Space is the frontier for Major General Susan Coyle, the soon-to-be highest-ranking woman in Australia's military, whose future is bright as she oversees new areas of conflict.
Major General Susan Coyle 's life on the road began long before she commanded Australia's forces in the Middle East, or led a task force in Afghanistan, or even before she joined the army as a 17-year-old."It was a transient childhood," says Major General Coyle, who from July will be a three-star general and the first woman to lead what the military calls a "war-fighting domain".
It may explain her later choices: During 36 years with the army she's shifted 28 times, accompanied often but not always, by her husband Mark, who also serves in the army, and their three children."I was very conscious for my children — once they hit high school, we tried to have stability. And so one of us would be based in Canberra, or if necessary, my son went into boarding school for a couple of years," she says.
"So we're looking at what's up in the sky … what satellites are ours or our allies? What are commercial ones that we have to protect, and what are other satellites up there that we're not aware of that may be adversaries' satellites, and what are they doing?" she says."One of the things that might signal future conflict is when there are attacks on geostationary satellites," he says.
"Then it's up to us as leaders to make sure that they feel valued, empowered and want to stay for as long as they choose to." "I was at that stage in my career where I was so motivated to serve. And I also thought at the time that I wouldn't be seen as credible if I took a long break. And I'm really pleased to say that these days that is not the case.
"I went to the Defence Academy with the other ladies. I've known all of them my whole life," she says.
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