Publication:Navy Engineering Bulletin March 2006/Keeping The Techo's in Line...

BY ABLE SEAMAN BOSUN'S MATE (AND STOKER'S MATE) ALAN "NED" KELLY

I joined the Navy five years ago from Tooradin, a small town in southern Gippsland, Victoria. After completing recruit school and bosun category training, I drafted onto HMAS ADELAIDE, where I spent two and a half years doing decidedly bosun things. Following that, I took up a shore posting at the Ships Husbandry workshop in FIMA Perth, expecting some decent respite.

I spent a total of four months at Ships Husbandry, learning the "in's and out's" of spray painting and slowly but surely adapting to a shore existence. I also became a member of the HMAS STIRLING Junior Sailors' Bar Committee and joined the Bar watchbill. In all, things were looking pretty rosy for my shore routine.

Things change, though, and it was at this point that my bosun experiences took a back seat and my technical experiences began in earnest. I said my goodbyes to the Ships Husbandry workshop and was loaned to the FIMA Perth OH&S Manager.

As well as looking after OH&S matters, I became the TOW (unusual for a BM!) for the Finance Manager, Quality Assurance Manager, Fleet Diesel Inspector and the FIMA Perth Business Manager. I remained in this position for about two months and gained an understanding of quality management systems, workplace safety, procurement requests and a range of acronyms like ROMAN, SCA and QMS, just to name a few. I also ran errands and updated OH&S noticeboards throughout FIMA Perth.

Working at a desk for much of the day was difficult to get used to, but I soon found a taste for coffee and chocolate biscuits. My services, however, were definitely in demand, and I soon found myself relocated again, this time to the Maintenance Planning Office in the FIMA Perth Engineering Workshop building as the TOW. Again, a work role far removed from the normal lot of a BM!

Here I was working directly for three Chief Petty Officer Marine Technicians, who collectively covered maintenance planning for the major warships and submarines. To say my new role was challenging and not a little daunting would be an understatement. In the space of a week I went from never having encountered a Maintenance Control Record, let alone filling one out, to something of an authority. My previous acronym vocabulary expanded at an exponential rate - TM200, FIMAMIS, TM179, TPCC, URDEF - the list goes on.

The challenge was very much welcomed, and satisfying in many ways - the work is certainly never boring for a start. Within a month I had a handle on the job, having assisted in the planning processes for three ship maintenance availabilities. In the interim I had also, unexpectedly, become a FIMA Management Information System (FIMAMIS) office guru.

With everything seemingly in place and under control, it was clearly an opportune time for Mr Murphy to jump in. Earlier this year, the FIMAMIS database ground to a halt, corrupting data from two complete work packages for forthcoming maintenance availabilities. I had only just loaded them into the database - naturally.

As a consequence, the replacement system, AMPS (yes, another acronym to the kit bag), had to be implemented in a hurry, so I became the AMPS Administrator's sidekick and the point of contact for anyone who had problems with the system.

The most recent gratifying aspect of my job has been that, due to posting turbulence over the last year or so, I have been the only consistent inhabitant of the FIMA Perth Maintenance Planning Office - and the repository of a great deal of corporate knowledge. With all of this on my plate, I still had spare time to be conned into taking up an old pasttime of mine - Ballroom Dancing. Just another challenge to deal with, really, but with my working knowledge of the MPO Office weighed off, there was no great pressure. I took my "cando" attitude through to the dance floor and pushed through to win the Western Australian championships in Level 1 and 2 Modern and New Vogue.

In my wildest dreams I would never have imagined to be a bosun in the position I am in today. I enjoyed being a bosun on a ship at sea and, to be honest, wasn't overly optimistic about coming ashore, least of all working out of category. However, in the last year and a half I have faced challenges I didn't expect to find and learned skills I never thought I would need, let alone enjoy.

Anyone who does the same thing for long enough can get tired and bored - we all know that. I can honestly say, though, that more often than not a change is very effective and sometimes more satisfying than a holiday.

I'll sign off here, because someone has to keep these techo's at FIMA Perth in line, and lately it seems to have fallen to me, the wolf amongst the sheep, the non-technical bosun keeping a technical world ship shape.

Yours aye.