NT09 Unit Readiness Evaluation
22 May 2009
HMA ships Sydney and Ballarat were steaming toward their first international destination when the call came in; “the State of Beulah is under threat, Australia has agreed to assist the Beulahns, the ships of Northern Trident 2009 (NT09) must be re-tasked”. Though the actions of the HMAS Ballarat crew conveyed the seriousness of the situation, the scenario was entirely fictional and in reality, neither ship was diverted from their 13,000 nautical mile trip of a life time.
The training scenario consisted of 48 hours of intensive warfare training, an operational port visit for refuelling and maintenance. Devised by the Royal Australian Navy’s Sea Training Group – the ‘Green Team', the training exercise was designed to put Ballarat’s ship’s company through their paces. The scenario was an important part of the Unit Readiness Evaluation Ballarat underwent during the early stages of the Northern Trident 2009 deployment, and a scenario in which HMAS Sydney also participated.
A Unit Readiness Evaluation tests the ships ability to work effectively on a day to day basis whilst simultaneously managing threats and emergencies at sea. Though RAN ships routinely practice a variety of skills when underway, the training was of particular importance to Ballarat. Whilst in the United Kingdom she will undertake a benchmarking activity with the Royal Navy’s Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) team.
“We will take the lessons learned from this training off the northern coast of Australia to the world. Ballarat will be the international measuring stick for the RAN’s training program and we are looking forward to the challenge,” said Commanding Officer of Ballarat, CMDR Kevin Turner.
During the boarding exercise scenario, LEUT Andrew Erven was the Officer of the Watch and responsible to the Commanding Officer for the navigation and general running of the ship.
“Using our radio, it was my responsibility to identify Ballarat as an Australian Warship, to seek identification information from the ‘suspect vessel’ (Sydney) and to then brief the Commanding Officer and the Principal Warfare Officer as to the result of radio hail,” said LEUT Erven. The brief resulting from the hail, lead to orders to bring Ballarat to boarding stations. Ballarat closed in on Sydney and launched its RHIBs (Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats) to conduct a boarding.
Leading Seaman Boatswains Mates (LSBM) Aaron Smits and Lisa Herra were two of the 14 personnel on board the RHIBs as they approached the ‘suspect vessel’. The boarding party was made up of personnel from all departments in the ship and is a role they take on in addition to their regular duties.
“It is an extra responsibility we volunteer for and something that we are continually trained on. For the last month we’ve trained pretty much every day in addition to our regular duties,” said LSBM Smits.
All that training certainly paid off during the exercise as things went smoothly for Ballarat’s boarding party teams.
“The boarding was very routine, the way we want them to be,” said LSBM Herra. “We got on, mustered the crew, checked documentation and conducted a successful cargo inspection with the cooperation of the crew,” she said.
By the end of the exercise, Ballarat had not only secured Beulah’s peace and security but to the relief of all crew, had been assessed as ‘Unit Ready’ by Sea Training Group – ready to face NT09 and ready for all the challenges that the FOST team will throw at them.
