Sometimes she might be a bit 'shouty' and 'yelly', but don't let the theatrics fool you.
Military Skills Instructor (MSI) Corporal Mikhayla Kiem can be her own worst critic.
"You've got 70 people listening to everything you say with no questions - it can be quite a dangerous thing," Corporal Kiem said.
"It's important to be humble and self‑reflect so you can give your best to the recruits.
"We're really demonstrating to them what we need from them."
Behind every aviator is a military skills instructor - custodians of a recruit's journey from civilian to aviator.
Over nine weeks, instructors like Corporal Kiem teach recruits everything they need to operate in the Australian Defence Force.
Lessons on how to handle a weapon and defence strategy follow physical fitness testing and drill practice.
"We're in a very privileged position here with very vulnerable people," Corporal Kiem said.
"It's a new environment, it's scary, they're away from home, and they have home lives we know nothing about.
"It's being able to check yourself and say, 'I need to be humble, I need to be respectful, I was once in their shoes'."
It was past midnight when then‑recruit Kiem first stepped off the bus at 1 Recruit Training Unit (1RTU) more than six years ago.
She quickly found herself in a military skills instructor's crosshairs.
"He yelled at me to get my hands out of my pockets," Corporal Kiem said.
Some would be perturbed - but the Gold Coast girl was inspired.
"They were just awesome. They were exactly what I wanted to be," she said.
'You've got 70 people listening to everything you say with no questions - it can be quite a dangerous thing.'
For the second‑generation aircraft technician, service was an aspirational endeavour.
Her grandfather served in the Air Force during World War II.
Her father was a military skills instructor in the 1980s and her mother a medic.
She said her dad was careful not to project his own expectations or colour her experience as she began her career in Defence.
"He made me watch An Officer and a Gentleman before I enlisted, and that was kind of it," Corporal Kiem said.
"He just really wanted me to go through it myself and make it my own thing.
"But he was pretty happy when I became an MSI."
Nevertheless, the lessons she learned along the way were her own.
"If you come to 1RTU expecting to yell, scream and have people obey what you're saying, you're here for the wrong reasons," she said.
"We are the exemplar: our behaviour, our values, our uniform."
The impact of Corporal Kiem's leadership is best shown through the stories of those she has helped.
"There was one recruit who went from not being able to speak in front of a group to yelling drill commands for the whole course in just eight weeks," she said.
"She earned the Chief Instructor Award, and now she's out there in the Air Force.
"I helped her become a good aviator. She put the effort in, but I laid the stones for her to get there - that was pretty special."
