Employment Training
Australian Defence Force Academy, Graduate, Undergraduate
On completion of military training, Weapons Electrical Engineer Officers (WEEOs) undertake an 18 week Engineer Officers’ Application Course (EOAC) at HMAS CERBERUS in Victoria. This course supplements theoretical degree education with training in fields specific to engineering in the Navy such as weapon hydraulics, radar, sonar, missile and gunnery fire control systems, ship communications equipment and maintenance administration procedures. The course is split into three distinct parts as follows:
- EOAC (Common) lasts for 5 weeks, it is conducted as a combined class with the Marine Engineer Officers on course and covers various common aspects of Engineer Officer training such as Engineering Safety, Technical Administration, Risk Management and Naval Infrastructure;
- The EOAC road trip lasts for one week and involves visits to the various key directorates and organisations in Canberra and Sydney; and
- EOAC (WE) lasts for 12 weeks and covers specific Weapons Engineering subjects.
On completion of the EOAC, students are posted to a sea-going ship as an Assistant WEEO and issued with a Requirements Journal, which consists of a series of tasks that need to be completed in order to prepare the individual for their Weapons Electrical Certificate of Competency (WECC) examination board, which typically occurs after nine to twelve months of sea training. Achievement of the WECC qualifies the individual to be a Deputy WEEO in a major warship and is a significant milestone in a WEEO’s training.
At this point the individual can expect to spend two to three years ashore before returning to sea for a two year posting as a Deputy, during which time they will achieve their Weapons Engineering Charge Qualification (WEQ), which is the final qualification required to enable them to run a Weapons Engineering department in a major warship. This they can expect to do after a further two to three years ashore and promotion to Lieutenant Commander.
