Navy News, January 22, 2001

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Navy News is published fortnightly with its basic charter to inform and entertain our sailors wherever they are serving, in ships or on shore, at home or overseas.

January 22, 2001

		Celebrations begin Australians celebrated 100 years of Federation on January 1 and the Royal Australian Navy was in the vanguard of the action. RAN marching groups and musicians were in the forefront of parades and solemn ceremonies, most centred on Sydney.

		WA welcome for fast-tracked subs The Minister for Defence, John Moore, has officially welcomed the first two "fast tracked" Collins class submarines to their home base, HMAS STIRLING in Western Australia. DECHAINEUX and SHEEAN have undergone an intensive upgrade over the past 12 months at a cost...

		TOBRUK back to Solomons Another RAN has gone to the Solomon Islands. Last month CMDR Vin Thompson and his ship's company of HMAS TOBRUK sailed out of Sydney Harbour Solomons' bound. On board were two Sea King helicopters and a vast array of cargo, including medicines.

		Darwin upgrade well underway The $12.4 million upgrade of the Darwin Naval Base is well under way and should be completed by July, the project's manager, Mr Bryan Easter, said. The upgrade will allow an extra four Fremantle class patrol boats to be home ported in Darwin taking the total complement to 10.

		Rescue awards after storm at sea Two sailors who volunteered to take a small boat to rescue two mates and seven fishermen from a storm tossed Indonesian fishing boat, have had their actions acknowledged.

		Patrol boats busy The end of 2000 and the start of the New Year, have been busy for the RAN's northern patrol boats. Illegal fishing and detection of suspected illegal immigrants have keep three of the craft on their toes.

		Improved education scheme The Chief of Defence Force, ADM Chris Barrie, has announced the launch of an improved in-service education scheme for ADF members to be known as the Defence Assisted Study Scheme (DASS).

		Ships world class The Minister for Defence, John Moore, has congratulated the Defence Material Organisation and Australian shipbuilder, ADI Limited, on the delivery of Navy's fifth new minehunter, the Huon class HMAS DIAMANTINA.

		Celebrating 1000 days The multi-national, tri-service and civilian Peace Monitoring Group (PMG) celebrated its 1000 days in Bougainville on January 9, 2001. To commemorate the day, the PMG's helicopter squadron organised a flypast of the headquarters in Loloho.

		Christmas a scorcher For the 17 Navy members of the Peace Monitoring Group (PMG) who spent Christmas in Bougainville it was a scorcher. While it is always hot in PNG the seasonal weather brought thoughts of home.

		David did his bit A Royal Australian Navy officer who organised some of the first Australian humanitarian aid in East Timor including the re roofing of a hospital and two schools, has had his actions commended by LTGEN Peter Cosgrove, the INTERFET commander.

		Goodwill visit to SW Pacific HMAS WESTRALIA has returned to Fleet Base West after a busy couple of months spreading goodwill around the South West Pacific. WESTRALIA set out for her first overseas deployment in more than two years in October 2000. Her first ports of call were Melbourne...

		KANIMBLA home The 8450 tonne amphibious transport HMAS KANIMBLA has home-ported for the first time since her conversion in Newcastle. Under the command of CMDR Steve Turner, KINIMBLA left the Forgacs shipyard on the Hunter in November.

		Five focus on a new career The RAN has five new photographers. The five graduated from the basic photographic course conducted over 33 weeks last year by the tri-service Photographic Training Flight, a unit of the RAAF's School of Air Navigation based at the East Sale RAAF Base.

		BENALLA heads home The ship's company of HMAS BENALLA received a euphoric and rapturous welcome from thousands of townsfolk when it returned home to the City of Benalla in Victoria to take part in the city's annual Rose Festival celebrations.

		Medals for WA divers Six clearance divers from Clearance Diving Team Four, based at HMAS STIRLING, received medals acknowledging their service in East Timor as part of the INTERFET operation.

		ADELAIDE's 20^th anniversary HMAS ADELAIDE celebrated her 20^th year of service in the RAN in November. Several presentations were made for service in East Timor before SMNBM R. Tuck who is the youngest sailor borne, joined the ship's XO LCDR P. Quinn, to cut the traditional birthday cake.

		Award in a far place The Royal Navy Air Station CULDROSE is a "centre" of excellence when it comes to training military helicopter pilots, observers and crew members. Its helicopters and their RN operators are never far from the action when there is a rescue or disaster at sea.

		Long deployment One of the Navy's workhorses, the LCH HMAS BRUNEI has arrived home to Cairns after operating in East Timor for more than a year and ending what must go down as one of the longest RAN deployments...

		Cadets to get better yet Hot on the heels of the white paper's $30 million budget for Cadets, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence, Senator Eric Abetz has launched Cadets: The Future, a review into the future of the Australian Services Cadet Scheme (ASCS).

