Navy People: Canberra Marist Old Boys reunite!
22 September 2007
A surprise reunion of four of our ‘old boys’ occurred recently during the recent journey of the World Youth Day Cross and Icon in HMAS Broome.
Two Royal Australian Navy Commanding Officers and two members of the local Cairns Diocese were reunited during the event, along with Marist Brother Michael Callinan of St. Augustine’s College in Cairns.
The four Canberra graduates, Lieutenant Commander Andrew Hawke, Lieutenant Commander Aaron Nye, Deacon Matt Ransom and Father Chris Ryan discovered their shared past during the planning stage of this event.
LCDR Hawke, Commanding Officer of HMAS Wollongong and LCDR Nye, Commanding Officer of HMAS Broome lent their crews to support the journey of these significant religious icons to the Great Barrier Reef on Saturday 22 September 2007.
Broome transported the World Youth Day Cross and Icon to Fitzroy Island, where a short service was conducted and the Cross was lowered into waters of the Great Barrier Reef.
Cairns diocese World Youth Day co-ordinator, Deacon Matt Ransom said of the surprise reunion, “It added an extra sense of warmth to what was already a special event.”
LCDR Andrew Hawke, a 1990 Marist graduate, joined the Navy and attended the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA), graduating in 1994. His career highlights include extensive overseas travel, a flight in an FA/18 Hornet, Command of HMAS Townsville and of course, his most recent Command of HMAS Wollongong, an Armidale Class Patrol Boat (ACPB).
LCDR Hawke said, “Above all, the great people that I work with every day are the highlight of my career.”
Graduating Marist College, Canberra in 1991, LCDR Aaron Nye went on to also graduate from ADFA with a Bachelor of Science. After many operational highlights, LCDR Nye went on to Command HMAS Geraldton, and more recently HMAS Broome.
“For any student that is stuck on what they are going to do when they leave school, a career in the Navy should be seriously considered. I have visited over twenty countries, travelled all around Australia, been involved in deployed operations and commanded two ships.” LCDR Nye said.
“It’s a challenging job with plenty of rewards that certainly beats sitting behind a desk every day.”
