Navy People: Another Real Sea Patrol

20 July 2010

He’s a long way from Laidley, but local sailor Stephen Lambert is living his dream of seeing the world and serving his country as part a Navy patrol boat crew. These days he is based in Cairns and currently serving on HMAS Bundaberg.

Finishing Secondary College, Stephen followed his brother Robert into the Navy in 1989 and specialised in on-deck seamanship.

Since then he’s deployed to New Zealand and Thailand, and served on operations in the Solomon Islands in 2001 and the Persian Gulf in 2002. After the Persian Gulf, Stephen was awarded a Commendation for Distinguished Service. He has now reached the rank of Petty Officer.

Now Stephen is helping protect Australia’s borders from illegal activities such as foreign fishing and people smuggling.

“The days can be long and hard and sometimes they can seem to blend into each other completing boarding after boarding, but it can be very rewarding, especially when you catch an illegal fishing boat. You really feel like you’ve achieved something for your country,” said Stephen.

Stephen was recently in the Top End, taking part in patrol boat war games. He and his crewmates were put through their paces in boarding party operations, gunnery and general naval warfare skills.

“Exercises like this give the crew a good opportunity to see where we need to improve,” said Stephen.

“It’s also great to meet up with friends you haven’t seen in a while.

“When I get home my partner and I will hit the road on our motorcycles, and I’ll be spending lots of quality time with my family.”