By Jen Cowley

We see them on our streets, on our nightly news bulletins, in our newspapers. We hear of them in terms of their collective operations and we tend to define them by the job they do – as a collective legion of “boys and girls in blue” or camouflage-clad members of a combined national military juggernaut.

Over the past weeks and months, we’ve come to rely on their services as much if not more than ever, as the global pandemic came first to our shores and then, inevitably, to our own western regional doorstep.

This week, Dubbo Photo News scratched the surface a little deeper to speak with some representatives from the Orana Local Area Command of NSW Police, and from the Australian Defence Force, and found that behind the uniforms, the masks and the no-nonsense exterior, are individuals who are steadfastly professional and caring people, dedicated to working together in the quest to keep us safe.