Clare Curran serves on the Royal Navy’s Flagship which is providing the Command and Control Headquarters for the Maritime Force Commander in Weymouth Bay, Dorset – keeping the seas safe for the Olympic sailors.
HMS Bulwark is playing a key role in the policing operation and Clare has a vital part to play on the Flight Deck team, directing and marshalling the movements of the Merlin helicopters from 814 Naval Air Squadron safely onto the deck, while also assisting with the safe running of other movements on the deck.
She explains:
“It’s a slightly different role to what I am used to but HMS Bulwark has an important part to play in Weymouth Bay during an exciting time for the country, over the 2012 Olympic Games.
“It provides us with a great opportunity to conduct continuous flying operations exercising all our skills in load-lifting, refuelling and we are also drive the JCBs around on the moving deck at sea.”
Clare joined the Royal Navy 13 years ago, initially specialising as an Above Water Warfare Mechanic, but decided to shift to working on a Flight Deck after experiencing a deployment on the former aircraft carrier HMS Invincible.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, August 9, 2012; Image: Royal Navy