Warrant Officer James Levay

Warrant Officer of the Navy James Levay was born in Hastings, Victoria and raised in nearby Lilydale. He enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy as an Apprentice from Melbourne in 1983. He gained extensive technical and management experience serving in a number of HMA Ships and establishments including; Perth (II), Brisbane (II) (numerous postings), Anzac (III), Waratah, Kuttabul, Cerberus and Harman.

During the 1991 Gulf War he saw operational service in HMAS Brisbane (II). He later went on to be a member of HMAS Anzac (III)'s Commissioning crew. During this posting he was awarded a Maritime Commander's Commendation.

In 2001, James was promoted to WO and took up the position of Facilities Manager in HMAS Harman. On completion of this posting James was posted to the Directorate of Sailors' Career Management as the Officer-In-Charge of the Technical Career Management Cell. Subsequently, James was posted as the Warrant Officers' Career Manager.

James holds a Master of Business Administration degree, specialising in Human Resource Management, and a Master of Engineering Maintenance and Reliability degree.

He was appointed the Royal Australian Navy's fifth Warrant Officer of the Navy on 14 December 2005.