Navy News, October 15, 2001

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October 15, 2001

		Recruit first A pilot scheme aimed at boosting the recruitment of technical sailors to the RAN has seen 20 young men and women begin 12 weeks of paid work experience at FIMA/Sydney. It is hoped the 20 will enjoy the experience and decide to join the RAN upon completion of their training.

		Chinese ships meet with dancing lions Three hundred members of the Sydney and ACT Chinese communities, four ceremonial dancing lions, drummers, the RAN's standing guard, the RAN band, senior naval officers and the Chinese Ambassador gave two visiting PLA/Navy warships a warm and noisy welcome to Sydney...

		Pay and conditions scrutiny The Minister assisting the Minister for Defence, Mr Bruce Scott, released the review into Australian Defence Force remuneration led by MAJGEN Barry Nunn (retired) on Friday, October 5. In releasing the Nunn Review, Minister Scott emphasised that decisions on the review remain...

		PM names site for HQ PRIME Minister John Howard recently announced the location for a $200 million project to relocate and collocate all elements of HQAST (Headquarters Australian Theatre). The new joint operational headquarters will be built at a site on the King's Highway...

		US looks to extend warship Gulf stay The United States has requested HMAS Anzac stay on in Gulf and that that another Australian warship replace her at the end of her operational tenure. The Minister for Defence, Mr Peter Reith, told of the requests late last month.

		Olympic terror team gets call to arms A special team, the Incident Response Unit, set up for the Olympic Games to respond to any chemical, biological, radiological and explosive incidents, is being re-instated as a result of the US terrorist attacks. The Minister for Defence, Mr Peter Reith announced the recall on October 2.

		Success $24m refit kicks in Overhauling the engine on the Kingswood might cost a couple of thousand dollars at most - doing it on the RAN's HMAS Success is a little more pricey. The Navy's auxiliary oiler and replenishment ship is presently high and dry in the Captain Cook Graving Dock at Garden Island, Sydney.

		Carleen is a hard act to follow The RAN volunteer worker responsible for taking the Navy to being the second largest buyer of theatre tickets in Sydney has seen her efforts recognised. She is now Carleen Angel OAM, her award announced in the Queen's Birthday Honours List..

		Chinese ships meet with dancing lions Three hundred members of the Sydney and ACT Chinese communities, four ceremonial dancing lions, drummers, the RAN's standing guard, the RAN band, senior naval officers and the Chinese Ambassador gave two visiting PLA/Navy warships a warm and noisy welcome to Sydney...

		Metoc offers change of career Nominations are now being call for a unique and exciting opportunity for a select few junior officers to commence METOC training in 2002. The training is completed in two phases of an initial eight months at the Bureau of Meteorology in Melbourne and the final component (Military METOC Course)

		Bunbury farewell ends an era in the west The departure of the Fremantle-class patrol boat HMAS Bunbury from HMAS Stirling on September 24 ended an era in Western Australia. Sailing from the small ship's compound at 1000, Bunbury was the last RAN patrol boat to be home ported in the West.

		Merchant navy gives RAN the gong The Royal Australian Navy has received a prestigious award from her sister maritime service, the Australian Merchant Navy. The Australian Merchant Navy Awards Council bestowed its Australian Merchant Navy Commendation in a ceremony on HMAS Melville in Port Kembla last month.

		Band wows big crowd A near capacity audience revelled in two hours of fantastic music from the RAN's combined band at the Sydney Town Hall last week. The planned 90-minute program was extended when the audience called for encores from the 73 RAN musicians and their musical director, CMDR Ashley Greedy.

		Are you 'personally' safe The Chief of the Defence Force, ADML Chris Barrie has called upon Defence personnel to take stock of their own personal security. What does this entail? LEUT John Youngman, the Naval Investigative Service Manager/Operations, has helped Navy News prepare this dot point list...

		RAN of the past draws students Thirty-two officers and sailors literally hit the road last month to present certificates to the winners of the inaugural RAN's Diverse Media High School Competition. They also wanted to say thanks to students who took part, to the teachers who helped and those who judged the entries.

		Phantom sub surfaces again The lost Dutch/Australian submarine K-IX has re-emerged from her sandy grave at Seal Rocks in NSW thanks to some king tides. A large section of the submarine has been exposed allowing maritime archaeologists from the NSW Heritage Office a new opportunity to study and record the structure.

		Trip of a lifetime for young Australians Navy children are set to benefit from a scholarship scheme that will place two lucky individuals aboard the Young Endeavour. The Young Endeavour Youth Scheme is offering two berths to the children of serving Navy personnel and Navy civilians.

		Teen siblings come to aid of theft victim The call, "I've been robbed" from a distressed Opera House jeweller, sent two Australian Navy Cadets to "full alert" last week. Brother and sister, AB Peter O'Hehir, 18 and SMN Katrina O'Hehir, 17, from TS Lismore did not tackle the fleeing thief but obtained an excellent description of him.

		Service unites navies from around the world Officers and sailors from eight navies stood with heads bowed at the Cenotaph in Sydney last week to remember the men and women who gave their lives in the defence of right. They prayed for peace with the RAN personnel present, pleading, "Lord God, bless our homeland, Australia...

		Historical Highlights - a series by LEUT Tom Lewis Mutiny is perhaps the most emotive word in any Navy's language. It refers to both individual and group refusal to obey orders, and is usually associated with bloody uprisings on the part of the mutineers. However, the great mutiny in the Royal Navy at Spithead in 1797 was a quiet, orderly affair...

		Naval Operations 1901-2001 The first purpose-built warship to be acquired by an Australian colony was the small sail gunboat Spitfire. Spitfire was built for the New South Wales Government in Sydney in April 1855 and was armed with a single smooth bore 32-pounder gun.

		Foundation Day oration The following is an edited version of the speech given by CDRE Jim Dickson during a Navy Foundation Day oration in Victoria... In the circumstances we enjoy today, it is very difficult for us to picture life in Melbourne in 1901 when Federation came about.

		Police team soccers it to them�again A team from the Western Australian Police Force recently emerged victorious for the second time at a sports tournament hosted by HMAS Stirling. The Police Team won a rugby competition in July and has now added the HMAS Stirling Invitational Soccer Championship to its mantle...

		Golfers on the go for nationals The ADF Golf Association committee (ADFGA) has finalised planning for the 2001 National Championship week in Canberra from Saturday, December 1 to Friday, December 7. National tournament director, SQNLDR Trevor Owens, said the 2001 event would see a major departure from previous...

		Sports briefs

		Sailing success Four ADF Tasar dinghies have made up part of the 100-boat fleet that gathered at Whitstable, UK, for the 2001 World Championship. The teams of Rick Longbottom and Paul Kinghorne, Darryl Bentley and John Spooner, Martin Linsley and Nick Grey, and John Tracey and Peter Nevard...