SIEV 36 — Pg 3 - Department of Defence

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0 STUART WRAP Stuart delivers hard times for bad guys By LAC Aaron Curran HMAS Stuart (CMDR Andrew Masters) has finished its six month deployment in the Middle East and is heading home for a well earned rest. The ship and its crew have completed a task that has taken them far and wide – from Pakistan to the Persian Gulf and all the way down to the Gulf of Aden and Djibouti. HMAS Stuart’s deployment has covered areas such as anti-smuggling, anti-piracy and maritime security operations. Gunnery Officer LCDR Eric Young said what really stood out was area the ship had covered - 36,000 nautical miles since it deployed in October 2009. “We went to many different ports that other ships never previously visited,” he said. “In the last 30 days of our patrol alone we covered 10,500 nautical miles, averaging more than 290 nautical miles a day.” During its time in theatre the Stuart conducted up to 800 queries - scrutinising ships at sea - and 50 boarding evolutions comprising close-assist visits and flag verification boardings. “The piracy operations at the beginning of the deployment were Working in Defence means 36% off petrol Ask us how! Salary packaging makes sense. You can lease a car with SmartSalary and put more in your pocket. SmartSalary’s car lease specialists will: • Source your car enjoyable and had tangible benefits,” LCDR Young said. “It was mainly because there were actual bad guys out there that we could see and deter.” Stuart was the second ship to conduct operations off Somalia, the first being HMAS Toowoomba. “We received a brief from members of HMAS Toowoomba before we sailed,” he said. “With up to 100 merchant ships going through that area every day we had an overt presence actively trying to deter these guys from seizing them.” During its anti-piracy operations, the ship had its boarding parties and the Seahawk helicopter on constant alert. Stuart operated so as to be a short time away from any ship that needed assistance in the event of a pirate attack. “During this operation we interacted a lot with other navies and merchant vessels,” LCDR Young said. “That was an obvious benefit that the sailors can see.” Back in the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf, Stuart conducted operations that many of its predecessors had done - deterring smugglers which support terrorist networks. • Use our buying power for the best price • Handle all the paperwork • Arrange 36% discount on petrol, maintenance, rego and insurance “With these operations we hoped to stop money going to the terrorists and the amount of weapons and ammunition which could possibly be used against Australians in Afghanistan,” he said. Stuart’s CO CMDR Andrew Masters said the biggest challenge for ship’s company was maintaining focus over an extended period. “Looking for a needle in a haystack is exhausting,” he said “The reason we were not seeing the smugglers is because we are doing an effective job of deterrence. They are not coming out because they are worried and that means we are actually on top of them.” He said with the mandate they had, HMAS Stuart ended up working with 25 different nations navies, three different task forces and three different missions by the end of the deployment. “The crew conducted themselves in a fantastic manner,” CMDR Masters said. “Considering half of them had never deployed to the MEAO before they cracked on to the job at hand and did the ADF and Navy proud.” Distance nm 36,000 Shipping queries 800 boarding evolutions 50 Helo hours in theatre 400 Helo hours for deployment 500 It’s that easy and that good! Call today for an obligation-free discussion. Call us now on 1300 115 947 Visit www.smartsalary.com.au Meals 92,210 Consumables – 24,300 eggs, 7,280 33,000ltrs milk, 1080ltrs ice-cream Mail received 4,369 kg Mail dispatched 486 kg Stuart raised a total of $1443.50 for charitable causes. WATCHING PROCEEDINGS: LEUT Robbie Garnock on the forecastle as they prepare to leave Bahrain. HMAS Stuart was in the Middle East area of operations (MEAO) as part of Op Slipper. The ship conducted maritime operations against terrorism, countering piracy in the Gulf of Aden and maritime security. NAVY NEWS www.defence.gov.au/news/navynews April 29, 2010
