Lae, 12, is one of 60 teens taking part in the Veteran Mentors junior leaders program, the brainchild of a group of ex-servicemen and women who wanted to use their combat experience and military training to help children who are facing a range of issues such as technology addiction, bullying and low self-esteem.

The program involves children aged 9 to 17 working together to face challenges such as getting back to nature and learning how to communicate without the means of technology, all while pushing personal limits. Lae said he had faced difficulties over the past year, so he and his mum decided together it would be good for him to go on the program.

“It was pretty tough on days one and two but once you get past that it’s all good,” he said. “I think I will be a better person when I have finished here. Nicer, more respectful. I think my parents will be really happy with me.

“We have been learning a lot from the veterans and it has been good hearing their stories.”

Afghanistan veteran and now director of Veteran Mentors, Glenn Filtness, said the team had a passion for helping youth and using their military training to mentor and motivate youth like Lae to better themselves.

“We are determined to help kids become accountable for their behaviour and decisions,” said Glenn, who enlisted into the Australian Army in 2005 as a Communications Specialist, discharging from full-time service in 2016 after three deployments to Afghanistan.

“After much discussion we realised the best way for us to pass on the knowledge and experience we had developed in the military was to run a program that could support a wide range of children.

“Some kids who join the program may be demonstrating poor behaviours, low self-esteem, lack of respect, addiction to technology or issues with drugs and alcohol, while others may just want or need to be propelled forward to reach their full potential.”

Glenn said the nine-day Junior Leaders Program could also help young people who were anxious and concerned about where they were heading in the future.

“We teach the children strategies and skills including mental and physical resilience, effective communication, conflict resolution and how to manage fear and stress,” Glenn said, who spends his spare time volunteering for wounded soldiers support organisation Solider On.

“For me, I have a passion for health and fitness so I am determined to help everyone on the program understand the importance of good nutrition and exercise.

“We set these young people challenges that they must get through together as a team, just like we do in the military environment. “That said, we don’t teach the kids combat skills – rather we focus on giving them the ability to deal with conflict and situations outside of their comfort zone.”

Glenn said Veteran Mentors’ programs were proving to be a huge success.

“We are consistently seeing a significant difference in each individual by the end of the program. We are genuinely focused on transforming lives - and at the end of the day it makes us all proud. We are proud of the kids but also proud of each other for helping them move forward.

“Most of the sign-ups have come from word of mouth referrals – parents and carers telling others about the positive changes they are seeing every day in their children.”

The Veteran Mentors also do motivational speaking and smaller team building sessions at schools, as well as parent workshops.

The next program is set to run from December 15-23.

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