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Hi everyone, and welcome to the Navy Maritime Warfare
Officer live, interactive broadcast.
I'm Lieutenant Madelaine Newman, and I'm a Maritime
Warfare Officer.
With me this evening is Lieutenant Nick Paterson, a
Principal Warfare Officer.
Together, we'll be answering your questions for the next
hour, as well as sharing our experiences with you.
Tell us a bit about yourself, Nick.
Sure, Maddie.
Well, I joined the Navy in 2001 and I went through the
Australian Defence Force Academy.
I specialised as a Principal Warfare Officer last year, and
I'll shortly post to the frigate Darwin as the Airwar
Officer on board.
Fantastic.
As I said a little bit about me, my name's Maddie Newman.
I'm a Maritime Warfare Officer, I'm a General Entry
Officer, and I specialise in submarines.
I joined the RAN in 2003, and have been in
the ADF since 1999.
So let's get started.
Our first question tonight, Nick, is from Shane.
Shane wants to know, how should one prepare physically
and mentally for entry into the Navy.
Well, being prepared is obviously something that's
important if you're going to go through a change in your
life like joining the Navy.
Defence Force recruiting provides a great deal of
information on what you should be able to do, the physical
standard that's required.
So I guess more the mental, what you should be preparing
yourself, is the way that you prepare
yourself for any change.
Because for me to try and give you advice on how you're going
to experience that change, I mean I can't
really offer that.
So, all I did was try and keep myself as calm as I could, and
just be ready to learn a lot, I think was the main thing
that I'd gone in with.
Certainly.
It's not something that is too difficult in terms
of you can do it.
We are there to help you through when you arrive, and
to provide the training that you need to get you through.
Because the reason you joined is to train as a Maritime
Warfare Officer, and the reason we're here is to get
you through to Maritime Warfare Officer.
And Timothy has asked us to answer for him, eventually he
would like to become a PWO, and he would like to know if a
few tips or hints to make sure he has a better chance of
being accepted.
I suppose if you eventually want to become a PWO, Tim, the
best advice that I could give you, as you're preparing to
join the Navy, would be to concentrate on what it's like
in the earlier stages on being a Maritime Warfare Officer.
So the things that you can expect to be required to do.
And if you are set on being a PWO, I congratulate you on
that, and I would familiarise yourself with the career path
that you would expect that you can follow.
And Defence Force recruiting, and certainly the Navy website
can help you out with that.
Definitely.
Glen's asked what the day-to-day activities of a
Warfare Officer on a submarine are.
I might take this one.
I think I'll leave that to you, yeah.
There is no day-to-day.
That's the best thing about being a Maritime Warfare
Officer in the Navy, full stop.
Certainly on a submarine, every day is different, every
day is a challenge.
Things you can expect to do, however, will differ depending
on whether you're at sea, whether you're submerged, or
dived, sorry, dived, or on the surface, or
whether you're alongside.
And when you're alongside, there's plenty of work to get
on with in terms of administration, and when
you're at sea you keep your watches, so you're six hours
on, six hours off.
And then all of your other activities you do, such as
sleeping and eating, carried outside of those hours.
So, really, there's no standard day-to-day, and that
is the beauty of being a Maritime Warfare Officer.
Shane's asked what the hardest aspect of being
a submariner is.
And that will change, I think, Shane.
It will vary from person to person about what personally
challenges you.
On water submarine, there's not a lot of space, so for
some people that will take a bit of getting used to.
There's also a lot of different aspects of your job
that you will need to learn in depth, and everyone does need
to learn those.
So there's always a lot to learn, which is a good thing.
But for some people can be quite challenging as well.
But I really do think it will vary from person to person.
For me, the hardest thing I found was probably getting
used to the lack of space with everyone on board, but that is
definitely something that you get used to, and
that becomes normal.
So, Jeff has asked Nick if you could let him know a bit about
the differences in the job of a Warfare Officer on a patrol
boat, as opposed to a Maritime Warfare Officer on a frigate.
Sure.
Well, the great thing about your Maritime Warfare Officer
training is you'll get to experience both, because as
part of your navigation training in the early stages,
you'll go to most likely patrol boats-- certainly one
of the minor war vessels to get your navigation watch
keeping ticket, and so you'll get an exposure to that.
And then in the later stages you'll go to a frigate or a
destroyer as they come on line to get your full warfare
qualification.
After that, as a Warfare Officer, you won't spend much
time on a patrol boat because the Navy's trained you to
conduct those higher end warfare roles, and so we do
that on our frigates, and in the future, on our destroyers.
However, there's certainly the option, if you are driven and
motivated and successful enough,
you can get to command.
The base job of an MWO, so before you classify as a
Principal Warfare Officer is essentially the same on both
ships, on any ship for that matter-- the auxiliaries as
well, or any of the minehunting vessels.
You're responsible for the safe navigation and the
execution the ship's programme.
So, from the base perspective, I suppose, it
doesn't really change.
James has asked do you think that you have to be a natural
leader to become a Maritime Warfare Officer, Nick?
Well, that's an interesting question because being an
officer, obviously, entails being a leader.
I think the way that the Navy approaches its training, and
certainly it's been my experience that lots of
different people have different leadership styles.
And so, the way the Navy does its training is it will pick
up or it'll allow you to pick up on what skills you have in
yourself, which enable you to be a good leader, and you can
build on that.
So, I think everyone's got leadership potential in them,
and the Navy training brings that out.
It does, yeah.
