From winning an innovation award to developing new skills and relationships, Lieutenant Commander Liam Whitfeld made his mark during his time with the Royal Navy.

The principal warfare officer recently returned to Plymouth, UK, following an eight-month exchange to HMS Richmond, part of the UK Carrier Strike Group deployed to the Indo-Pacific.

Lieutenant Commander Whitfeld and Richmond’s 200-strong crew visited South Korea, India, Vietnam and the Philippines, returning to Australian waters to participate in Exercise Talisman Sabre alongside other allied forces.

Beyond strengthening Australia-UK ties, Lieutenant Commander Whitfeld said he found the deployment challenging personally and professionally, but was determined to throw himself fully into the invigorating new role.

“I arrived in the UK on New Year’s Day 2024 and took the ‘new year, new me’ concept to a whole new level,” Lieutenant Commander Whitfeld said.

“The only difference for me was the uniform that I wore. I was going to do anything and everything the UK personnel were going to do.”

This immersion into Royal Navy life provided a unique opportunity for Lieutenant Commander Whitfeld to train on advanced sonar systems, the same as those to be integrated into future Hunter-class frigates.

“It will be incredibly beneficial to bring that experience back to Australia so that once the Hunters come along, we have principal warfare officers and operators who have used the system in a theatre, not just the classroom,” he said.

Leveraging Indo-Pacific experience

With a number of Indo-Pacific deployments under his belt already, the Australian exchange officer found his UK colleagues were keen to leverage his knowledge and experience.

“The Royal Navy doesn’t visit the region as often so I had incredible opportunities to provide advice and guidance,” Lieutenant Commander Whitfeld said.

“There is only so much you can get from reading reports and briefings; it’s very different to spending years in the region and it was a great privilege to share that knowledge.

“Coming in as a third party also meant I laid a fresh set of eyes on everything. My team were open to different approaches and very curious as to what things we do differently in Australia.”

'My biggest takeaway is simply the importance of the Australia-UK alliance, as many of the problems we face we simply cannot tackle alone.'

Award-winning innovator

It was this innovation-first attitude that won Lieutenant Commander Whitfeld the coveted Herbert Lott Award during his deployment, after developing a tool to improve surface-to-air missile capability against drones.

“All this information came into the ship but there wasn’t a way to employ it in real time or tactically,” Lieutenant Commander Whitfeld said.

“I managed to develop a tool that could integrate into the command system and use this information in real time to better understand the probability of impact.”

Later implemented across the Royal Navy fleet, the solution was just one example of the mutual benefits of Lieutenant Commander Whitfeld’s exchange posting, and the importance of the Australia-UK relationship.

“My biggest takeaway is simply the importance of the Australia-UK alliance, as many of the problems we face we simply cannot tackle alone,” he said.

Scoring goals at sea

While gaining new skills and experience was a key part of his exchange experience, the lifelong soccer fan found there were also deep ties to build through sport.

A fan of soccer since the age of four, Lieutenant Commander Whitfeld discovered the true meaning of the ‘world game’, playing in almost every port as a member of Richmond’s touring soccer club.

“In Albania we played their academy team and got absolutely flogged but it was really interesting to see the diplomatic impact beyond the game,” he said.

“They brought out all their recruits to cheer from the sidelines, as well as a couple of generals, and while it may not seem like a big thing, it’s a great way to build rapport mingling after the game.”