Tour Guide Jobs For Army Veterans
- Led by a former Australian Army SAS soldier and Jungle Warfare Instructor
- Fixed fee per trek, with flights, insurance and gear covered
- Nine days at a time, a few treks a season
Who You Would Be Guiding For
Adventure Bound Tours is run by Olly and Belinda Fowler. Olly served in the Australian Army for more than 25 years, including 8 years at SASR and Jungle Training Wing. He holds an Australia Day Medallion for Excellence in Army Service. He has been leading groups across the Kokoda Track since 2014.
Groups are capped at 20 trekkers and every trek is supported by a Papua New Guinean porter crew who handle camp, cooking and load carrying.
The Role
- Lead a group of up to 20 trekkers for the full nine days on the track
- Deliver the historical content on the ground: the battles, the ambush positions, the supply caches, and what the campaign cost
- Conduct the private memorial services at Brigade Hill and Isurava
- Set the daily pace and look after the welfare of the group
- Work alongside the porter crew, who manage camp and meals
Why It Suits Someone With An Army Background
If you have served in the Army, most of what this role asks for is already behind you.
You know how to read the ground and move a group through it. You know how to brief people so they understand what is ahead of them. You have managed risk in remote conditions, made calls when the plan stopped working, and looked after people who were tired, sore and well outside their comfort zone. Jungle experience is a direct advantage.
The history carries more weight coming from someone who served. Trekkers tell us the campaign made sense to them for the first time on our treks, because it was explained by a soldier rather than read from a script. It is the most referenced reason people choose Adventure Bound over other operators, and it is the part of the job a civilian guide cannot replicate.
What We Are Looking For
Essential
- An Australian Army background
- A genuine interest in the Kokoda campaign and Australian military history
- Enjoys guiding and educating
- Physically capable of nine days on demanding terrain
- A current passport and the ability to travel to Papua New Guinea
- Calm decision making in remote conditions
Well Regarded
- A remote or wilderness first aid qualification
- Previous guiding, instructing or training experience
- Has already walked the Kokoda Track, including as one of our trekkers
How You Would Get Trained Up
01. Apply through the form.
It takes a few minutes and asks about your service background, your fitness and the dates that could suit you.
02. We have a conversation about the role and your background.
Where you served, what you would want out of the role, and what you would need from us to make it work.
03. You walk a full trek alongside Olly.
At no cost to you. You learn the track, the battlefield sites, the memorial services and how a group is run over nine days.
04. A second trek if you want it,
Taking on more of the leading each day.
05. You lead your own group.
With a full porter crew and everything you need to run a successful trek.
Before You Apply
The Commitment
Each trek is nine days on the track, or around eleven days door to door once the Cairns briefing and the return flight are counted. We run a handful of treks each season and publish the dates well in advance, so you can book leave around them.
This is not full time work. Most guides have another job and take on one or two treks a year, choosing the dates that suit them.
Treks fill months ahead and often a full year out. Once a date is locked in against your name, it goes ahead. We are recruiting now for the 2027 season and the seasons after it.
You are paid a fixed fee per trek, agreed before you commit to a date. Flights, insurance and gear are covered, and the arrangement is contractor based.
Why Guides Take It On
Beyond the fee, guides take this role for what happens on the track.
You will stand at Brigade Hill and Isurava and run a memorial service for a group of Australians who have walked days to get there. You will work beside a porter crew whose grandfathers carried wounded diggers over the same ground. And you will watch people who told you on day one that they were not sure they could finish, walking the last stretch on day nine.
Our trekkers describe coming home changed by the experience. The reviews cover that better than we can.
Apply To Guide With Adventure Bound
If you served in the Army and the idea of leading Australians across the Kokoda Track sits well with you, put your details in and we will be in touch to organise a chat.
We keep applications on file whether or not there is a trek available straight away, so it is worth applying even if your circumstances are a year or two off.