Alec has asked what does daily life at sea include by means
of daily duties?
Well, I suppose you've already spoken about submarines a
little bit.
A little bit.
So, just quickly, on board one of the major flight units, as
a Maritime Warfare Officer, you can expect to be keeping
duties probably one in three.
So you'll spend four hours on, eight hours off, and in one of
those eight hours off periods you're expected to do your
other duties on board.
So, they'll be some administration to do, you'll
be responsible for your division, or for the sailors
that you're accountable for, as well as your eight hours a
day that you'll spend as an MWO up on the bridge--
safe navigation of the ship, executing the ship's
programme-- all those sort of things as well.
The only major difference there on a submarine is daily
life at sea.
When you're on watch, and again, depending on whether
you're keeping periscope watches, or whether you're
deep, your routine generally revolves around being in the
control room, which is a combination of, for those of
you who have been on a ship already, a control room and
the bridge.
And in the control room you'll be doing things like
navigation, you'll be manning the diving and safety console,
and you'll also be looking at the sonar screens to get a
picture of what's going on outside.
So, Cameron's asked, how have you handled the intense work
schedule and the lengthy time away from home?
Well, that's another thing, isn't it, that everyone
handles differently.
For me, I like to immerse myself in the work, and I find
that works quite well, particularly when it's a job
that you enjoy.
There have been moments when I haven't enjoyed what we've
been doing, but all in all, it really is an enjoyable job, so
the work schedule helps with that.
The lengthy time away from home, I think so long as you
prepare yourself properly for that, I think that's
important, and we've sort of spoke about preparation
earlier with some of the other questions.
But if your friends and your family are aware of what you
can be doing and they know what to expect, then,
honestly, I've done a six month deployment away for the
Gulf, I've been at sea for 80 days almost straight, without
coming alongside at all.
So, so long as people are prepared for that and they
know what's coming, then I think you can
handle it quite well.
I agree, Nick.
The work does help take your mind off, initially, being
away from home, and then you've always got something to
look forward to because you'll be coming alongside somewhere
else, if not coming alongside home.
So, Simone wants to know what do Maritime Warfare Officers
do when they're not at sea?
All sorts of things.
At the moment, I'm in a training establishment, so I'm
responsible for training other junior Maritime Warfare--
almost senior Maritime Warfare Officers who are starting
their Principal Warfare Officer's course.
You could also expect postings maybe to the Defence Force
Academy in a training role or things like that.
There's lots of administrative postings
throughout Sydney and Canberra.
In fact, you're in one of them at the
moment, aren't you, Maddie?
I am, yes.
I think that like anything in the Navy and the Defence Force
indeed, your career is up to you to manage.
So, when you're not at sea, there is, as Nick's already
mentioned, a number of postings that
you can choose from.
And these are really broad ranging, so it's up to you to
identify what it is that you want to do with your time when
you're not at sea.
So, Shane's asked us how do you keep fit on a submarine?
That's a great question, Shane.
Submarines are small, inside, as you would imagine, so there
is challenges in terms of keeping a large amount of
equipment on board, and also keeping quiet when you're
using the equipment, as that's a big part of what we do.
However, we do have usually an exercise bike up in the weapon
storage compartment forward, and the marine technicians or
the stokers aft usually have some weights and can even have
a rowing machine back there as well.
And that's when you're at sea.
Otherwise, we have access to a gym on base, pretty much every
Navy base I believe has those.
It's a challenge, like everything else.
It's up to you to manage, but you can do it fine.
So, Jeff wants to know why did you choose to
specialize as a PWO, Nick?
Because you get to shoot stuff.
It's also, for the vast majority of officers, the
route to command.
And for me, I joined the Navy because I wanted to drive
ships, that's why I became a Maritime Warfare Officer.
And as a Maritime Warfare Officer, if you want to
proceed and if you want to be successful, certainly on the
surface fleet, you want to be a PWO.
There are other jobs out there, and certainly not to
make light of those-- they're an important contribution to
the fighting strength of the Navy--
but the guys who lead that fight are the PWOs.
So, Joe's asked, throughout your service, what has been
your most memorable moment?
Well there have been a couple.
I think for me, I was fortunate enough to be
deployed in Parramatta as a Boarding Officer, and an
Officer of the Watch for the last rotation of ships that
went through the North Arabian Gulf, protecting the oil
platforms just south of Iraq.
And so, there have been--
well, there had been, at that point, Australian Navy ships
up in the North Arabian Gulf since 1991.
This was in 2008, 2009, and I was the last Boarding Officer
on board, and we sailed away on December 31, with the
mission being completed.
Sun setting in the background, oil rigs fighting off in the
distance, and standing out on the flight deck watching, on
the back of Parramatta watching that go down, you
really got a sense of a job well done.
And that's been a memorable moment for me.
My most memorable moment, Joe, has also been at sea.
We were on our way overseas and we stopped above the
Mariana Trench, which is the deepest part of the ocean on
earth, and we had a swim-ex, which is where you basically
stop the submarine, everyone jumps off, and has a swim in
the ocean before you jump back on and head back on your way.
So, it was a truly memorable moment.
So you're swimming in the deepest ocean in the world.
We were.
James has asked what is a typical length of time for a
ship deployment?
And how often can one expect to be deployed if they've been
on a frigate?
Sure, James.
Again, and we're going to say this a lot I think tonight,
that there's no such thing, really, as a typical time.
But to give you an answer to your question as best I can,
mate, you can probably expect your posting to ship to last
for 18 months to two years, as a standard sort of window.
