Sea The World
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday September 8, 2001
Patrols in the Gulf, war games in Hawaii they're part of Navy life, writes Peter Vincent.
The Australian Defence Force has long relied on the thrill and challenge of the work to attract recruits. With jobs like that of Royal Australian Navy helicopter pilot Nic Trimmer it's easy to see why.
Since Trimmer, 32, left his job with a shipping line in Launceston seven years ago to join the Navy, he has been involved in epic ocean rescues, enforced UN trade sanctions against Iraq and busted international fishery cheats.
He learnt to fly a helicopter in 1996 and his first major operations were fishery patrols around Heard Island in the Southern Ocean, where commercial fishermen were illegally catching Patagonian toothfish in Australian waters.
Working with a Navy frigate, Trimmer swooped on three boats, dropping Navy inspectors on board so they could impound the catch and the boats.
In 1998 he joined a six-week multinational exercise in Hawaii, conducting war games with US, Canadian, Korean and Japanese forces. One war game saw Trimmer's Sikorsky Seahawk helicopter protecting a beach landing by American troops from attack by a Korean submarine.
``Finding a submarine is a bit like finding a needle in a haystack. But we got credited with a `kill', which is what it's all about."
That excitement paled next to the events of December 28, 1998, when Trimmer was rushed from a Christmas break to join the search for survivors from the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.
After searching for survivors without luck for three hours, Trimmer received word that an RAAF Orion had spotted two men clinging to a rubber ring, in the Tasman Sea south of Merimbula, at about 10pm. They were John Stanley and John Gibson, the only survivors from the yacht Winston Churchill. Their three crew mates drowned, as did two other yachtsmen that day, a sixth suffering a fatal heart attack.
Surrounded by thunderstorms, Trimmer had to keep his Seahawk steady 18 metres above the surface of a violent sea for about 15 minutes, so that rescuer Shane Pashley could drop down a wire to reach the survivors.
His next big assignment was a two-month posting to the Persian Gulf at a time when the United States and the United Kingdom were bombing Iraq. He dropped inspectors onto boats entering and leaving Iraq to check for signs that trade sanctions had been breached.
``Flying over the airspace of Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia you have to be careful because if you stray into their territory you could start a diplomatic incident or worse."
Trimmer is now working as a Navy flight instructor which is not as sedate as it sounds.
``You're trying to teach someone that couldn't hover a helicopter over a football field to hover over a matchbox."
Trimmer joined the Navy as an officer and trained at HMAS Cresswell at Nowra.
Officer training takes 22 weeks and focuses on leadership theory and skills.
The vast majority of Naval positions, though, are for sailors, who do a 10-week basic training program (11 weeks from January) at HMAS Cerberus, just south of Melbourne.
Up to 130 recruits arrive each month, with up to 400 on the base at any one time. Men outnumber women five to one.
Recruit training covers developing personal qualities and learning military culture, physical fitness, swimming and academic performance. From January 28, modules will be added on surviving nuclear, biological and chemical attacks.
Once recruits finish, they learn the skills for their Navy jobs which can take up to 18 months for highly skilled positions.
All Navy personnel go to sea at some stage, with most deployed at least once a year although they usually only travel outside Australian waters every other year. Common destinations are the Pacific, South-east Asian nations, and the United States (including Hawaii).
Next year there is a chance for trainees and newly qualified sailors and officers to take part in the RAN's biggest peacetime deployment for more than a decade. A flotilla of five ships and up to 1,000 crew will participate in a round-the-world exercise called Operation Boomerang that involves joint exercises with American, British, Canadian, French, Greek and Spanish navies, plus others from South America, Asia and the Pacific.
Next week: The Air Force
Navy essentials
Jobs There are 19 jobs for sailors, but demand is greatest for combat systems operators, electronics and marine technicians and linguists.
Minimum service Four years for most jobs.
Qualifications For basic jobs, such as stores and stewards, you must have started Year 10. For most technical trades you need to have finished Year 10 with passes in English, science and maths.
Health Good fitness with no major limb injuries. Impaired hearing and vision won't rule you out.
Basic training Sixty-eight days plus three months' training for non-technical trades to 18 months for technical trades.
Pay From $34,700 for being posted to a sea-going ship.
Benefits Superannuation, free medical and dental service. Low cost rent and cheap home loans.
Contact 13 19 01 or www.defencejobs.gov.au/navy
© 2001 Sydney Morning Herald