		Bonus payments to be retained Head of the Defence Personnel Executive, MAJ-GEN Simon Willis, says a report claiming Defence was abandoning bonus payments aimed at retaining key military personnel was incorrect.

		Emphasis on career management In August last year, CNSAC endorsed a range of tasks aimed to match the workload on Navy's people to a realistic capacity of the workforce, and deliver it by prioritising tasks and repairing the Navy's recruitment and retention systems.

		New-look Service Centre Once upon a time, the new Defence Service Centre in Cooma was a humble grain shed, but after its official opening on December 1, is now part of a $30 million investment by the Department of Defence.

		Good news with FOI manual The recent release of the up-dated Defence Freedom of Information Manual is good news for all, according to Executive Officer, Freedom of Information (FOI), Neil Phillips.

		Assistant required for WO-Navy Those looking for a new challenge need look no further than a position as the Warrant Officer-Navy's assistant, with the tenure for the current 18-month posting nearing an end. That person is currently PO Tracy Bellerby, who says she welcomes callers to see if the job is for them.

		Minister says no change to super This edition of Navy News provides the Minister's response to a series of questions posed by the Federation in regard to MSBS. The catalyst for the questions was a ground swell of dissatisfaction in regard to the 'unfunded' nature of the scheme and the possible closure of the PSS...

		New outcomes for logisitics In order to identify and meet the changing needs of logistics managers in Defence, in 1998 the then JET executive initiated a logistics management education project, involving a policy study, a competency development program and a training needs analysis (TNA).

		CERBERUS centre gets healthy boost The Health Centre at HMAS CERBERUS has recently been accrediated to ISO 9002 1994 for quality health systems. This accrediation is recognised both nationally and internationally, and provides the HCC with the development and maintenence of the highest standards...

		Unified approach to safety More than 150 senior Defence safety personnel met at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra (November 22-24) to attend the Defence National Safety Management Conference.

		Santa even seen in Vanuatu Santa has been seen doing the rounds of the Pacific Islands and is pictured above giving lollies and sweets to some of the local villagers at No3 in Port Vila.

		Insert is no longer Please be advised that the KEY, the Defence Personnel Executive (DPE) newsletter, will no longer be inserted into Service newspapers from January 2001.

		Aerobics Navy style We all know the vast majority of Navy personnel are generally a pretty fit bunch, so why have two aerobics instructors on the stern of HMAS MELBOURNE strutting their stuff? The answer is simple really.

		History of sea photographers This 144-page hard cover book, titled Camera at Sea, is firstly a history of the Royal Navy Photographic Branch, doubling as an excellent coffee table book. Profusely illustrated, it is divided into two sections; the first half covers every aspect of the branch's 80-year history, with...

		Timely process for awards With ADF personnel actively participating in numerous warlike and non-warlike operations and activities, there is a tremendous interest in recognition of service and medals entitlements.

		Reservists to have a say in future Australian Defence Force reservists will be given a say in their future training, conditions of service and deployment in a tri-service survey to be conducted this year.

		MC presents commendations The Maritime Commander RADM Geoff Smith has been busy presenting the MC Commendation to worthy recipients. At a ceremony aboard HMAS SUCCESS the MC recognised the efforts of CPOSN Paul Harris and CPOB Paul Borgas for their devotion to duty.

		Defence wins again Sailors, soldiers, airmen/women and Defence civilians are reaping the rewards of a first class workplace after the department was awarded both the '2000 National Assessment Award (Workplace)' and the 'Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) Board Award'.

		Timor choir takes to Australia A choir from East Timor has taken its spirit to the people of Australia to sing in celebration of their country's survival and new-found independence. The choir is called Anin Murak or 'Golden Wind'.

		STIRLING tastes Glory A group of 18 WA-based sailors received a talk about leadership from one of the highest profile sporting personalities in Australia, Perth Glory coach Bernd Stange, at HMAS STIRLING recently.

		Northsail nears for 2001 Following the highly successful adventure training expedition, Northsail 2000, a new committee has been established to conduct Northsail 2001. Building on the successful features of previous expeditions, Northsail 2001 will take Navy sail training yachts from the cool waters...

		Eddo returns with 'In Touch' column I'mm baaack. Yes, after a short hiatus, due to an enforced rest in Coffs Harbour, the charge being impersonating a touch player, I'm finally back on deck and in touch. Thanks to Kim Samin for keeping the seat warm and information flowing.

		Navy men feature in volleyball victory Eight Navy members of the NSW men's volleyball team have featured in the winning team at the 2000 ADF Volleyball Association championships in Western Australia. Along with one Army member, the NSW men's team had only one full training session together prior to the event...