And during that time, you'll go through what we refer to as
the operational cycle, and we won't get into that.
But you can expect to do one deployment during that time.
So, as an example, I spent two posting cycles in Parramatta,
and in each one of those we did a workout period, some
period of what we call weekly running, so just popping in
and out of port for the week, and coming
back in on the weekend.
And then I did a six month deployment to the Gulf in one
of those periods, and I did a three, three and 1/2 months
deployment throughout Northeast Asia
in the second one.
So those are probably the slightly longer deployments
that you can do, but certainly one to two months away within
the year of your cycle would, I think, be about normal.
Glen would like to know what is the most important quality
that you have developed to fulfil your role to the best
of your ability?
For myself, I've had to work on patience.
I know about myself that I can be impatient with other
people, and as part of leading that team, and we alluded to
this earlier about natural leadership, I found that I had
to work on patience to help me fulfil my
leadership roles the best.
And that's helped in other roles aside from the
leadership side of things.
It's made me a better warfare officer as well.
And for me, Glen, my communication skills,
definitely, had to work on, improve, and I
believe have improved.
So, Jaiden, wants to know, because he'll only be 18, does
this affect his application at all, compared to older people?
I would say no, not at all, Jaiden.
You're 18 now, you can drink, you can vote, you
can join the Navy.
And there is a full range of ages in a lot of the courses
that do come through, Jaiden.
So, 18 through to 55.
I think as well.
Certainly it was my experience.
Now, I joined the Navy when I was 17, and I had to get my
parent's permission slip signed-- it was like going on
a school excursion.
But I found that the training is--
it's almost designed for that older entrants bring something
to that process as well.
But I think it steps you through quite well, especially
if you consider the Defence Force Academy.
Definitely.
So, this one for me, from Maddie.
Hi, Maddie.
What attracted you to a submarine service as opposed
to surface ships?
Well, Maddie, for me, I came from the Army before I joined
the Navy, and that is quite a lot more
focused on smaller teams.
So, when I went and did my training on board surface
ships, which you'll all do, I missed that [INAUDIBLE]
and teamwork.
And also, as a lady in the Navy, I wanted to do something
operational and for me I felt I would be best-suited to
submarines.
Shaun has asked how do some officers deal with the
separation from their family?
Well, I can't speak for some officers, but I can speak for
myself, Shaun, in saying that you need to keep your family
and your friends, for that matter, informed, and keep
them involved in the process.
Because as with most things in life, your career, you're
going to depend on the support from your
friends and your family.
So keep them part of the process is what I do.
My mother may disagree with me.
I've got some nasty emails that tell me
to call more often.
But in general, if you keep your family involved, so not
just informed but involved, then the separation can work.
I agree 100% with that.
Now Wade has asked, was it difficult to manage your
studies and training whilst [INAUDIBLE], so I'll hand that
one to you, Nick.
Yeah, sure.
Not at all, Wade.
The whole system is set up to support you
through that process.
Your lecturers are aware of what your military loading is,
your military instructors are aware of what your academic
loading is, and the time table is set up to
support it very easily.
Dave has asked, why did you choose the Navy, in
particular, and not the Army or Air Force?
For me, Dave, I didn't really know that when
I joined the Navy.
I wasn't sure.
But I think I've figured out now what's drawn me and what's
kept me in the Navy.
If you think about an infantry section, so the guys out there
doing the infantry thing, there are about 13 guys, and
if one of them goes down then they've only lost about 8%, 9%
of their efficiency.
They've still got the rest of their guys.
But for my team in the ops room, if there's one person
that's not doing their job, if there's one person that's not
monitoring their sensor or ready to use their weapon
system, then the whole team falls down.
And it's that much closer reliance on your teamwork that
drew me to the Navy.
And I previously alluded to the fact that I was in the
Army first, Dave.
So for me, I chose the Navy after being in the Army
because it did present me with a lot more
opportunities I felt.
So, and Maritime Warfare Officer, certainly not
disappointed.
Emma would like to know where you undertook your training.
Sure.
Well, I started my training similar to Maddie, at Creswell
down in Jervis Bay.
I then moved to the Defence Force Academy in Canberra for
three years.
Then completed my--
I started my Maritime Warfare Officer training at HMAS
Watson in Sydney, where I work now.
And I also completed some time in Darwin doing the small
boats navigation thing that I spoke about earlier--
pardon me-- on patrol boats coming out of Darwin.
And then back to Sydney for the final phase of your
Maritime Warfare Officer training and
out into the fleet.
Well, the only big difference there, between Nick and my
training, is that last part of my training was conducted in
Perth because that's where the submarine base is.
So, Matt would like to know what jobs do you undertake as
a Maritime Warfare Officer?
Well it's a wide range of jobs as an MWO.
I think we'll break this into sort of as a Maritime Warfare
Officer corps.
So while you're doing your initial job as an Officer of
the Watch at sea, that's your first.
You're an Officer of the Watch, so the captain's
representative on the bridge, responsible for the safety of
the ship, and getting it from point A to point B on time.
And as well as that, you get a whole bunch
of ancillary duties.
So I think I've already mentioned I was a Boarding
Party Officer.
As part of that, we've mentioned once before the
division that you'd be in charge of.
So, even as a junior guy, I was 21 years old and put out--
and was in charge and responsible for the careers
and managing a whole bunch of guys, about 15 or so guys,
some of whom were much more experienced and
older than I was.
