 |
|
|
Navy life is characterised by two distinct periods: life at sea and life ashore. Depending on your job, you'll probably spend about equal time between the two. When you are at sea your time away will be broken up by regular visits into port. You might be in a foreign port for up to a week, so you can take time off to enjoy the sights and local hospitality.
It's an important job. You'll be defending Australia's coast, protecting her from illegal fishing, drug-running and illegal immigration. And it's you that people will turn to during times of flood, drought and other natural disasters.
The ADF conducts a diverse range of military operations to support national interests. These include joint operations with the Navy, Army, Air Force and Special Forces; combined operations with allies and coalition partners; and engagement with armed forces of regional countries. Activities vary from daily activities to larger biennial operations.
Onboard there is separate accommodation and showers for male and female personnel.
As an officer, you will usually sleep in twin or triple share cabins or you may have a cabin to yourself, depending on your rank. All cabins contain a bed (or 'rack' as they are known in the Navy), a desk space for a laptop, a locker and storage space for each person and a small sink.
As a sailor you'll sleep in common areas with other sailors called Messdecks. You'll have your own bunk (with a privacy curtain) and personal storage area. There will also be a place for you to relax where you can watch videos, play computer games or just have some quiet time to yourself.
You'll be making great new friends on board. In fact, you will have made some friends in your first few days of Navy life that will last a lifetime. Even people who've only been in the Navy a few weeks talk about their new 'family'. It's one of the best parts of Navy life.
Navy personnel are required to pass an annual fitness test so are encouraged to participate in sporting activities. Because we expect you to remain fit for operational purposes, we incorporate sporting activities into your normal working day. There aren't many other jobs which pay you to keep fit! Navy warships are equipped with enough weights, treadmills and exercise bikes to do this while at sea. The Navy Physical Training Instructors will also run fitness classes on board and can work out an individual fitness program with you if you'd like some extra help.
On many ships you can play almost all of the sports you would on land. Hockey, soccer, basketball and dodgeball, depending on the type of vessel they can all be accommodated onboard, in the aircraft hanger or on the quarterdeck.
Individual activities are also catered for and can often be more fun in this kind of environment. Imagine fishing off the side of the ship or diving off and swimming alongside it in warm tropical waters.
All exercises are an important component of maintaining operational readiness and capability, including joint combined exercises, comprising all ADF Services and foreign armed Services.
The Navy's domestic maritime security activities are conducted under Operation RESOLUTE.
Operation RESOLUTE commenced on 17 July 2006 and streamlines the ADF's contribution to Australian whole-of-government efforts to protect Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Operation RESOLUTE consolidates previous ADF operations including Operation RELEX II (focussing on unauthorised arrivals), Operation CRANBERRY (illegal fishing and smuggling), Operation CELESTA and MISTRAL (patrols of Australia's southern ocean EEZ), and patrols protecting Australia's gas and oil infrastructure.
Border Protection undertakes planning, surveillance, intelligence analysis and deployments to deliver a coordinated, whole-of-government focus on illegal fishing in particular and maritime security more generally.
The ADF contributes Royal Australian Navy surface patrols, Royal Australian Air Force maritime aerial surveillance and land based Regional Force Surveillance Unit patrols in support of this critical activity.
The Talisman Sabre series of exercises are conducted biennially in Australia with the United States. This series of exercises is designed to train Australian and US Forces in planning and conducting Combined Task Force operations, which will help improve Australian Defence Force (ADF)/US combat readiness and interoperability.
The Australian Navy places a heavy emphasis on this exercise and devotes a variety of different platforms, aircraft and submarines to Queensland in support of this important exercise.
Exercise Bersama Padu is a Five Powers Defence Arrangement exercise to conduct combined and joint operations in a multi-threat limited conflict scenario.
The Defence Forces of Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom exercise together in, and around, the Malay Peninsula, Singapore and the South China Sea.
The Navy believes that a happy crew is a crew that's well fed. So one thing you'll get plenty of on board is food, good food too. The Navy prides itself on using only the freshest and most diverse ingredients, with ships regularly re-supplied while out at sea. Meals, served three times a day, are a variety of hot food, sandwiches and salads. They are generous in size, more than most can finish. Everyone likes to snack, especially those with an active lifestyle, so there is coffee, tea, milo, cordial, fruit, toast and spreads on hand at all times. You can keep your own stash of goodies in your personal space as well. Vegetarian meals and low fat options are also always provided.
Ship cooks will often prepare surprise 'mornos' or 'arvos', things like fresh muffins or baked scones, for the entire crew. And a cake often gets shared around whenever it is someone's birthday.
You honestly couldn't eat better than this if you cooked at home, or went out to restaurants every night. In fact you'll probably never eat this well consistently at any other time in your life!
Of course we can cater for special diets on request.
Ships are not always at sea; they are organised on a rotational basis. So it can be two months away and two months at home or a week at sea and a weekend at home, or even a day at sea and home again that evening. It all depends on the type of vessel.
It's on the ship that all your training and teamwork pays off, and you can't help but get caught up in the constant whirl of activity on board. The work involved in maintaining the ship, protecting it and keeping it on course will develop an incredibly close-knit crew and many of you will be friends for life.
Every position in the Navy has its core jobs that you will carry out everyday. But these are divided up with a variety of other daily activities to do with first aid, HR and seamanship, just to name a few.
Even when posted to a ship or submarine, you'll probably get to spend a lot of time at your home port. When your ship is at home there are several options for accommodation. You'll live on a Navy base if you're a trainee, or in separate accommodation as a single, defacto or part of a family. You will receive a Seagoing Allowance which is a minimum of $10,347 per year and rises considerably every few years, as long as you are posted to your ship. Being posted doesn't necessarily mean that you're out at sea. It just means that the ship or submarine is your place of work.
While you're at sea you'll usually have access to email and regular mail. There's even a service called 'Swimline' on ships overseas. This allows you to receive messages from family and friends played over the ship's main broadcast system. And when you're in port obviously you can use your mobile phone to reconnect with people back home. You might also receive care packages from family and friends that can include anything from home cooked snacks, to recorded copies of your favourite TV shows.
Back Ashore You are entitled to 6 weeks leave when posted to a sea going vessel
You'll find that in the Navy you get more time off than you would in most other jobs. You will have a Basic Annual Leave Entitlement of 4 weeks per year, which will increase to 6 when you are posted to a sea going vessel. You may also be entitled to 5 extra day's recreational leave to compensate for any additional time spent carrying out official duties after hours or on weekends. After ten years of service you become eligible for 3 months long service leave.
And it's not all work and no play out at sea. There's plenty of room for fun in the Navy. As well as socialising with your mates, on many ships you'll have access to XBOXs and the latest games. You can listen to the occasional resident band, watch the ships CCTV (Closed Circuit Television), play cards, chess or read magazines in the Mess, join a team for trivia night, or for those brave enough, take to the stage in our own Australian Idol.
Depending on the size of the ship you might even be able to take your own bicycles, surfboards or musical instruments to store onboard and use when possible.
Everyone needs their own space and you'll find that your fellow Navy members, particularly when you are out at sea, will be very respectful of this. People will be able to tell when you need some time alone and they will happily leave you to it.
Fitness in the ADF
The Real Sea Patrol
Battleships Extreme
NEOC 38