Navy People: Diving away from home this Christmas
15 December 2008
Townsville local Able Seaman Linden Collings will be enjoying the water this summer season – but in a very different way.
“I was on call for part of vhis festive season so I didn’t go home these summer holidays,” the 27 year-old Townsville boy says.
But Linden is in regular contact with Townsville. His mother and sister continue to live locally.
After finishing his schooling at Fern Tree Gully, Linden toyed with going into architecture. But in the end the choice was simple. A love of sport and the outdoors drew Linden to a stint in the army. But the chance to jump ship to Navy’s clearance diving team was too good to refuse.
Linden’s career has taken him overseas several times with stints in Guam and Hawaii. But his office these days is HMAS Waterhen on Sydney’s north shore.
Linden’s Dive team has found itself under the celebrity spotlight lately, featuring on the Navy Divers program on ABC TV. The series gave viewers a rare insight into the gruelling and challenging nature of life as a Navy diver. But Linden agrees the show is true to life.
“I’ve seen a couple of episodes,” Linden says. “It definitely puts across what we have to go through.”
Hundreds of Navy personnel remain on active duty over the Christmas Period. Royal Australian Navy ships continue to undertake border protection duties as part of Operation RESOLUTE, protecting Australia’s northern coastline from unauthorised arrivals and illegal fishermen. Further afield, HMAS Parramatta and the team at Taskforce 158 in the Persian Gulf continue their activities as will other Navy personnel deployed with ADF elements throughout the Middle East Area of Operations.
