By
Michael Brooke
Volume 48, No. 4, March 23, 2006
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SGT
Mark Storey gets a lesson in water survivability during
the submariner’s familiarisation course at HMAS Stirling.
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Photo
by Michael Brooke
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AIR
Force personnel can become aspiring Navy submariners by “testing
the waters” at a Collins Class familiarisation course, held
at HMAS Stirling in WA.
The five-day obligation-free course, known as the Enhanced Selection
Process (ESP), is run by the Submarine Training and Systems Centre
(STSC) every month and gives volunteers from the three Services
the opportunity to explore the employment options, lifestyle and
conditions of service as a submariner.
ESP Coordinator Chief Petty Officer Ash Davis told AIR FORCE News
that the course would help ADF personnel make an informed decision
about becoming a submariner.
The challenge of working in the world’s best diesel-electric
boat led SGT Mark Storey, from No. 1 Combat Communication Squadron,
to participate in a recent course to fully explore his career
options.
SGT Storey, who has been in the Air Force for 18 years, said it
was a fantastic introduction to submarines, with the power and
capability of a Collins class boat the first lesson taught.
He and eight other ADF personnel watched as a Mk48 torpedo was
fired into the ocean from HMAS Farncomb, where it exploded under
the decommissioned warship Torrens and snapped in half.
The Collins Class demonstration was the beginning of an interesting
week, which included a smoke walk-through a ‘burning’
mock-up submarine at the Survivability School, a recompression
chamber dive and water rescue and survival exercises at the Submarine
Escape Rescue Centre.
But the highlight was the in-depth tour of HMAS Collins, which
represents a quantum leap in technology over the Navy’s Oberon-class
submarines that were retired from service in the mid 1990s.
SGT Storey said he was considering transferring to submarines
as an electronics technician for a variety of reasons, including
family stability, because it offered a more permanent posting
to HMAS Stirling.
“My possible move to submarines is all about family stability
as much as finding a new challenge and earning as much as $20,000
more annually in my pay,” he said.
He recommended ESP to Air Force personnel looking for new and
exciting career challenges, camaraderie, pride in being a member
of an elite team, better pay and posting stability.
For more information, contact CPO Ash Davis
on (08) 9553 3692 or PO Mark Layton on (08) 9553 3821 or visit
http://intranet.defence.gov.au/navyweb/Sites/SMFEG/
and follow the ‘Want to be a submariner’ link.
