Inside HMAS Ballarat’s five-inch gun system, a small team of weapons specialists is hard at work on what they love most.

They are the ship’s ‘Gun Busters’ – a five-person team of electronics technicians responsible for maintaining the ship’s weapons systems, ammunition and explosive ordnance.

They ensure Ballarat is always ready to fight.

For Able Seaman Trey Gillott, it is a dream job.

“I always wanted to stream weapons because it’s so unique, so niche,” Able Seaman Gillott said.

“Every ship has communication and navigation systems, but not every ship has a five-inch gun, missile launchers and torpedoes. That’s what makes our job different.”

The team maintains the ship’s main gun, chaff launchers, the vertical launch system, torpedoes, Nulka decoys and the Naval Strike Missile.

'The best part of our job is the days we fire.'

They also manage the ship’s explosive ordnance, conducting daily magazine rounds and making sure every space that stores ammunition is safe.

“Not many people in the world have a job like this,” Able Seaman Gillott said.

“It’s so niche, and we’re all really passionate about it.”

Week-to-week maintenance, monthly inspections and daily checks all feed into one goal: ensuring the gun is ready the moment the operations room calls for it.

“The best part of our job is the days we fire,” Able Seaman Gillott said.

“When everything comes together, you can smell it, you can feel it. Every sense is working. 

“We’re inside the weapon system, we’re in charge of it, and when the round leaves the barrel, you feel a real sense of accomplishment.”

Senior maintainer Petty Officer David Jackson has been a gun buster for 22 years, and his passion for the job has not faded.

“Handling ammo, shooting, being inside the weapon while we’re firing … it’s the best part of the job,” Petty Officer Jackson said.

“Weapons systems are what make us a warship.”

'We’re inside the weapon system, we’re in charge of it, and when the round leaves the barrel, you feel a real sense of accomplishment.'

He said the team’s role was hands-on, technical and demanding.

“We look after the hydraulics, electronics, pneumatics and explosives, and we’re really integrated with people across the whole ship,” Petty Officer Jackson said.

Collectively, the team was proud of the high-value systems they were trusted to maintain.

“The kit is expensive, and we’re accountable for that,” Able Seaman Gillott said.

“And we also want to make Jacko proud. He’s been doing this for a really long time, so we want to do a good job for him.”

Able Seaman Daniel Mullings said the proof of their work was simple.

“We know we’ve done our job effectively whenever we fire,” he said.

And on Ballarat, the Gun Busters would not have it any other way.