Warrnambool's army depot is now home to two new military vehicles

A Ferret armoured vehicle - also known as a Ferret scout car - along with a Saracen rolled off the back of a truck at the Pertobe Road depot on Wednesday afternoon.

They will be positioned outside so they can be viewed by passersby - the Ferret replacing a similar vehicle that was removed years ago because it had rusted away.

Corporal Warrick Petering said he had been lobbying his superiors for some time to get the military vehicles to Warrnambool to replace what had been removed.

"We just want people to know we are here. People forget that the depot is here," he said.

"We're hoping all the user groups at the depot can chip in and do a little bit on the vehicles to rustproof them mainly.

"We just want to make sure they're going to sit there and look good for as long as possible."

Both vehicles have been brought to Warrnambool from Bandiana, near Wodonga, but Corporal Petering said he was not yet sure of the history of the vehicles and what they had been used for.

"We'll do a bit of research on them now that we've got them. They've got a few numbers on them," he said.

"They would have been part of the military history unit and they'll let them live down here for a little while."

Corporal Petering said the six-wheeled Sarecen was essentially like a personnel carrier.

"You can get troops in the back of it," he said.

Both vehicles have had the weapons that normally sit on top removed, and neither of them were driveable.

Corporal Petering has been a reservist for 20 years and described his unit as being like his footy club - something that he does on weekends.

"It's a pretty interesting second job," he said.

"I've really enjoyed it. It's taken me to every state in Australia to do work."

Outside his role in the army he runs his own arborist business in the south-west.

Corporal Petering said the Warrnambool infantry unit based at the depot was attached to Geelong and Laverton and over the years has done a lot of training at various locations including Puckapunyal

"It takes you all over the place," he said. In 2007 he was deployed to the Solomon Islands.

"That was peacekeeping," he said.

"We went over there and did a lot of hearts and minds stuff - got involved with the communities and assisted them with projects."

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