STUART WRAP ‘Mongrel’ birdies drag down hangar time By LAC Aaron Curran IT IS common knowledge that a mongrel can be loyal, reliable and resilient and for a dog they are fine traits indeed. HMAS Stuart has its own mongrel and one that outshines even the best of the breeds. It is not a canine - it is the ship’s Seahawk helicopter, codenamed ‘Mongrel’. This helicopter served the ship brilliantly during its deployment in the MEAO as part of Operation SLIPPER, and in the process broke the record for the most flying hours conducted while deployed. To date, it has flown more than 400 hours in the theatre alone and up to 500 hours since the ship deployed in October 2009. It is thanks to the maintenance personnel from the ship’s flight that this milestone was reached. They took the extraordinary step of changing and adjusting the maintenance routine - within the current guidelines – which enabled the Mongrel to accumulate these huge hours and not miss one days flying due to planned maintenance. For HMAS Stuart’s flight commander, LCDR Mark Massie and his aircrew, that meant their increased capability and availability to the ship was invaluable. “I have never flown this amount of hours on deployment before,” LCDR Massie said. “Due to the ability to fly constantly, we were able to hone certain skills during this deployment - surface search, logistics and just fly- LEAD TWICE THE LIFE DMO ing to and from the deck. One pilot in the Stuart each month clocked up more than all of his flying hours combined before this deployment.” The maintenance personnel came up with a novel way of keeping the Mongrel airborne. LSATA Dylan Ewart said that with the Seahawk, every 190 hours a major service must be done. When that service is due it can ground the aircraft for up to six weeks. They developed a phased service where the crew basically worked around the clock, doing the servicing in dribs and drabs and that way the aircraft was available each morning. SERVICING: ABATA Crystal Collis conducts maintenance on the Seahawk helicopter. “For the big items that would take the aircraft down for a few days we would do it in port,” LSATA Ewart said. “We just felt that putting the aircraft down for six weeks during operations was no good.” Historically, for every hour of flying there are 45 hours of maintenance required. The Stuart dropped that down to 35 hours – a great achievement. The ship’s mission and the enormous area it covered during the deployment required the Mongrel to fly substantial hours. “Normally you do one major service on a deployment,” LCDR Massie said. “We structured our maintenance so we could do two and the maintainers worked hard for that extra one. It took a lot of planning, forward thinking and pre-positioning of stores, especially considering we would be off the coast of Somalia where logistics presented a problem. The plan worked well and kept the aircraft available for operational tasking.” During the Stuart’s six month deployment the Mongrel was never off line due to the maintenance personnel’s commitment and dedication to their task. “The maintenance crew worked very closely and supported each other all the way through the deployment,” LCDR Massie said. “It was a fantastic feeling; everyone worked hard and I am real proud of them.” DMO MILITARY RESERVES exciting opportunities Australia wide! Exciting opportunities are available for Military Reservists in the following trades/ specialisations: » Project Managment » Logistics » Finance » Administration » Technical Trades » Engineering (mechanical & electrical) » Aircrew DEFENCE MATERIEL ORGANISATION | www.dmojobs.gov.au or call 1800 DMO JOBS (1800 366 562) NAVY NEWS www.defence.gov.au/news/navynews April 29, 2010 11 Aussies on show at DIMDEX HMAS Stuart (CMDR Andrew Masters) showcased the RAN to the world at the 2nd Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference 2010 (DIMDEX 2010), in Qatar. The conference attracted ships from up to 15 nations navies including Australia, UK, United States, France, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Oman, Turkey and India. The event featured a trade show with the latest naval technology and equipment demonstrations; a sports tournament; visits from VIPs, the public and trade professionals to ships and an eight-ship official reception. CO Stuart, CMDR Andrew Masters said it was important for the ship and its crew to be at DIMDEX. “It’s the first RAN involvement in Doha for DIMDEX,” he said. WELCOME ABOARD: LEUT Peter Shirley greets foreign VIPs on board HMAS Stuart. The ship was in port for DIMDEX 2010 in Doha.
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SIEV 36 — Pg 3 - Department of Defence

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