Lessons of 1RAR soldier’s life to SF and beyond

After 20 years in the Australia Army where a young boy was moulded into a highly trained warfighter, Bram Connolly learnt a thing or two about life’s adversities and how to manipulate fear into triumph. Now, the retired Special Forces Major has laid it all bare in his book ‘The Commando Way’.

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AFTER 20 years in the Australia Army where a young boy was moulded into a highly trained warfighter, Bram Connolly learnt a thing or two about life’s adversities and how to manipulate fear into triumph.

Now, the retired Special Forces Major has laid it all bare in his book ‘The Commando Way’.

Mr Connolly, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for leadership in combat in Afghanistan in 2010 turned to writing after retiring from the Australian Defence Force in 2011 and has published two military fiction novels The Fighting Season and Off Reservation.

It wasn’t until a conversation with his editor that he was persuaded into sharing his own story.

Former Australian Special Forces Major Bram Connolly, who has released a book called ‘The Commando Way’. Picture: Supplied

Former Australian Special Forces Major Bram Connolly, who has released a book called ‘The Commando Way’. Picture: Supplied

“I just didn’t feel comfortable because I didn’t feel it was special,” he said.

“So, I started to write it as a risk of being average and felt the best way to explain myself and lessons was from a position of humility.

“In fact it was the way I was brought up through the army and how I was trained that I’d become and it’s way too vulnerable for my liking but once I started it just kept flowing out.”

Like so many of Australia’s most decorated soldiers, the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment in Townsville provided the training ground for Mr Connolly before undergoing special forces selection.

Former Australian Special Forces Major Bram Connolly, who has released a book called ‘The Commando Way – A Special Forces commander’s lessons for life, leadership and success’. Picture: Supplied

He said the physical and mental toughness he endured then was just the beginning of a career and life he owed everything to.

“We would always say ‘the harder the training the easier the fight’ and that still applies in life today,” he said.

“I joined the army at 17 and had $22 to my name and I got to see the world and go to university and I feel like I owe the army everything and the army owes me nothing.

“When I left I found it was like a marriage break up, the army is a living, breathing beast and it knows you’re part of it – the 1st Battalion will always be my first love.”

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In writing the book, Mr Connolly said he was forced to reflect on his life as a whole, from his upbringing and relationships with family members to the one he created in the Army which was forged through adversity and camaraderie.

“When you’re in a good team and confronted by something challenging it is so satisfying to achieve that,” he said.

“Commandos set their people up for success because the team is everything and being able to rely on that on the battlefield is everything.

“Some are no fail missions and so if one person fails the whole team fails so they really set them to work at their absolute limits and instil that self ethicacy in that they believe they can do it.

“I only ever compared myself to me and don’t ever think it should be about anyone else.”

Former Australian Special Forces Major Bram Connolly, who has released a book called ‘The Commando Way – A Special Forces commander’s lessons for life, leadership and success’. Picture: Supplied

The book, which is best described as an autobiographical manual for resilience, personal leadership and success, took four years for Mr Connolly to write.

He said it didn’t come as an overnight revelation but rather a lifetime of taking notes.

“If I had of known leadership was an energy transfer and understood empathy as a corporal I would have been a far better leader,”

“We weaponize emotional intelligence in special forces because so much of it is about situational awareness and that has a lot to do with mindset and looking at the world around us as a gymnasium.

“The book talks a lot about my failures and that just shows that we’re all human.

“The thing I love about the elite background I have was the opportunity to fail and fail hard in a safe environment and be supported to learn from that failure because that’s where the real growth of character happens.”

Originally published as Lessons of 1RAR soldier’s life to SF and beyond