In this first part of our three-part conversation with former NT Police Constable Zac Rolfe, we go behind the headlines to hear his story in his own words. From a privileged yet restless upbringing in Canberra, through boxing rings and the battlefields of Afghanistan, Zac explains how chasing discomfort and growth shaped him long before Alice Springs. He opens up about the culture shock of policing in the Centre, the camaraderie (and gaps) in training, and the river rescue that almost killed him but earned him a Bravery Medal in just his first week on the job. This isn’t the story you think you know—it’s the raw beginnings of a man who would find himself at the centre of one of Australia’s most controversial policing cases.