After you've done that Officer of the Watch time, then you
can really split up into those different specialties that MWO
offers you.
And that's the great thing about Maritime Warfare Officer
as opposed to the other branches of the Navy, is that
you have that wide variety of opportunities.
Definitely.
So, Timothy has asked me--
well, has said that his height is 195 centimetres, and he's
wondering if he's too tall to be a submariner.
Tim, I've served with a lot of tall men and tall ladies, and
no, you're not too tall.
It is a small environment.
As I mentioned earlier, it can take some getting used to,
having a little less space.
However, you do get used to it, and I've seen tall people,
taller than that, and they handle it just fine.
And see, I'm 193 centimetres and there are only a few
places on a submarine that I need to really bend down.
Alec would like to know what did you wish you knew before
you joined?
What did I wish I knew before I joined.
It's a good question, Alec.
I wish I knew a bit more about the options that would open up
to me the further I got into my career.
Luckily, that's not something that you need to
worry about too early.
But it's something that will keep you motivated through
your training.
I think I wish I knew my ranks and rights properly better,
because it took me about two weeks of getting yelled at by
the Chief Petty Officer for calling him sir.
So, David's asked that this one for you Nick, how long
does it take to become a PWO?
And once you've qualified as an MWO, what's that period?
Sure.
So once you've got your bridge warfare certificate and you're
fully qualified as an MWO, you can expect to complete at
least one posting as an Officer of the Watch to train
your relief, in a matter of effect, or at least pay back
the time to the Navy, doing that job.
And realistically, you've just spent the past two years or
longer working up to that, so you want to spend a bit of
time enjoying the fruits of your labour.
That's also important for developing the skills and the
knowledge that will help you in your next step
of becoming a PWO.
So aside from that two years, you can then expect,
hopefully, and certainly most people, can expect a shore
posting within that time of about 12, 18 months or so, and
then perhaps one more job either as a small boats
navigator, or at another job as an Officer of the Watch or
an assistant PWO.
So you're looking at a period of about between two to three,
even five years after getting your initial ticket or getting
your Bridge Warfare Certificate before going on to
become a PWO.
So Jeff has asked what experiences can we share with
him that represent what being a part of the Navy is about?
Jeff, I think I had one of those sort of Navy moments
very early on in my career.
As Phase Two Midshipmen I was posted to the Manoora and we
were part of the response to the refugees on the Tampa, and
various other illegal immigrant vessels or suspected
illegal immigrant vessels that were coming in at the time.
And so as a young 17-year-old guy, I got to take part in
saving people from the middle of the ocean, and literally
helping people on board who had been stuck on broken boats
and those sort of things.
And that, to me, ties in to a whole lot of
what the Navy does.
It's working for the government and representing
Australia's interests, and it's part of the whole life at
sea, seamanship character of that real humanity, I think,
of helping your people.
That was probably my experience.
Another component, I guess, of what being the Navy is about
is international relations.
I was lucky enough quite early in my naval career to have a
diplomatic stop, so to speak, in Vietnam.
So, this was the 30th anniversary of our
relationship with Vietnam, so we sent a ship and I was lucky
enough to be on board.
So that's another part of what being in the Navy is about.
And we had a great time, and I believe that we really
assisted the relations there.
So, Shane would like to know where are submarines are based
in Australia?
Well, Shane, at the moment, our submarines are based out
of Fleet Base West, Garden Island, which is in
Rockingham, so on the western side of the country there.
So, Maddie has asked does an MWO have the opportunity to
serve on all the types of vessels in the Navy?
And do you get a say in where you serve?
Well, you absolutely do, because every single vessel in
the Navy needs someone to drive it, and the people who
drive it are the MWOs.
As well as that, do you get a say in where you serve?
You certainly do.
There's the Navy's need that we need to fill, but you also
get a say in that as well, because it's your career, and
I think Maddie's pointed that out a couple of times as well.
You take responsibility for where you want to go and what
you want to do, and the Navy will have to do it.
Definitely.
And your training as an MWO, you'll get a broad range of
experience on different vessels there.
That's an aim of the training.
So, Laura has asked what is the process like applying for
a Maritime Warfare Officer position through ADFA?
Well, Laura, the defence jobs website can give you all the
information that you need there.
And I certainly found that my recruiter, from my local
Defence Force Recruiting Office helped me
through that a lot.
So, Jeff has asked, from a woman's perspective, what is
it like being in charge of a predominantly male team.
Well, Jeff, I'll take this one, Nick.
Sure.
For me, I can only answer from a woman's
perspective what it's like.
I enjoy it.
There's a challenge I find with people full stop, to
manage people.
It doesn't really matter if they're a man or a woman.
People all have different strengths and weaknesses, and
that's what you need to work with.
So, a predominantly male team, with some girls has
diversity in it.
Sometimes it will be a completely male team, but then
from my perspective it's great.
And Simone has asked to what service study opportunities
are there as an officer in the Navy?
Well, there's plenty.
As part of your training continuum and your career
progression, there's lots of those progression courses that
give you all sorts of not only military training, but also
training that's recognised in the civil community as well.
Predominantly in things like leadership and management, but
all sorts of other things ranging from occupational
health and safety, to process management and counselling, as
well as through other educational institutions like
the Defence Force Academy where you can conduct a
postgraduate study or even part-time undergraduate study.
And I believe Maddie, you're even undertaking
study at the moment.
I am, Nick.
I'm doing my professional development study externally
through university in my own time, and
supported through the Navy.
