WHEN most people think of war veterans images of soldiers fighting on the front line, coming into contact with the enemy are usually front of mind.
However there are many roles in the Defence Force which are integral to operations, as 30-year-old Afghanistan army veteran Nick Sommerfeld experienced.
Mr Sommerfeld, a member of the Greenbank RSL sub-branch, always knew he wanted to join the Australian army and so, as a fresh faced 18-year-old, signed up straight from school.
However life does not always go as planned and during the recruitment process it was discovered he was colour blind.
Although unable to serve on the front line, Mr Sommerfeld was not deterred and found a role that over his 11 years in the army, had him travelling throughout Queensland, as well as to East Timor and patrolling the borders around Christmas Island.
As a chef it was Mr Sommerfeld's duty to make sure the soldiers he fed did not go hungry, a job he excelled at and which had him chosen to serve on patrol base Sorkh Bid in the province of Kandahar in Afghanistan with the 8th/9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (8/9 RAR) in the first half of 2012.
Mr Sommerfeld, a Corporal chef, had the job of feeding a team of 100 two fresh meals a day at the Australian base, which was in the Afghan compound but separated by concrete barriers.
It was the same compound where three Queensland soldiers were killed when a rogue Afghan soldier they were training opened fire during a parade just two months before Mr Sommerfeld arrived.
Mr Sommerfeld was part of the first Anzac Day ceremony held at the base after the deaths and it is one he will always remember.
"It was a reminder that you have to take life as it comes. They gave the ultimate sacrifice over there and it was extra special to be at the Anzac ceremony marking that," he said.
Mr Sommerfeld said although there was some tension on the base in those months after the shooting, most understood the actions of that Afghan soldier did not represent what the wider Afghan army felt.
He said his time in Afghanistan was a positive and rewarding experience, one where unlike his other deployments, he got to know and mix with the soldiers he was serving.
"I tried to have a routine in catering, so we would have what we called Fat Friday's, where we had pies and sausage rolls, and Sunday night roasts and that gave the guys something to look forward to," Mr Sommerfeld said.
After Mr Sommerfeld completed his six month deployment, he returned to Australia and left the army to spend more time with his fiancee, Nikki Sweet, and children Isaac and Haliah.
He is now a real estate agent and in January joined the Greenbank RSL sub-branch.
Mr Sommerfeld will commemorate Anzac Day this Friday at the dawn service at the Greenbank RSL.
"When you join the Defence Force you make friends for life and you realise what those people go through and the risks they take in serving their country," he said.
Mr Sommerfeld will also compete in the six kilometre Anzac Run in Brisbane on April 27 to raise money for the charity Legacy.
He said the Winston Churchill quote, "We make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give" motivated him to help others.
To donate visit anzacrun2014-brisbane.every dayhero.com/au/nick
