Publication:Navy Annual 2005/HMAS NEWCASTLE - from Snow Storms to Dust Storms
BY LIEUTENANT COMMANDER RON DIEKMANN, RAN
Members of the royal Australian Navy (RAN) are often asked by their civilian friends and family, "What's it like to be in the Navy?" When faced with this question, I am often stuck for words, as I cannot accurately describe the myriad of tasks that we do each day, nor the experiences that we so quickly accumulate.
It was with great anticipation that I posted into HMAS Newcastle in December 2003. As with any person posting to a seagoing vessel, I quickly familiarised myself with the ship's Fleet Activity schedule (FAS) - the document that outlined what the ship would be doing in the next year and more importantly, what exotic ports I would be visiting.
Like most people, one of the main reasons I joined the Navy was to travel and experience different cultures and sights. To have spent the majority of my childhood in a small mining town (Paraburdoo) in the Pilbara region, Western Australia, the far-flung reaches of distant lands were but dreams. Since joining the royal Australian Navy, I have been lucky enough to experience brief glimpses and tastes of some of these distant lands.
Many would say that I have been "kissed on the lips by a fairy" (this is the "politically correct" version of this saying) when reviewing HMAS Newcastle's Fleet Activity schedule. When I complete my two-year posting in HMAS Newcastle at the end of 2005, I will have visited Fiji, Hawaii, New Zealand, Christmas island, Singapore, Colombo, various Australian ports and more recently, the Middle East region.
HMAS Newcastle has been involved in a range of activities from rescuing yachtsmen near Fiji, multi-lateral maritime exercises (RIMPAC) off the coast of Hawaii; Australian maritime border patrols near Christmas Island; to protecting vital oil platforms that generate over 80 percent of Iraq's national income.
My personal experiences have ranged from being trapped in a blizzard at the Mt Hutt chalet (New Zealand) to being completely drenched in my own sweat from the unrelenting heat and high humidity of a Middle East dust storm off the coast of Iraq. Not bad for a small mining town boy who thought that a trip to the neighbouring town of tom Price eighty kilometres away was a big event and that the quiet city of Perth, Western Australia was just "too busy".
The next time you are asked, "What's it like to be in the Navy?" think about what you've done during your sea and shore postings and, if it is anything like my time onboard HMAS Newcastle (and I dare say it would be that and more), you will have achieved and experienced a lot in a relatively short period of time. How you put that into words that your friends and family can understand without confusing them with TLAS (three letter Acronyms) - that's a different story!
