The appointment of two additional special warrant officers to provide a communications conduit between the lower ranks of the RAN and Navy management, is working, according to the Command Warrant Officer Dave Baker.

He said there is a good flow of information in both directions between all levels of the service.

His remarks came after the holding of the first formal meeting of the three warrant officers, Warrant Officer of the Navy, David Wilson, Systems Command Warrant Officer Matthew Ferguson and himself at Maritime Headquarters.

The position of Warrant Officer of the Navy has been in place for about nine years.

The Command Warrant Officer took up his appointment last July and the Systems Command Warrant Officer a few months later.

"On the agenda for the meeting were leadership, behaviour and current issues, those we are seeing in the media," WO Baker said.

"We all want to speak with the one voice," he added.

The meeting lasted 90 minutes.

WO-N David Wilson is the most senior non-commissioned officer in the RAN and works in the office of the Chief of Navy.

WO Ferguson works in the office of the Systems Commander, CDRE Russ Crane at Campbell Park in Canberra while WO Baker is a member of the staff of RADM Geoff Smith and works in Maritime Headquarters in Sydney.

By Graham Davis