Publication:Sea Talk Spring 2005/New DG Reserves

"I'm not coming in with a new broom to sweep clean, but I am looking forward to tackling the challenges that lie ahead ... " - Commodore Ranford Elsey

Profile by LCDR Antony Underwood

The new Director General Reserves - Navy has strong views about how the Naval Reserve should operate.

DGRES-N CDRE Ranford Elsey brings to the task of managing the 8000 Reserves on the RANR books more than 35 years experience in two parallel career paths.

And he sees the Reserve contributing to Navy capability in two ways - as both complementing the permanent force and supplementing it.

Trained originally as a teacher, CDRE Elsey also describes himself as a 'Career Reservist'. His career profiles suggest a prodigious effort over decades, to the extent where both his military and civilian career paths could be described as successful ... and that neither path suffered to any great extent because of the other.

His Naval career began about 35 years ago with training to become a seaman officer.

"Since then, I have served in many ships and commanded five - three Attack class patrol boats and two Fremantle class boats," he said. "I undertook a period of continuous full-time service (CFTS) back in 1994-95 as CO of HMAS Warrnambool, an operational boat home ported in Sydney.

"I gained a great deal from that CFTS period. Warrnambool successfully completed all tasking assigned - with a terrific crew - and it was a very enjoyable and stimulating experience.

"Stimulus is obviously a strong driver for CDRE Elsey.

Civilian background

His earlier civilian career involved:

• Training as a teacher,
• Work as a demonstration teacher for students from universities and teachers' colleges,
• Mathematics consultation for the NSW Education Department; and
• Appointments as Headmaster of two independent schools - one in Melbourne, the other in Sydney.

"After eight years, I looked at my future," he said. "I'd become a Headmaster quite young in my career and thought: 'I do not want to do this forever.

'"I was looking for another challenge and the Navy offered me CFTS and a sea command."

CDRE Elsey emerged from CFTS to start his own consulting company in IT with a contract to project manage the implementation of a client server network for Australia's pre-eminent law firm, Mallesons Stephen Jaques.

"Fifteen months later, Mallesons offered a full-time position subsequently leading to management of their international IT program for the next five years," he said.

Since then CDRE Elsey's civilian career has involved work on a large corporate outsourcing project as a transition program manager with Telstra Enterprise Services.

"I'm now working with Telstra, managing the National Program Office looking after project managers," he said. "My team is involved in developing and implementing methodology, metrics, governance, process improvement and business performance ... enhancing customer satisfaction.

"I am particularly grateful to Telstra for being so strongly supportive of my Naval Reserve commitments."

Customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction with the Naval Reserve, CDRE Elsey suggests, is bound up with how well Reserves contribute to capability as part of an integrated force.

"We are working towards becoming a totally integrated workforce," he said. "Navy, as distinct from Army and Air Force, has gone down the route of full integration. It's a difficult route to follow but I'm convinced it's the best one for Navy."

Are there likely to be any particular changes with CDRE Elsey now at the helm of the Reserves?

"I think 'steady as she goes' best describes my approach," he said. "I'm not coming in with a new broom to sweep clean, but I am looking forward to tackling the challenges that lie ahead."

CDRE Elsey paid tribute to the dedication and work of the former DGRES-N, CDRE Karel de Laat.

"CDRE de Laat has done a very fine job in navigating the Naval Reserve through some difficult times - by that, I mean the changing nature of Reserve service and the focus on its contribution to Navy capability - and the Permanent Navy is coming to terms with that. So is the Naval Reserve.

"CDRE de Laat has positioned us to take advantage of this integration and we're now on the cusp of quantifying the Naval Reserves' contribution to Navy outputs and Defence capability."

CDRE Elsey sees Reserves contributing to overall RAN and Defence capability in two ways.

"The first is complementary capability where the Reserve provides capability in areas of expertise that the (Permanent) Navy doesn't have or has in small numbers ... and/or possibly doesn't need in a full-time capacity - largely recruited from the civilian workforce," he said.

Reserve mobilisation

"The second is supplementary capability. Here we're talking about surge, about sustainment; and that is largely the Standby Reserve. When the effects of legislation begin to kick in from July '07 the SR will be continually refreshed with Permanent Navy people serving five years in the Standby Reserve on separation from the PN.

"These are - and increasingly will be - trained people that we have in the Reserve who can be mobilised or deployed if the need arises. Many of these members may transfer to the Active Reserve and serve in CFTS and/or funded reserve commitment (FRC) positions, or on special projects.

"CDRE Elsey said the Active Reserve component comprises some 2750 members and the Standby Reserve, around 5000 members."In addition, Navy is employing around 150 officers and 100 sailors on CFTS," he said. "The vast majority of AR members have served in the past 12 months, many of them in FRC billets.

"They are providing complementary or supplementary capability to Navy right now and that's what it's all about."