So, there's opportunities that you can take personally, and
still be supportive professionally.
In addition to what Nick was talking a bit with
postgraduate study, the further you get in your career
as a Maritime Warfare Officer, the more likelihood there is
that you will be undertaking some form of
postgraduate study.
And this can even include an institution such as Rhode
Island, and so I would say there's definitely
opportunities for education further afield.
Glen would like to know, after the new entry officer course,
what can he expect to be doing over the next few years to
become an MWO submariner?
Well, Glen, after your new entry officer course, you
progress into your training, so your initial training for
your actual MWO specialisation, which is
called [? a ?] primary qualification.
And that consists of four phases of training.
The first phase is predominantly shore-based, and
then you'll going to sea to the second
phase on a large vessel.
Phase three has some more shore time and some learning
there, and then you go to sea on a smaller vessel.
And then for your phase four, you will go back to shore and
do some more specialised warfare training, and then to
sea to consolidate that time.
From there, to become an MWO submariner, you basically need
to indicate that you're interested to do that and then
you'll begin your training as a submariner: , ashore for the
first six months, and then at sea from there.
Jaiden wants to know how often do you get moved around
Australia whilst in the Navy?
That's a good question, Jaiden, and I think certainly
the Navy moves people around a little bit more than the Army
and the Air Force do.
Particularly, in the early stages of your training, as
we've sort of alluded to already, you'll start in
Jervis Bay, you'll move up to Sydney, go up to Cairns or
Darwin, back down to Sydney.
But once you've got that core qualification you can expect
to be fairly stable.
And especially if you want to stay in the small boat or
patrol boat world, then those bases are Cairns or Darwin.
And if you want to stay in the submarine world, those bases
are over in Perth.
If you want to stay in the MFUs, or the Major Fleet
Units, then there's really only Sydney or over in Perth.
And it's in the Navy's and everyone's best interest for
you to stay relatively stationary and stabilised once
you've got that position.
Chuck would like to know have had any opportunities working
with Navy personnel from other countries?
I certainly have.
And I think that's part of--
Maddie alluded to it earlier in the diplomatic role that
Navys play, but we're certainly one of the tools in
the government's toolbox when it comes to interacting with
other countries, and we do that a lot.
I've worked with personnel from Vietnam, Japan, United
States, even Russia.
We did an exercise with some of the Russian destroyers out
of Vladivostok.
We've worked with Indian ships, Pakistani ships, most
of the Gulf Arab states.
So yeah, absolutely.
It's one of the core--
or not one of the core, I suppose, but one of the more
exciting opportunities of being an MWO.
Definitely.
Training, there's foreign personnel.
We have Memorandums Of Understanding that we actually
can either train in their country or they come and train
here in Australia.
So, training, exercising, as Nick's already spoken about,
we exercise a lot with other countries and personnel from
other countries.
And also, in working, certainly in submarines, we
have some US personnel on board, so you do get to work
with personnel from other countries.
And I've worked with some personnel in Canada as well,
during my pressurised submarine escape
training over there.
So, no shortage of working with
personnel from other countries.
So, Simone would like to know how far into the training can
your family move to your location?
Well, Simone, the Navy will support you and your family in
the best way that they can.
Certainly, during your initial new entry officers course at
Creswell you'll be required to live on board.
But very shortly after that, you can move out with your
family, and it's quite a simple process.
And in fact, there's lots of support that not only defence,
but other organisations within defence, such as the Defence
Community Organisation, Defence Housing Authority, can
assist you in that movement.
Certainly.
And Simone, you'll probably find this will vary depending
on your personal situation, so there's no really one answer
fits all with this question, but it's certainly something
that, if you are open and honest about what it is that
you require, then we can certainly try and facilitate
what it is that you need.
Timothy would like to know how much leave would a Maritime
Warfare Officer get?
Well, largely the same as everyone else in the Navy, I
suppose, Tim.
But as an MWO you'll be at sea for a lot of your training,
and that means that you get to accrue extra leave.
So you actually get the opportunity to take more.
And you can generally expect to get one long period of
leave a year, where the ship will be alongside, or if
you're on base, posted to shore, where the base will
shut down and that's typically over the Christmas period.
However, depending on your ship's programme, there's
certainly opportunities to take either a week here or
there or to save that up to take a long period of leave.
And Samantha would like to know if it's hard to get a
good night's sleep whilst out at sea?
Well I've actually found sometimes when you come back
alongside it's difficult to get back to sleep without that
little background hum of noise that you get in the
background.
But certainly, I've never experienced--
oh, that's a lie.
I have experienced trouble getting to sleep, I suppose,
but certainly not a big issue, Sam.
No, generally speaking, I've never had a
problem sleeping at sea.
And Mark would like to know how do you keep in contact
with family and friends while you're away?
Well, Mark, I keep in contact with my family and friends
predominantly via email.
However, most of the major fleet units have now kicked in
a system where you can have unrestricted internet access,
so you can keep online with Facebook and Twitter and
various other social media networks as well.
And certainly, for the prolonged deployments, while
we were, for example, up in the North Arabian Gulf, you
were entitled to a phone call a week, and so the ship
actually supported, through its satellite communications,
giving you a five minute phone call back home.
And certainly, as soon as you're alongside, I mean
everyone's got mobile phones these days, so it's fine.
I suppose the submarines are different.
It is a little bit different.
When we're alongside we have email also, so
that's a good option.
