Lieutenant Commander Mark Taylor

Born in the UK and raised in Sydney and Newcastle, NSW, Lieutenant Commander Mark Taylor, RAN joined the Royal Australian Naval College in January 1984 and on completing academic studies, joined the Fleet in September 1986 for stage 2 training. As a trainee Officer of the Watch between 1986-89, he served in a variety of ships before being awarded his Bridge Watchkeeping Certificate in HMAS Derwent in Oct 1988. Following a short consolidation period in HMAS Stuart 2, SBLT Taylor was posted as Navigator of the Patrol Boat HMAS Gladstone between 1989-91 during which time he was promoted to LEUT.

Following a year in HMAS Swan in 1991-92, LEUT Taylor undertook the Principal Warfare Officers' course number 16 in 1992-93 and was subsequently posted for a short period as ASW Officer HMAS Swan before joining the Frigate HMAS Sydney as ASWO between Nov 1993-Jun 1995.

LEUT Taylor was posted as Naval Liaison Officer, 92WG (RAAF EDINBURGH) between 1995-97 during which time he was promoted to LCDR and proceeded back to sea in Sep 1997 as Comms Officer HMAS Adelaide. During this posting LCDR Taylor saw operational service in East Timor for Operation WARDEN in Oct 1999.

A succession of shore postings for LCDR Taylor followed, highlighted by two years as OIC of the RAN Communications and Information Systems School at HMAS Cerberus between 2000-2002. He then returned to sea in Apr 2003 as Comms Officer HMAS Darwin before being hurried off to serve in the Arabian Gulf in HMAS Adelaide for Operation CATALYST.

LCDR Taylor was the last Commanding Officer of the patrol boat HMAS Bendigo between Dec 2005 and Sep 2006. He assumed command of ARDENT TWO crew, one of six crews supporting Armidale class patrol boats in Cairns, in Jan 2007. He holds a Diploma in Allied Science and a Graduate Diploma of Computing through Deakin University. Interests include computers, cricket, tennis, motor racing and modelmaking.