Royal Australian Navy has recently added six submarine warfare officers to its ‘silent service’ following the 2015 Submarine Warfare Officers’ Course.
The recent course included international students for the first time when three overseas students participated and completed the course.
Two US Navy officers and one Canadian officer joined their Australian counterparts in the five-month course.
Graduates are qualified to serve as a Submarine Watchleader, a role that leads one of the two 12-hour shifts that crew each boat.
Commander Submarine Force, Captain Matt Buckley said: “In all conditions including on deployed operations, a Submarine Watchleader is ultimately responsible to the Commanding Officer for safety of the submarine and crew. It was particularly pleasing in this year’s course to have three foreign officers working alongside our Australian students.”
The two US officers are seconded to the Royal Australian Navy for a two year tour in another milestone for the Australian and US Submarine Forces.
In order to utilise their learnt skills almost immediately, all the students will be posted to a Collins class submarine as one of the Warfare Officers. The only exception is Lieutenant Campbell, who will be posted to Canada for a two year exchange posting.
The course included submarine warfare theory, visits to Defence Headquarters and Industry Partners as well as a five week simulator phase and a two week sea assessment phase.