Navy People: Meet Rebekah Allan from Geelong

30 July 2010

Firing missiles is now all in a day’s work for Geelong’s Rebekah Allan – at least, it is whilst she’s at Exercise RIMPAC in Hawaii.

Rebekah was recently part of the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) missile test firings on board HMAS Warramunga during RIMPAC, the huge maritime exercise involving 14 Pacific Rim nations.

The 25-year-old former Clonard College student joined the Navy in 2008, specialising in electronics and weapons maintenance — but had not expected she would be able to travel overseas so soon, let alone contribute to a series of cutting edge missile tests.

“It’s not a trip that everyone gets to do during their Naval career,” Rebekah said.

Rebekah said that being a part of the missile firings was a great learning experience.

“There was about 2-4 months of preparations to make sure that the missile actually fired. From ammunitioning before we left Australia, to testing the systems and pre-fires, it was a massive learning experience — and amazing to be part of it.”

“We were the first ship to do these firings, so to be part of something that nobody has done before is very, very exciting. To be able to see the missile fire is very satisfying. You think, 'yes I helped make that happen'.”

HMAS Warramunga fired a Harpoon Block II missile in the RAN’s first combined multinational firing with Canada and the United States, as well as an Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile along with HMAS Newcastle.

But coming to Hawaii for Exercise RIMPAC has also given Rebekah the chance to experience some cultural highlights on the main island of Oahu.

“I drove around the island, went paddle boarding, spent time at the beach in Waikiki,” Rebekah said.

“I also went to the USS Missouri museum ship, which I must say was very impressive.”