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Just like all other new entrants to the Navy, submariner's first point of contact will be the RAN Recruit School at HMAS CERBERUS, in Western Port Bay Victoria. The various modules you will study over 11 weeks are designed to give you the most detailed insight into your future Navy life as possible. Living in Communal Accommodation will prepare you for the challenges and benefits of sharing such close quarters with your workmates. Countersink will teach you how to combat floodwaters in compartments and other threats out at sea. You will also learn about teamwork, first aid and how to manage the advanced technology you will be working with as a submariner.
Fitness training will form a part of most of your courses. Navy instructors will guide you through activities that build your confidence, as well as your fitness levels along the way. Look at it as an opportunity to improve your fitness rather than as a requirement. The instructors are there to see that you succeed, not fail and in many cases you'll come to regard them as mentors.
After completing Basic Training you will undertake the Enhanced Selection Process (ESP) Course for one week at HMAS STIRLING in Western Australia. This course is a two way process, so you get to decide if life as a submariner is for you and we get to asses how suitable you would be for the Service. After successful completion you will return to HMAS CERBERUS to undertake the Basic Seamanship Course.
This four week course is completed by all Seaman Branch sailors and covers important areas of basic seamanship. Just some of the things you will learn are Boatwork: crew, maintenance and navigation of power boats; Rigging: working all types of cordage and wire ropes, slips and shackles and Helmsmanship: how to steer a ship. After completing this course you will be posted to the Submarine Training and Systems Centre to undertake your submarine specialisation training.
This runs for five weeks. It consists of a series of computer based and instructor based modules that introduce you to the construction, systems and inter-relationships that make up the submarine. You will also undertake Submarine Fire-Fighting and Submarine Escape modules.
The Submarine Escape and Rescue Centre is the most advanced of its kind in the world today. It has been purpose built to provide submariners with the theoretical knowledge, practical skills and confidence needed to escape safely from a stricken Collins Class submarine, in water depths of up to 180 metres. The practical part of the Escape Training Course takes place in the facility's six-storey high submarine escape simulator, which replicates the escape compartments found inside a submarine. The five day course culminates in each submariner having to perform a successful escape from the simulator.
