On Wednesday 9 March 2011 HMAS Toowomba (Commander Andrew Quinn) successfully completed Work Up Progress Evaluation or WUPE (Pronounced WUPPIE). It sounds innocuous enough but it is actually a very detailed assessment of the ship’s capabilities.
The assessment is part of the preparedness training and includes exercises and activities that test the capability of all individual departments of the ship (for example the Medical Team) and also the ship as a collective (for example Fire fighting and Flood stop and repair). These tests and scenarios are designed to be as realistic as possible and require the ship’s company to complete tasks under significant stress.
The Exercise Director, Captain Vandyke sums up the importance of training and preparedness to the Navy. “Realistic Training is an essential part of what we do. So when things happen for real you are prepared mentally, physically and professionally.”
When addressing the crew he later added “I have been very impressed by the attitude and enthusiasm of the ship’s company.”
Sea Training Group run the scenarios and surprise the crew with simulated incidents like missile attack, fire, flood, man overboard, replenishment at sea and toxic hazard just to name a few. The crew is then assessed on how they perform under intense pressure.
The ships captain Commander Andrew Quinn commented on the activities. “I was very proud of the efforts and enthusiasm of my crew. There’s more work to be done but we are achieving what we have set out to do.”
“I believe we are on track to achieve our unit readiness in the coming weeks.”
HMAS Toowoomba is scheduled for operational deployment mid year.
( navy ) [mappress] Source: navy , March 18, 2011;