While you are at sea, we have a thing called a family-gram,
so your family has a booklet and this booklet is a system
of writing letters using numbers to represent phrases,
so that when these are transmitted to us at sea, it
doesn't take up a lot of bandwidth or a lot of our
broadcasts.
So, you do still get communication at sea.
It's a different way of doing it as opposed to email.
And Tom would like to know how does your role differ to other
Maritime Warfare Officer specialisations?
Well, I suppose my role's different to other MWO
specialisation because mine's the most fun.
However, as part of that, there's
really that broad role.
So I'm in charge of the ops room, and Maddie, you're in
charge of the submarine control room, and the
difference sort of just works for me.
And Clara would like to know what is the hardest part of
being in the Navy?
I think for me, Clara, the hardest part about being in
the Navy initially was trying to find that work-life
balance, if you will.
I said earlier I tend to throw myself into the work a little
bit, and initially for me probably a little bit too much
and I needed to walk back from that a little bit to make sure
that I was still engaging my family and my friends and that
sort of thing.
And as part of that, keeping your friends involved in the
process of you going away helped me with that a lot.
Tom would like to know how our role differs from other ones?
I might just discuss briefly how a submariner's role is
different to maybe a hydrographer, which is another
specialisation that we have out there.
So, submarines operate predominantly at sea dived,
which we don't have a, generally speaking, eyes.
When we have our periscope up, we can see what's going on.
Otherwise, our eyes are sonar, which you can imagine differs
vastly from a vessel who's conducting hydrographic
operations where they're out surveying.
They're on the surface.
They've got all sorts of equipment
running and making noise.
And then, again, that'll differ from PWO who is in a
control room, not up on a bridge, and is directing
warfare [? serials ?] and the like.
And Sam would like to know how many people do you usually
share a room with whilst at sea?
I think the most people I've ever shared a room with was
about 30 or so, in one of the troops' messes when we were
all down there.
However, for a qualified Maritime Warfare Officer,
certainly on the major fleet units, you can probably expect
to have one cabin mate, maybe two or three, so you might be
in what we call a four-berth cabin, so there are four
berths or beds within that cabin.
But most of my time I've spent either in a four-berth or a
two-berth, so just one other the cabin mate.
Sure.
And I think that will vary depending on what class of
ship you're on as well.
Different classes have different numbers of berths or
beds in each cabin or room.
On board a submarine, generally speaking, you'll
probably be sharing with four or five other people in the
same cabin space.
Scott would like to know, or would like us to describe, the
leadership tasks that we undertake in our role.
Well, that's a really wide variety of tasks there, Scott.
Initially, I suppose, or most at the forefront is the fact
that you're an officer.
And so, just by virtue of your position,
people look up to you.
Whether they admit it or not or whether you like it or not,
as the leader of that team, anything that you do reflects
on the way your team will respond to that.
So I suppose that's the underlying theme there.
But some of the other tasks, certainly delegating
personnel, assigning jobs to various different people, and
then most importantly, and something, I think, that it
took me a little while in my head around, was the reporting
on that performance and appraising, giving guidance to
people on how they're doing their job, both formally and
informally, and how they can improve.
Definitely.
I think, Scott, there's also situational leadership, as
opposed to day-to-day leadership.
So, for example, you might find yourself, as Nick did, as
a boarding officer in charge of a number of people dealing
with a high tempo and tense situation, which the
leadership you will take in that role will differ vastly
to the leadership perhaps that you would display just in the
day-to-day running.
Jaiden would like to know what can aide him in becoming more
competitive as a candidate to become a
Maritime Warfare Officer?
I think primarily, Jaiden, what you need to look for is
information.
And so the fact that you've started to--
I don't know if you've started the process, but that you're
certainly here talking with us, you're well on your way
there to getting that.
Arm yourself with as much information that you can about
the role that a Maritime Warfare Officer plays, about
the ranks and rights within the Navy, and how you would
expect to fit into that team, and then the career path that
you would expect to follow.
So, Shaun would like to know while on the ship performing
day-to-day duty, what are the work hours, and how much free
time do you get?
Sure, and this is another good opportunity because a
submarine's very different to a surface ship.
So Shaun, typically, as Maritime Warfare Officer, your
day-to-day duties, you can expect to work on watch, so on
the bridge, or as a Principal Warfare Officer in the
operations room for maybe eight hours a day in two
shifts of four, and we call that a one in three routine.
So there are three different watches and
you're in one of them.
So you'll do four hours on watch up on the bridge doing
whatever it is that needs to be done, and then
eight hours off watch.
Typically, as an officer, one of those eight hour periods
you dedicate to your other tasks.
So, day-to-day duties, [? as we've ?] described them,
and we've discussed what some of them are previously,
particularly your divisional and administrative work or any
of those other ancillary duties that you've got.
You then expect to complete another four hour watch, and
then the other either hour period a day is
largely your own.
And so, I certainly use that for sleep as much as I can.
But within that first eight hour period, certainly, if you
want to go to the gym or things like that, that's
considered part of your work, if you will.
Definitely.
On board a submarine, whether you are doing your six hours
on, six hours off at sea, or whether you're alongside and
perhaps you're the officer of the day who's keeping watch
over the ship alongside, I think your free time is really
up to you and how you manage your time when
you're working as well.
So, there's always work to be done, but it's really about
how you manage your time, Shaun.
Timothy wants to know if you ever get bored at sea, and if
yes, how do you deal with it?
