Navy People: Something worth getting your teeth into

5 July 2011

Navy Dentist Lieutenant Shannon Godfrey gives directions to a patient at the local hospital in Luganville, Vanuatu during Pacific Partnership 2011.

Born in Brisbane and growing up in Tasmania and Melbourne, Navy dentist Lieutenant Shannon Godfrey has always enjoyed travelling and now she’s on the travel adventure of a lifetime.

Shannon is one of 38 Australian Defence Force members onboard the USS Cleveland, an amphibious transport ship, as part of the US-led humanitarian aid mission Pacific Partnership.

The mission aims to strengthen alliances and promote multilateral security cooperation. The ADF is participating with a mix of engineering and medical personnel including doctors, nurses, dentists and vets.

Shannon had originally wanted to study aerospace engineering but upon further reflection decided that the ability to give people instant relief from pain was more in keeping with her nature. So she decided to take up dentistry.

Joining the military was not on her radar until a lecturer at her university convinced Shannon to apply for the Royal Australian Navy’s undergraduate scheme in 2007.

The Navy paid for the remaining one and a half years of her dentistry degree and in return she must serve three and a half years with the Navy.

Shannon started her return of service obligation in 2009, attending the New Entry Officers’ Course at HMAS Creswell in Jervis Bay.

“I loved it. It was an awesome experience and I made some really good friends for life during the course,” Shannon said.

Since graduating Shannon has worked at the Navy’s largest base, HMAS Cerberus in Victoria and is now based at Fleet Base East in Sydney where she is part of a Fleet Mobile Dental Team, providing dental treatment to those members of HMA Ships – this predominantly entails routine check-ups, but can also involve root canals and some prosthetic treatment.

She’s now on her first deployment and seeing a very different type of client. As part of Pacific Partnership, Shannon plays a vital role in repairing the dental health of locals in Vanuatu, Tonga and Papua New Guinea.

“I’ve not had much experience with this type of work before, but now I’ve gotten so much more confidence. I’m enjoying working with the children too – you certainly don’t see many of them at Fleet Base!” Shannon said.

Upon her return to Sydney Shannon is looking forward to catching up with her boyfriend Daniel, and cat Maximus, over an old-fashioned chocolate pudding.