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New Fleet Commander
By LCDR Antony Underwood
Volume 50, No. 12, July 12, 2007 |
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| FLEET HANDOVER: RADM Davyd Thomas, right, hands the weight to RADM Nigel Coates. Photo: ABPH Andrew Black |
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A ‘clear lower decks’ of Fleet Headquarters staff on July 4 saw the weight – signifying command of the Australian Fleet – pass from RADM Davyd Thomas to RADM Nigel Coates.
It was a moment of some nostalgia in the forecourt of the headquarters as RADM Thomas recalled some of the highlights of his watch in Fleet – about 18 months as Commodore Flotillas and two years as Commander Australian Fleet. He said he left the job with some sadness.
And his successor, RADM Coates, said he was confident that the Fleet was on the right track and that he was determined to work with those under his command to “continue that great effort”.
Fleet Command’s Senior Chaplain Stuart Hall began the ceremony with thanks for the outgoing Fleet Commander, RADM Thomas’s leadership. He also asked for a blessing on the headquarters’ duties and responsibilities under RADM Coates to ‘‘raise, train and sustain’’ the Fleet in its various tasks.
RADM Thomas said it had been an honour and privilege to serve the Fleet. He said he had been impressed at the level of leadership throughout the Command. “Wherever I’ve been the sense of community is the strongest it’s ever been and something we should continue to foster. This is something unique to the Services and something, in the Navy, that we’ve come to cherish.”
RADM Thomas stressed the importance of effective risk management and outlined some highlights of his tenure as Fleet Commander, including commissionings and decommissionings. “It’s been a very fortuitous watch from that perspective – with the transition from the Fremantles to the Armidale class [patrol boats]. We’re now well into the Armidale program, a program that is not without its challenges, but one that is delivering a much more capable program.
“They’re obviously named after corvettes – the Fremantles as well – and seeing those veterans ... coming to those ceremonies really gives you a sense of heritage – where we come from.”
Other highlights included the Fleet’s participation in Operation Astute1 and the pairing of Australian Navy Cadet units with Fleet units.
“It’s really giving us a look at the future,” he said of the developing relationship between the cadet units and ships, submarines and aircraft of the RAN, “and we need to think about the past, present and future as one entity.”
After accepting ‘the weight’, RADM Coates thanked the outgoing Fleet Commander for “his strong and tireless leadership”.
“Today’s highly professional and operationally effective fleet is due in no small part to RADM Thomas’s dedicated leadership,” he said.
RADM Coates said Fleet Command’s mission is to “provide the right forces, at the right time, capable of fighting and winning at sea”.
“My initial impression of the Fleet is one of a committed team, working hard and achieving very good results, but challenged in a number of areas,” he said.
“I bring with me a clear understanding of the challenges we are facing on the personnel front from my recent position [as Director General Navy Personnel and Training]. Navy is working hard to address these issues.
“I am confident we are on the right track and will see improvement over time. Nevertheless, we can and must continue to seek ways to make a difference in this regard, and we all have a role to play here.”
The new Fleet Commander said he was, overall, impressed by the work being done and the “cheerful determination to be the best you can be.” “My aim is to work with you to continue that great effort and maintain our first class, operationally ready naval force,” he said.
RADM Coates added that his initial focus would be on implementing the Sea King Board of Inquiry recommendations, completing the introduction into service of the Armidales and upgraded guided missile frigates, continuing the governance improvements initiated by RADM Thomas and managing the fleet activity schedule to maximise the delivery of capability “cognisant of current personnel shortages in some areas”. |
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