You certainly do, Tim, particularly if you've been
away for a fair while, and if you've been doing the same
sort of patrols, because that's a lot of what Navys do,
so yeah, you can.
And what I find helps a lot is a routine.
And Tim, I've never been bored at sea, so sorry, I can't help
you with that one.
Carrie would like to know what's the most interesting
deployment you've been on are?
I think from a personal perspective, the most
interesting deployment I did was in 2007.
I went on a Northeast Asian deployment with the frigate
Parrametta in company with the frigate Perth.
And we went from Sydney, we met up in Singapore, we then
sailed through the South China Sea up to Hong Kong.
From Hong Kong, again, the South China Sea, and then down
the river into Shanghai, which was an amazing experience.
Out of Shanghai, we popped across to a couple of ports in
Japan, and then up north into vlVladivostok, into the
Russian Navy's main base there.
And we came back down south again through Japan once more,
a couple of different ports, and then into Cebu in the
Philippines before coming back home to Sydney.
And in each of those ports there are diplomatic
engagements and cocktail parties and things like that,
as well as time off to go and see the sights and get some
experience in the locals and their custom and
whatever else as well.
Jason would like to know how closely do you work with
Weapons Engineer Officers?
Well, Jason, as I sort of said in cheek earlier, my job is to
shoot things.
And so the Weapons Engineering Officer is the guy who's going
to make sure that those things work.
So, the relationship between the warfare team and the
weapons engineers team is absolutely essential.
They're the guys that look after our sensors, they're the
guys that look after our weapons.
And whilst we like to boast a little bit and talk about how
we fight the ship, it's the Weapons Engineering Officer
who's actually going to push the button to make the gun go
*** or the missile go whoosh.
So, that relationship's absolutely integral.
On board a submarine, Jason, the Weapons Electrical
Engineering Officer will be on one of the two watches.
So they will be expected to do some of the tasks that a
Maritime Warfare Officer does, so the navigation and the
periscope watch keeping duty, which in turn means that we
need to be able to do some of their tasks for
when they're not there.
So, you do work very closely with them.
Anthony would like us to describe the typical lifestyle
in the Navy.
I think I'm going to use that cop out again there, Anthony,
and say that there really is no such thing as a typical
lifestyle in the Navy.
But to describe mine briefly, I live in a inner city
apartment in Sydney, and as part of the rental assistance
gain, I get subsidised rent there with my wife.
I, at the moment, am in a training establishment out at
HMAS Watson, so I drive to or from work every day.
I start work at 8 o'clock in the morning and I finish at
1600, or 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
And I do that five days a week.
I definitely agree with Nick there, Anthony.
I don't think there is any typical lifestyle, but there's
certainly a lot of different opportunities depending on
what it is that you'd like to do.
So Sierra would like to know if the role has lived up to
your expectations.
Sarah, I don't think I came in with any particular
expectation.
I certainly thought that I was going to have some fun and
learn a lot, and so in that regard it certainly has.
I've had a lot of fun and I've learned a lot, not just
academically and technically, but also about myself and
about people.
So yeah, I definitely haven't been disappointed.
I agree.
So Jeff has asked how fit do you need to be to
serve in the Navy?
Well, it's a physical service, so you do need to keep
reasonably fit, and the fitness standards that you're
required to keep you can find up on the defence websites.
However, because it's a service requirement, and
because you're young people and you sort of enjoy that
sort of stuff, it's working to your work-life
balance as part of work.
So you get dedicated time during the working week to go
to the gym, or to play a team sport, or to go on afternoon
golf days or something like that.
Definitely.
You do need to be fit, but as Nick was saying, if you're
not, perhaps, at the required fitness standard when you do
arrive, we do have a system in place that makes sure that we
get you there safety and keep you there.
Julie would like to know where we see
ourselves in the future.
Where do I see myself in the future?
I'd certainly like to stay in the Navy, and I think I
alluded to earlier in one of my answers, that being a
Principal Warfare Officer, they're the guys that
eventually get to drive ships.
Now obviously, that's a huge responsibility, and you
obviously need to be very good at what you're doing.
So I don't know if I've got what it takes.
I like to think that I do, and so I suppose if I could dream,
I suppose, I'd want to be seeing myself in command of
one of their major fleet units.
And Tim has asked how did you find yourself becoming a
Maritime Warfare Officer?
Finding myself becoming one is actually how it happened, Tim.
I decided that I wanted to join the Navy, and as I said,
the Maritime Warfare Officers are the guys that drive the
ships, so if I'm going to join the Navy I
want to drive ships.
And we picked up and ran from there.
And the whole process is designed to help you along the
way and to keep you on track.
Jaiden has asked if it's hard to start a family while
serving in the RAN?
Well, Jaiden, that's a challenge, I suppose, that I'm
about to find out.
Not in the immediate future, if my wife is watching, but
certainly in the near future.
That's one of the challenges that we're about to face.
Speaking for some of our friends, they've certainly
managed, no worries, to balance that work-life
balance, and to start a family and have young children and
stay in the Navy and work on up.
But I, again, have seen others who I joined with, and they
made the decision that it was in their better interest for
their family for them to move on.
And so really, it's a case by case, person by person thing
that I hope to experience soon.
It is definitely going to be a personal thing on how
difficult it is or how difficult it isn't for you to
start your family, Jaiden.
However, I would say that if you have a plan it would
definitely help.
James would like to know what are some of the ways in which
we manage living in close proximity with others for
extended periods to ensure that things run smoothly.
Well, I suppose living in close proximity with others
for an extended period, things don't always run smoothly.
