Navy People: Hiding out in a submarine
24 November 2010
You can meet Mundingburra’s David Baily just about every working day — he is the laminate foreman at Gunnersons.
But his son James, 28, is harder to find, especially when he’s aboard a Navy submarine. James, now a Leading Seaman, has been using his twenties to explore and is not expecting to be home before his dad’s birthday in November.
“After Ignatius Park College I headed for uni and saw a brighter side of life,” said James. “Then I wanted to do something different.
“Townsville’s very much a soldier’s town — so I decided to try the Navy.
“After basic training near Melbourne I went into tactical electronic warfare, which meant more training at Toowoomba.
“Now I’ve specialised as a linguist,” James said. “I’ve already picked up Indonesian, Tagalog, which is Philippino, and Dari, one of the Afghan languages.
So far, most of James’s trips have been round south-east Asia, both on surface ships and in submarines.
“The Navy’s good socially but on submarines it’s awesome,” said James. “You work together and hang out together. It’s like having another family.”
“I’m now heading to sea for another three months. I’ll be getting sea-going allowance and submariner allowance, will come in handy as I’m saving for a house — and it’s definitely time for me to grow up a bit!
“I still get back home three or four times a year. This year has been too busy but Dad, if you are reading this, I will definitely be home for your birthday in November.”
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