Navy People: Alexandra Apse

14 July 2010

North Beach local Alexandra Apse, 18, has just graduated from the Royal Australian Naval College located at HMAS Creswell next to Jervis Bay in NSW. She is now ready to start a Navy career that could take her anywhere.

Alexandra graduated from St Marks Anglican Community School in October 2009. Since 2007, Alexandra was also working as a trainee watch leader on the Sailing Training Ship Leeuwin II. It gave her good insight in what working in the Navy might be like.

The five month course at HMAS Creswell is designed to give all new officers in the navy the basic qualifications and experience they will need to enter the fleet as junior leaders and managers.

“I really enjoyed my time at HMAS Crewsell,” Alexandra said.

“If I had to pick my favourite courses they would be survival at sea, where we learnt what we would need to do if we had to abandon ship and get into life rafts to wait for help. But classes on naval history and weapons training were good too.

“Our training also contained leadership exercises and activities, which is the basis of our officer training at Creswell. We were taught how to organise and manage teams of people using our own leadership styles to achieve tasks,” Alexandra said.

Alexandra will specialise as a Seaman Officer and will shortly being her training at HMAS Watson, Watsons Bay, Sydney. As a trainee Seaman Officer, Alexandra will learn how to navigate a ship and manage the bridge team as the Commanding Officer’s representative.

“I can’t wait until to get some sea time and to be able to travel to various locations in Australia and overseas. I would really like to come back to HMAS Creswell and be a divisional officer for new entry officers. I am also looking forward to one day being the Commanding Officer of a patrol boat and specialising as a Principal Warfare Officer.”