The trainee officers who start now at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra will be among the mid-career officers at the forefront of Australia' nuclear submarine program, the academy's commandant says.
Air Commodore Jules Adams said the Australian Defence Force was looking for trainee officers who were STEM literate, even if their strengths lay elsewhere.
"The humanities element is an important stream because what we are actually trying to grow here - as well as technical people, that more technical mindset - is people who can think critically," she said.
"And that's what those humanities bring to the fore."
More than 15,000 people checked out the Australian Defence Force Academy campus in Canberra on Saturday, where they got to see what studying towards a military career might be like.
Vehicle and aircraft displays, demonstrations and a flyover gave prospective students a taste of what a military career could look like for them at an academy which offers both technical degrees and qualifications in arts subjects.
Air Commodore Adams said ADFA had never missed its targets for attracting trainee officers, despite Defence experiencing declines in other areas.
"I think it's the combination of being able to study while being paid [and] having a taste of that military experience while you're studying," she said of ADFA's appeal.
Air Commodore Adams said ADFA had worked really hard to embed cultural change since Elizabeth Broderick's 2011 review of the treatment of women at ADFA.
"That's a journey that never stops. It's ongoing because you're dealing with a demographic of people that by their very nature, they're young. They're exploring their boundaries themselves," she said.
"And we as the people that are leading and guiding them and mentoring them, need to set those boundaries for them and be alert to the things that are happening around them and jump on behaviours that we don't want to see inside the Defence Force.
"That's an ongoing, active pursuit that will never stop. And it will be the same in any university in Australia - any place where you've got a large number of people under the age of 25."
Air Commodore Adams said the traditional view that split people between the Army, Navy and Air Force had also changed, which meant trainee officers had opportunities to work across more of a melding pot.
"Obviously each of us has a strong identity to a service, but the role that you undertake in that uniform may not be what you traditionally think about in terms of your Army, Navy and Air Force," she said.
"And certainly now, we are going to bring a nuclear-powered submarine into service. So I think everyone's mind goes to that's Navy's asset and that's Navy's responsibility.
"Right now you've got people of all three services working together to make that happen. And once it comes into service, it will be an ADF asset that we will all need to contribute to."
Someone in an Army uniform may be responsible for security or an Air Force officer might be working on policy or regulation, Air Commodore Adams said of possible examples.
