When a young Libby Richards (nee Ryman) enlisted to join the Royal Australian Navy, on the surface, it was because she thought it would be an adventure.

But beneath that was an inherent sense of wanting to serve others.

It's something that has continued to guide her in her post-military life, and she credits, in part, to the family environment she grew up in.

Her father was in the police, her mother was a nurse, and her 'pop' worked for the ambulance service.

It was he who first planted the idea of the military in her mind.

"He'd said that the discipline would be good for me," Mrs Richards recounted.

"I don't think he was meaning, you're not disciplined," she added.

Originally, the Tamworth High alum was leaning towards the Air Force. But, then a position came up in the Navy.

Ten m

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