Aussie duo conquer Perisher challenges

LCDR Gary Lawton (left) and LCDR Mark Potter (right).

HMAS Sheean off the coast of Hawaii earlier this year. LCDR Lawton and LCDR Potter hope to command one of our Collins Class submarines in 2004.

Two Australian submarine commanders have arguably received the best submarine training in the world after completing the elite Perisher Course with the Dutch navy. Tim Slater spoke to LCDR Gary Lawton and LCDR Mark Potter.

Ducking under charging warships as they thunder overhead at 30 knots, navigating through hazardous and congested waterways and being under extreme pressure, with the prospect of their submarine careers coming to an abrupt end with just one major mistake, are just some of the challenges that two Australian submariners have overcome this year to earn the right to command Collins class submarines.

LCDR Gary Lawton and LCDR Mark Potter have recently completed the gruelling Perisher Course with the Dutch Navy.

The officers left Australia in February to start the most challenging year in their navy careers, commencing with visits to Dutch, British and NATO naval establishments before the real business of learning to command a submarine began in March.

The Dutch have been running the Perisher Course since 1995 after the Royal Navy began its phase-out of diesel boats.

But Gary, Mark and their four initial classmates from the US, Canada, Israel and The Netherlands, worked hand-in-hand with the UK Perisher course during their training.

The RAN has at least one student, and sometimes up to four, taking part in the Dutch course each year.

Mark and Gary were recommended for the course after serving as the executive officers on HMA submarines Waller and Dechaineux respectively.

The course proper started at a submarine trainer at the Den Helder naval base.

The men spent eight hours a day in the trainer with the emphasis on periscope safety training.

And it was here that they got their first taste of the course teacher who was to “sit on their shoulder” throughout the entire course.

“He continually assesses you in terms of safety, your ability to fight the submarine and your ability to train the team which are the three criteria they look for,” Gary said.

The next phase was at sea for safety training on the HNLMS Zeeleeuw, one of four 68-metre, 3000 ton, diesel-electric Walrus class submarines in service with the Dutch navy.

Intensive exercises involving four warships charging the submarine at high speeds were conducted to assess their ability to remain safe at periscope depth or to make the decision to take the submarine deep.

“To have four warships training one person just for the periscope safety phase was incredible,” Mark said.
Gary said doing the Perisher Course was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“It is the chance of a lifetime, you hear about it for 10 years before you do the course and a myth has built up over time and to actually be a part of that and experience it is something else. It is a major adrenalin rush, it is really, really exciting,” he said.

The Perisher candidates are assessed when they take turns as duty captain and are responsible for everything that goes on during their watch, varying in length from 12-48 hours.

“And that is designed to put you under pressure for a continuous period, to wear you down and see how you react when you are tired and make you realise that you can’t just go for extended periods without sleep, you just can’t do it,” Mark said.

During this time the teacher stands back and observes everything.

“He looks at the way you control your team, he doesn’t care how you do it as long as it works,” Mark said.

The safety phase was followed by towed array operations training and periods ashore in the UK including a fishing safety brief in Scotland and attending the Maritime Warfare Course at HMS Dryad in Portsmouth.

Then it was back to the trainer for another four weeks before joining the HNLMS Walrus where the real action began, a four-week tactical sea phase tour de force.

The phase included a Joint Maritime Course featuring 18 warships and maritime patrol aircraft from eight countries.

They were also operating in confined waters, including deep-water close inshore and amidst high-density sea traffic including ferries, fishing vessels and merchant ships.

“The fundamental part of the course is to realise your own limitations and if you didn’t know them before, you certainly know them afterwards,” Gary said.

“It’s all based on safety because at the end of the day whichever navy you are in, the powers that be want you to take that submarine and its crew out and come back alive.

“Whether you achieve your aim or not is secondary to that and it is only in the most extreme circumstances that you would jeopardise that safety to achieve your aim.”

Mark said Perisher also tested stamina and leadership skills.

“A big part is your command presence, your style, we had six guys on the course with six very different styles,” he said.

He said self improvement and self-assessment were crucial skills that every commander needs.
“When you are the captain, whether you perform well or not, no-one is going to be telling you you’ve done a really good job, or a bad job, you’ve got to be self critical,” he said.

Gary said a captain’s life at sea is non-stop.

“It’s 4-5 hours sleep a day, thinking ahead and adapting to changing circumstances.
“And that’s what we experienced, even during the four weeks where we take it in turns, things do change and we have got to be able to adapt to that and think it through.”

Not too far from their thoughts throughout the entire Perisher Course was the ever-present fear of making a major mistake which could affect the safety of the submarine and lead to the end of a career in the submarine service, which happened to one of the students on the course.

“You will never be at sea in submarines again, that’s the end of your career basically,” Gary said.

“We lost the American after a safety incident, he was boat transferred off an hour and a half later, we didn’t see him again. It happens.”

Small mistakes are tolerated as long as they are not repeated.

Mark said the teacher applies pressure to all the students at different stages of the course, depending on when he thinks it is needed.

“He put me under a lot of pressure for about 48 hours, it was just constant, but after that he eased off me and concentrated on the other guys and I think that is just to see how you perform when someone is riding you,” Mark said.

“If you illustrate you are keen to learn and learn from your mistakes and are happy to try and get the most out of every operation then he is more than happy to sit back and let you do that, he wants to see you drive the team and drive yourself.”

Gary said the students would not know when they would be duty captain with the teacher chopping and changing to see the students reactions.

“You could be doing an inshore operation and half way through he will change over and throw you in at the deep end as the warships come charging over the horizon,” Gary said.

“He will try and put you into a position where you take the boat into harms way, he will deliberately set you up to do that, but its up to you to say I am not doing that thanks very much, there is a lot of mind playing.”

During the final weekend the students must operate independently, safely and strategically under difficult circumstances, under the eyes of their teacher and senior submarine officers who have come on board to inspect student progress.

The sea training finished after a final inshore operation in the Clyde approaches off Scotland before leaving Walrus by boat transfer.

The officers then returned to Fleet Base West after spending most of the past two years at sea.

They are currently spending much-valued time ashore and are hoping to be given command of their own submarines in 2004.

They have proven they are prepared to embark on the greatest challenge of their naval careers after receiving the best possible preparation in the world to do so.

.