Lieutenant Colonel Garth Callender is the author of After the Blast: An Australian Officer in Iraq and Afghanistan, published by Black Inc. in 2015.

[2][3][4] He is Chairman of Bravery Trust, working alongside Ambassadors Justin Langer AM, Kevin Sheedy AM and Dr Paul Alexander AO.

[5] In January 2017 he was named patron of the Matthew Millhouse Salute, a charity event in honour of Trooper Matthew Millhouse, who died on 28 August 2015 from Young Onset Dementia, caused by a traumatic brain injury received from a bomb explosion in Iraq in 2004 in which both he and Garth were injured.

His operational experience includes two deployments as part of the Australian Security Detachment – Baghdad; the first as a Cavalry Troop Leader in 2004, and the second as an Executive Officer in 2006.

[7][8] After recovering from his injuries, Callender returned to Iraq in 2006 as second-in-command of the Australian Army's security detachment in Baghdad.