But what I've found is really quite amazing.
Even if you're in one of the bigger cabins or the bigger
messes, it's amazing the privacy and the sort of
closeness that you can get simply by
closing your bunk curtain.
So, on each of the bunks, because there are people
coming in and out of the cabins all throughout the day
and throughout the night, and people sleep in different
times, all of the bunks have curtains on them that slide
across to block out the outside world.
And that's how I've managed to go into that place.
And I think it's one of those unwritten rules, certainly in
my time in the Navy is that you it's everyone's cabin but
it's that person's bunk.
And if their bunk curtains are closed, then
that's their space.
Communal living is something you will get a lot of exposure
to and training with, especially in your initial
period of training, James.
So it is something that you will have a lot of chance to
develop your own strategies with.
But I would back Nick out there and say definitely it's
a respect thing.
If you respect each other than you can't go wrong.
Emily would like to know your proudest moment, Nick.
My proudest moment in the Navy, I think certainly I was
proud when I--
In fact, that's probably it.
We were in a major exercise, I was a young phase four
Maritime Warfare Officer, and now JWAC, or Junior Warfare
Officer Application Course training, and so I was just
about to get my bridge warfare certificate.
And the pressure sort of ramps up to you, as you get to that
point, and to achieve that, and to stand out of the bridge
wing with the captain of the ship, and for him to say yup,
congratulations Nick.
I'm happy for you to take charge of my ship, take it
wherever it is that it needs to go, and I am confident that
you'll be able to do that safely and efficiently and
lead my people.
That was a pretty proud moment.
I have to concur with NIck on that one, Emily.
The proudest moment for me is when I
got awarded my dolphins.
So, it is what you train for, it's what we spend all the
time working towards.
So when you do achieve that, it is a great moment.
Simon would like to know how important
teamwork is in the Navy.
Well, teamwork's everything.
And I don't know if you were listening earlier, Simon, when
I mentioned that the difference between, or one of
the differences between the team in the Army and the team
in the Navy, if one of the guys in my team isn't doing
his job, or if one of the guys in my team goes down, then the
whole team crumbles, because you rely on everyone else to
do their bit because there's no one to replace them because
you're in that enclosed environment.
So it's absolutely essential.
Certainly for safety on board a submarine, teamwork is
essential as well.
Everyone needs to know a safety issue, and how to fix
the problem.
So, teamwork is your life.
Jason would like to know if we can describe some of the
technology that we work with.
Sure, Jason.
Well, I'm an Air Warfare Specialist, and as part of
that I'm a Gunnery Officer, so I get to work with the Mark
45, Mod 5, five-inch gun, which fires a 35 kilogramme
projectile out for 25 kilometres.
And as one of my captains used to say, he could sit alongside
at Fleet Base East in Sydney, and his mother-in-law lived in
Parramatta, and he could put the first round onto her
block, the second round into her house, and the third round
into her bedroom.
And Heather would like to know what are some of the benefits
that you get in the Navy.
Well there are lots of different types of benefits
that you get from being in the Navy, I think.
So, personally, the leadership training and the management
training that we get really is first class, and so that sets
you up to go on.
But some of the other sort of financial or benefits, I
suppose, that we could talk about is you get your
sea-going allowance and your service allowance and various
other things.
You also get rental allowance, which is subsidising my rent
within Sydney.
And certainly medical coverage or support and psychiatry,
whatever else that you need.
A number of financial benefits do exist.
Probably too numerous for us to answer on the
one question, Heather.
But there's also the personal benefits that you get.
So, the mates that you meet along the way, and the people
that you meet, and the opportunities that you get
that you just simply wouldn't get anywhere else.
Mike would like us to say what the most exciting
part of your job is.
The opportunity to lead Australian sailors is a really
exciting part of the job, and to see a team come together
and form and storm and then start to perform under your
guidance and your leadership, although my captain would
probably say it was his, is really exciting.
I find it extremely exciting doing my job, and whether
that's at sea or alongside, depending on where you are and
what you're doing, there's no shortage of different levels
of excitement and different opportunities
that you can take.
So, it's all pretty exciting, Mike.
David would like to know what kind of job satisfaction does
the Navy provide.
For me, a huge amount of job satisfaction.
And I think there's two parts to that.
The first part is because we're the military there's a
set standard.
And so, it's very clear what is expected of you, what needs
to be done if you're given a task, what's expected, when it
needs to be done, how it needs to be done, and you can go
ahead and do that.
And so you can very easily look back and say, yes, I
achieved that, I achieved that, I achieved that.
I think beneath that as well, particularly with the Defence
Force and in the Navy, there's that sense of belonging to the
water team, and the satisfaction that you're
contributing something to society and to Australia that
perhaps an ordinary person in an ordinary job
doesn't get to do.
Yeah.
And our last question tonight comes from John, and John
wants to know what sets our roles apart from other roles
in the Navy?
I think, John, the big role that sets--
sorry-- the big thing that sets my role apart from others
in the Navy, or Principal Warfare Officers and Maritime
Warfare Officers role apart is the fact that they are the
ones who will go onto command.
If you want to be in the Navy and drive ships, you want to
be a Maritime Warfare Officer, and that's really what sets
that role apart.
You get command.
Definitely.
So, thank you for joining us.
We've had some really good questions tonight, and we hope
that we have provided you with the information that you need.
If you would like to watch this evening's broadcast
again, it will be available online next week.
Thanks, and have a great night.