Download - Royal Australian Navy

CONTRIBUTORS
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and Staff Course. He was promoted to commander and is currently the Commanding
Officer of the Collins class submarine HMAS Farncomb.
Commander Wesley Heron, RANR
Commander Wesley Heron retired from the RAN in January 2007 having completed
26 years service. A seaman specialist, he saw active service in the Persian Gulf and
completed sea service in major combatants, submarines and patrol boats. After a
successful command of HMAS Wollongong, he was promoted to commander. His last
posting was as Deputy Director Patrol and Hydrographic in the Capability Development
Group, where he was project sponsor for seven major projects, including the Armidale
class patrol boat project. He is currently employed as a Deputy Executive Director in
the Infrastructure Projects Division of the Victorian Public Service.
Lieutenant Commander Rebecca Jeffcoat, RAN
Lieutenant Commander Rebecca Jeffcoat entered the Australian Defence Force Academy
as a midshipman in 1990, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Oceanography)
degree in 1992. In 1996 she studied for a Graduate Diploma in Meteorology with the
Bureau of Meteorology, culminating in the award of the METOC sub-specialisation
at HMAS Albatross. In 1997 she deployed within the fleet as a member of the Mobile
METOC Team to Antarctica and to Heard and Mcdonald Islands in the Southern Ocean.
She was Staff Officer Navy International Relations, NHQ, in 2004, and is currently
the principal staff officer to the Deputy Chief of Navy.
Mr Peter Laurence
Mr Peter Laurence joined the Department of Defence in 2005 through the Graduate
Development Program. Prior to this, he completed honours degrees in law and history
at the University of Sydney. Although currently working in the Finance Executive, he
maintains his passion for history by reading and finding artefacts for his small World
War II collection.
Mr Andrew Mackinnon
Mr Andrew Mackinnon joined the Royal Australian Naval College as a junior entry
in 1963, graduating in 1966, and from the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, UK, in
1968. He spent much of his early seagoing career in the Far East, including HMAS
Vendetta off Vietnam in 1969-70; navigating officer of HMAS Torrens; and a brief tour
in HMAS Hobart undergoing modernisation in San Francisco. He took command of
HMAS Coonawarra in Darwin in 1995-96, for which he was awarded the Conspicuous
Service Cross. After more than 38 years naval service, he retired from the RAN in 2001,
immediately taking up a civilian position as Director Navy Strategic Analysis (now
Navy Basing & Environmental Policy) in Navy Headquarters. He holds a Bachelor of
Arts degree from Deakin University and a Graduate Diploma in Strategic Studies.