Publication:The Fearless Times Issue 2 2009/Keeping it in the family
While PO Stuart Andrews kept a watch in the Machinery Control Room onboard HMAS Toowoomba, his daughter graduated from the Royal Australian Navy Recruit School at HMAS Cerberus in Victoria.
SMN (Star) Elizabeth Andrews graduated with her classmates in a special ceremony attended by her Mum, Teressa and her sister, Bria who flew over to HMAS Cerberus from Safety Bay in Western Australia for the occasion.
Following a similar path to her Dad, Elizabeth has joined as a Marine Technician. Stu Andrews has been a Marine Technician in the Navy for 12 years and was extremely disappointed he couldn't be there to see his daughter graduate.
“I'm really proud of her and wished I could have been there, but unfortunately Toowoomba is on operations and I've got a job to do here,” he said. The CO sent a message to Elizabeth on behalf of the Ship's Company and her dad wishing her congratulations, welcoming her to the Navy family and encouraging Elizabeth and her class to be “fearless” in their careers.
Commanding Officer of the RAN Recruit School, Commander Jim Hillock, said that Elizabeth was a high performing recruit, well respected and said that he considers she has great potential to become an outstanding sailor.
Stu Andrews was happy but not surprised to hear that from Recruit School.
“It was really good to hear how well she has done, but I'm not surprised. Elizabeth is the sort of person that draws the best out in people. She has a good awareness of the positive and negative aspects of the job, particularly as a Marine Technician, including an expectation of long hours and hard work ahead,” Stu said.
“Being on deployment at sea means that you do miss some really important milestones in your family's life, so I'm really looking forward to seeing her graduation on DVD,” he said.
