Lieutenant Commander Rayne Choice joined Navy at 17 and was ready to take on new experiences.
"From leaving school in Tamworth to being here as the engineer of HMAS Choules - that took 15 years," she said.
Within that time, her career was nothing short of exciting.
"On completion of my Navy training I went to the Australian Defence Force Academy for four years," she said.
"I did my assistant marine engineer officer time on HMAS Warramunga, two Systems Program Office jobs, then I was selected to be deputy marine engineer officer of HMA Ships Arunta and Stuart.
''I was lucky to work at Fleet Engineering as the deputy fleet marine engineering officer and then I was selected to be the engineer officer of HMAS Choules."
As Choules' engineer officer, Lieutenant Commander Choice has worked with many amazing individuals who bring their best selves to work every day.
She oversees the weapons electrical engineering department as well as the marine engineering department on board.
"Being a marine engineer by trade, that has been a huge learning curve in trying to understand how best to work with them to communicate the right information to the captain," Lieutenant Commander Choice said.
"I've been able to learn a lot. There's still a lot to do, however, it has been fun so far."
Lieutenant Commander Choice said the benefits are endless for women wanting a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
"Getting your degree paid for is just one of many. Defence is starting to see an increase in the number of women coming through the technical ranks," she said.
"Now being a head of department, this is the end of my first career stage. The next step will potentially be Defence strategic studies (Staff Course) and I would love to see what opportunity comes knocking, maybe look at taking some long service leave and enjoy my achievements."
