By
LEUT Greg Keeley
WO Angella Hillis and LSATA Mark Albertson have become the first
RAN personnel to undertake a reciprocal short term attachment
with the United States Navy in the US.
WO Hillis, a SSASSC2 Instructor at the RANC, HMAS Creswell, lectured
in leadership and management training at the USN Senior Enlisted
Academy based at Newport, Rhode Island, USA.
LS Albertson, a Recruit School Instructor, instructed USN recruits
at the Recruit Training School. The RTS is based in Chicago at
the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. This school is otherwise
known within the USN as ‘Navy Bootcamp’.
According to LCDR Roger Jackson, the initiative to establish a
standing reciprocal short term sailor attachment between the RAN
and the USN was the idea of the previous Warrant Officer of the
Navy, WO David Wilson.
“The short term attachments are of three months duration
and are designed to broaden the sailor training process through
the sharing of experience, professional knowledge and doctrine”.
“It is also designed as a reward, as the RAN personnel are
selected for their exemplary performance. The sailor going to
the USN Recruit School is selected from among the recruit school
instructors at HMAS Cerberus.
“The senior sailor going to the USN Senior Enlisted Academy
is selected from either the instructors at SSASSC or the highest
performing dux of the SSASSC courses run in the previous 12 months”.
The reciprocal exchange will become a yearly opportunity.
The USN participated in the exchange early last year with two
Master Chiefs. One instructed at Cerberus and one to the SSASSC
at Creswell.
WO Hillis was involved in delivering lectures at the USN Senior
Enlisted Academy, finding this an extremely rewarding experience.
LS Albertson was given a recruit division by the USN to train.
“His job was to take his division from day one right through
to their graduation. Having an RAN junior sailor take charge of
a USN recruit division is a first for both the RAN and the USN.
“While the USN recruits thought it a little strange to have
an Australian take charge of them, they quickly got used to his
accent,” said LCDR Jackson.
It was not all work and barking instructions for the pair however.
They managed to fit in several trips, including some to New York
City and Washington DC.
WO Hillis visited New York with students from the USN Senior Enlisted
Academy.
“This visit included Ground Zero, where you could feel the
hush of the city. While the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty
and Times Square were also visited, the site of the WTCs remains
a vivid memory. Visiting New York was like going deep into the
soul of the American people,” said WO Hillis.
LS Albertson visited Washington DC.
“I toured the White House and the memorials such as the Washington
Monument, the Vetrans Wall and the Lincoln Memorial. I would thoroughly
recommend that anyone travelling to America should include Washington,
DC on their itinery,” he said.
Both WO Hillis and LS Albertson were impressed by the pride and
professionalism displayed by the USN personnel conducting the
training.
