separated," Ms Ponto said.

But through the darkness, she found a ray of light. A four-legged companion named Pepper became her lifeline.

"She saved my life more than a couple of times," the veteran said.

Ms Ponto spent months searching for ways to train Pepper as an assistance dog, a task that's easier said than done in a regional area.

With help from other veterans in the area, and community groups like the Young Diggers organisation and the Oxley Dog Training Club, Pepper took to training like a two-year-old to an iPad and got certified in no time.

"She's come a long way from the time I got her as a pup from a bloke here in Tamworth, and I was very lucky to get her ... she really did save my life," Ms Ponto said.

The veteran said readjusting to civilian life would've been so much harder without the love and support she has received from her family, the Loomberah community, and Pepper.

"I'm back out with mum and dad on the farm, which has been my little safe haven. I don't call it work, but a joke with my family is that my job title is 'official gate opener,' which we all call a terrible job," she said with a laugh.

Ms Ponto strongly advocates for veterans, especially the younger generation, to engage more with their local communities and participate in social functions.

She said the Tamworth Veteran's Hub and the RSL Sub-branch are great places to find lifelong friendships, chatting with "people who get it" about everything, from little things like the weather to heavy topics such as losing comrades overseas.

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