Did you know that you can join the Air Force without becoming a pilot? Squadron Leader Kara Sellwood, a St Aidan's alumna from the Class of 1998, is proof of it. As a pharmacist in the Royal Australian Air Force, Kara has built a career that has taken her to every point of the compass, from the Top End to the Middle East, and from Canberra to the Philippines.

While the pilots take to the skies, people like Kara make sure the Defence Force is healthy, supplied and ready. It is work that rarely makes headlines, but without it, nothing gets off the ground.

West: RAAF Base Tindal

In the west, Kara was posted to RAAF Base Tindal, near Katherine in the Northern Territory. There she held pharmacy positions at the Tindal Health Centre, looking after the health needs of the personnel and aircrew based in the Top End.

East: Pacific Angel, Philippines

In 2015 Kara headed east to the Philippines for the Pacific Angel mission, a humanitarian assistance program in the region. During the Health Services Outreach, she prepared medication for the communities the team was there to support.

North: Deployed on operations

Squadron Leader Sellwood has deployed overseas on operations, and took part in the largest Exercise Talisman Sabre ever held:

2018: Operation OKRA, Iraq

2021: Operation ACCORDION, United Arab Emirates

2025: Exercise Talisman Sabre

Talisman Sabre is a biennial joint military exercise co-hosted by Australia and the United States. The 2025 exercise ran from 13 July to 4 August. It was the 11th and largest to date, with more than 35,000 personnel from 19 nations training across land, sea, air, space and cyberspace. Activities took place in Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory, New South Wales and Christmas Island and, for the first time, outside Australia in Papua New Guinea.

In recognition of her service, Kara has received the Australian Operational Service Medal – Greater Middle East Operation.

South: Canberra and Duntroon

Kara's career has also taken her into health planning and logistics. She served as RAAF Liaison Officer at Joint Logistics Unit-East, and in a health planning and logistics role at Headquarters Joint Operations Command, the headquarters that plans and runs ADF operations around the world.

In 2023 she took on one of her biggest leadership roles yet, managing the largest ADF health centre in Australia, at Duntroon in Canberra.

At the centre: when COVID-19 struck

Can you imagine being in charge of ADF pharmacy and health support when COVID-19 struck the world? When the pandemic grounded aircrews, it brought new procedures and treatments that no one had planned for. Then there was the supply of medications and vaccines across the whole Defence Force. What a headache.

Kara was posted to the Joint Health Command Directorate of Health Materiel, Logistics and Pharmacy. The Directorate is responsible for the provision of health care to members of the ADF and, from a health perspective, for the preparedness of the ADF for operations.

Closer to home

Most recently, Kara was posted to 1 Expeditionary Health Squadron at RAAF Base Amberley, just west of Brisbane, as the Senior Pharmacist and Officer in Charge of Health Logistics.

Alongside the Australian Operational Service Medal – Greater Middle East Operation, Kara has received the Australian Defence Medal.

This Armistice Day, as we remember those who have served and those who serve today, we are proud to share Kara's story. It shows our girls that a career in the Defence Force can take many forms, and that the skills they build at St Aidan's can carry them to every point of the compass.