Corporal Kbora Ali is a personnel capability specialist posted to 35 Squadron. In 2016, she became the first female of Afghan descent to join the Australian Army, and in 2022 she transferred to Air Force. That same year, she was a UNICEF Australia young ambassador and in 2024 she was named Aviator of the Year. Having joined the ADF at 18, she used her service history to apply to UNSW (ADF Academy). Corporal Ali will graduate with a Master of Strategic People Management on December 11. This is her story, as told to Evana Ho.
Our family lived in Afghanistan. At the time, there was a war, which is still going on, that escalated and my father thought there would be no future for his children there. So he moved us to Pakistan and at that time he came to Australia.
My parents didn't have a right to education so my mum and dad never went to school. This is why I want to pursue so many things. They still talk about their strong memories of back home and their limited opportunities, limited resources and infrastructure. It gives me a lot of perspective about what we have here.
Inspired to serve
People in uniform came to my high school. I was a really shy girl and I wanted to mirror their confidence.
When you sign up, you sacrifice a lot. You leave your family anytime it is required of you to move. The sacrifices we make as serving members gives me and all of us a greater sense of purpose.
I didn't intend to be the first in any way. I just wanted to do what I thought was right to give back. When you are paving a new way, you get a lot of criticism, a lot of questions. In our community, despite living in Australia, there were still restrictions at that time of what you could do, so I didn't tell many people when I had joined, besides my close friends. At first, it was hard, even for my parents to accept because they had risked their life to escape war, let alone other people.
I went through a lot of struggles just to get in and then to get through Kapooka. When I went through training, I was 153cm - then, just 1cm above the minimum height requirement.
Going outside my comfort zone
When you're uncomfortable, you really push the boundaries and that's where you grow and see your potential.
There are endless opportunities available for all of us; to seize them fully and embrace them fully, I've needed to step outside of my comfort zone. But I think the best way the military trains you is to keep challenging yourself, all the time.
I transferred to Air Force in 2022. As I did when I came to Australia, I had to start over and leave everything that I was familiar with - the people, my environment, my work. On the first day I still remember I was like, I have a long way to go.
I applied to do my master's degree a few months into coming to Air Force. I spoke to someone in Air Force during a coffee catch-up and he told me about his master's degree, which I was unaware that I could do without having a bachelor's degree. So you can use your service history and once you get accepted, you will be sent an unconditional offer on the basis that you pass one subject.
That night I went and applied through UNSW Canberra and I got an email a few days later that I was unconditionally approved.
University lifestyle is quite different. My degree was all online, so you're on your own. You have to be really motivated and disciplined and have a good routine to get you through. I literally opened my year 12 diary and analysed what I did to get a good ATAR so I could replicate that in going into university.
I feel like I've grown as a person. It is definitely challenging to study a masters-level degree.
English is a third language for me so it takes me a while. I am a slow learner, but, you know, slow and steady wins the race.
Graduating
My last sister graduated last month. We're the first generation in our family history to go to school and university. I feel like I'm doing this for my grandparents, I'm doing this for my parents and also for our future generation so they can see what's possible. Because for so long this was not possible for us.
I wrote a letter to myself to open on graduation day. Every time I felt demotivated or really stressed, I looked at that. I wrote it in mid-semester because it made me believe after seeing my results that maybe I can do this.
In the letter, I wrote: You had imposter syndrome getting into this degree. Being in a degree with people who already had degrees and having English as a third language was hard. But I know that on this graduation day, this is the proudest achievement for yourself and your parents, so celebrate this moment.
A lot of people around the world don't have this opportunity. I am grateful to Air Force for providing us with this opportunity. Going to university has been a dream and graduating as a serving member will be the proudest achievement of my life when I graduate.
