Ballarat Personnel Cross The Cultural Divide
4 August 2009
On their journey down the east coast of the North American continent, the Northern Trident Ships have taken the opportunity to engage in a ‘cross deck’ or ‘exchange’ program with the Canadian and United States (US) Navies. This program has seen personnel from the HMA Ships Ballarat and Sydney ships visit HMCS Ville de Quebec and USS Mahan for a day while foreign personnel are hosted by the Australian ships. In addition to the exchange of personnel from these ships, HMAS Ballarat has also played host to cadets from US Naval Academy and personnel from the US and the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guards.
The opportunity to be involved in the cross decking was open to officers and sailors alike and came about via expressions of interest and supervisor nomination. On NT09, Ballarat personnel have visited the foreign ships for the day but the cross decking experience can last for longer periods where operational commitments allow. No matter what length of the visit may be, the opportunity to cross deck is a rare one which allows those involved to appreciate the culture of other Navies from the inside.
Ballarat’s Assistant Marine Engineering Officer, LEUT Daniel Lucas was one of the lucky members of ship’s company involved. "This was the first time I have cross decked. I went across to USS Mahan and enjoyed the opportunity to just chat to a whole range of people onboard about their experiences in the US Navy. From the senior ranks to their most junior sailor, everyone was really welcoming and wanted to know all about Australia. They were all really interested in our country, wanting to visit either for a holiday themselves or with the Navy on a trip like we are doing" he said.
Able Seaman Marine Technician Nathanial Wheeler who visited Ballarat from Ville De Quebec has cross decked before, visiting a Norwegian Navy ship last year, but was still keen to cross deck again. "Each time you cross deck it allows you to compare the systems each Navy has to achieve the same objectives and there are always differences – some big, others small. Between our two ships there are some obvious differences. Quebec is nearing her midlife refit where as Ballarat is still mechanically very new. On Ballarat everything is in one language only, on Quebec all our signage is in French and English and the pipes over the main broadcast take twice as long, once in English, once in French" he said.
His countryman Leading Seaman Marine Technician, Brain Evenett also observed, "It seems that the average age of the Australian crews is about 10 years younger than on the Canadian ships and the junior sailors have much more spacious accommodation on the Australian ships. We have 21 man messes in comparison to much smaller messes onboard the Anzac Class ship. But in other ways we win out; we have a coffee machine and a fridge down in our machinery control room which seems to be missing on the Aussie ships" he said with a smile.
For United States Navy Midshipmen, Kelly Knorr and Bob Kane, who visited Ballarat from the Naval Academy at Annapolis, the trip provided them with the first real test of their sea legs since joining the Navy. After their years at the Naval Academy studying and training, both were thankful for the opportunity to get to sea and enjoyed their overnight transit from Baltimore to Norfolk.
The cross deck experience for the members of the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard, had an international flavor, with the 4 personnel joining Ballarat in Norfolk in the United States and remaining onboard Ballarat for four nights underway to Port of Spain in Trinidad. The Coast Guard forms part of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force, one of the largest Defence Forces in the Caribbean region. In comparison to the Offshore Patrol Vessels that the Coast Guard routinely mans, Ballarat is more than twice that size which provided an entry into port was a memorable occasion for Lieutenant Akhenaton Isaac, Petty Officers Kerry St Louis and Richard Philip and Leading Writer Dale Bishop.
For all personnel involved in cross deck arrangements, both those who cross and the ship’s company who receive and welcome the foreign personnel, the exchange experience is invariably a positive one. It highlights that although there may be differences in language, technology or dress, being Navy is something that everyone has in common. The shared Navy experience provides a strong bond upon which to share experiences, exchange knowledge and appreciate the differences between each nations and reinforces the age old notion that Navies bring nations together.
