NT 103.indd - Royal New Zealand Navy

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SPIRIT OF NEW ZEALAND motors out of Auckland Harbour with Midshipmen of JOCT 02/05 manning the yards. Photo © Oceanphotography Because of the demands on the Navy’s own ships, this year the Officer Training School is utilising the sail training ship SPIRIT OF NEW ZEALAND to give each intake of Midshipmen their first sea experience. LTCDR Andrew Saunderson RNZN reports… SEA EXPERIENCE he Old Way’ N T 1 0 3 S E P 14 T E M B E R 0 5 W W W . N A V Y . M I L . N Z
In February this year, JOCT 05/1 went to sea in the SPIRIT OF NEW ZEALAND as a trial to determine if a few days spent aboard could provide a realistic introduction to ‘life at sea’ for the recentlyjoined Midshipmen. In addition, with the requirements of Project Protector and the need to be ‘Ready from Day One’ this trial was an important opportunity to assist Project Gap with another alternative for providing initial sea training, when available training capacity in our ships is limited. The primary aim of the fi ve day voyage is to introduce our Midshipmen to leadership, acting both as the leader and as a team member, utilising real-time maritime-based evolutions. MID Matthew Stephens commented that “the time spent in the SPIRIT was extremely valuable in the development of my leadership skills - before my adventure in the SPIRIT, the situations in which I had to act as a leader were neither intense nor stressful.” The other aim was to acquaint the trainees with the seagoing environment and naval daily sea routines. Surprisingly, many young officers joining the Navy have little experience of the sea and have to develop from scratch the maritime skills and ‘sea sense’ that epitomises our difference from Army and Air. On the flipside, some nine Midshipmen and four of the staff of the OTS had previously undertaken a SPIRIT OF NEW ZEALAND voyage before they had joined the Navy. Royalist and Bellona Divisions with their respective Divisional Offi cers were accommodated in the two forward mess decks which each have 21 basic pipebunks stacked three high – not unlike S P I R I T O F N E W Z E A L A N D The Sail Training Ship SPIRIT OF NEW ZEALAND is operated by the Spirit of Adventure Trust. The trust was established in 1972 to offer equal opportunity to young New Zealanders to gain qualities of independence, leadership and community spirit through the medium of the sea. SPIRIT OF NEW ZEALAND is a 45.2 metre barquentine and was built specifically for sail training in 1986 by Thackwray Yachts Limited and The Spirit of Adventure Trust. She displaces 224 tonnes and has a draft of 4 metres. ‘SPIRIT’ carries 14 sails totalling 724.2 square metres over three masts, of which the tallest is the main mast and is 31.3 metres to the deck. When not under sail, the ship is powered by a 250 hp Gardner diesel and has a bow-thruster for manoeuvring. The ship has a top speed of 9 knots under power and 14 knots under sail. a mess deck onboard a ship. MID Sarah Jardine noted that “as a leader you need to know what makes your team tick… People respond in different ways. Some work through encouragement, some through getting yelled at, others only need self-motivation to get something done.” During the voyage the two divisions were split into watches and parts of ship to provide a realistic simulation of naval shipboard life. Trainees wore general-purpose seagoing coveralls and sea boots for the voyage and conducted colours and sunset each day. A typical naval daily sea routine was conducted each day, to provide all Midshipmen with lots of opportunities to experience the naval approach to shipboard life at sea: • motoring, sailing and anchor watches • coming to and weighing anchor • man-overboard drills. Evolutions onboard: • evening rounds, • boat drills, • emergency stations • and even ‘hands to bathe’ (every morning after PT at 0600) In addition, there was the frequent evolution of raising and lowering canvas –this is of course unknown in today’s Navy, but was undertaken with fervour and in the spirit of Cook, Nelson and mariners past. MID Lorna Gray commented “I found it really interesting observing other OIC’s ways of coping (or not coping) with team members. For those whom I thought performed well constant communication was a key factor. So even observing others made me aware of what can make or break leadership” Daily cleaning stations were undertaken, and many comments were made by our Midshipmen about the quantity of bright-work onboard the SPIRIT! But they did well J O C T 0 5 / 0 2 In mid-August, after completing a tramp in the Kaimai Ranges and their Basic Seamanship course, 26 Midshipmen of JOCT 05/02 joined the sail training ship SPIRIT OF NEW ZEALAND for a few days at sea ‘the old way’. Their course, the second Junior Officer Common Training course this year, follows the new programme [see NT 99 May 05] including undertaking their first sea experience under sail . After their voyage last month, JOCT 05/02 headed back up to Whangaparaoa Training Centre for weapons and military skills training as well as enduring kit musters, Rounds and the training mess dinner to complete Phase 1 of their training. Next month they will be joined by two CFR Midshipmen; their Passing Out Parade is due to take place on 9 December - it will be a combined graduation parade with BCT 05/03. - the SPIRIT’s permanent crew were very complimentary of the quality of cleaning stations achieved and suggested that JOCT would be ‘welcome back anytime if for nothing more than their ability to clean the ship’! MID Chris Longman said “a key point I picked up from my time onboard the SPIRIT – awareness. A good leader needs to be aware of the strengths, weaknesses and limitations within their team... a good level of awareness enables the leader to stay on top of unexpected developments.” The five days onboard the SPIRIT OF NEW ZEALAND provided many opportunities and challenges to our new Midshipmen. They were able to gain an appreciation of life at sea and they were physically and mentally challenged by the evolutions conducted onboard both as team leaders and team members. The voyage was a success and as well as JOCT05/02, voyages in the SPIRIT are planned for JOCT during 2006. Meanwhile since their graduation in June, JOCT 05/01 have ‘bomb burst’ throughout the Navy, some are undertaking their Grade 3 OOW course, others have gone to sea postings and a few on to university. W W W . N A V Y . M I L . N Z N T 1 0 3 S E P T E M B E R 0 5 15
Page 1 and 2: W W W . N A V Y . M I L . N Z N T 1
Page 3 and 4: Y O U R S A Y E YOURS The ‘core p
Page 5 and 6: R E G I O N A L S E C U R I T Y TE
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Page 9 and 10: R E G I O N A L S E C U R I T Y END
Page 11 and 12: M U L T I - A G E N C Y O P E R A T
Page 13: A: M E D A L S E: A: WOYS D Carroll
Page 17 and 18: R N Z N P E A C E K E E P E R S The
Page 19 and 20: J O I N T F O R C E S WAIOURU! NAVY
Page 21 and 22: J O I N T F O R C E S PROGRESS WITH
Page 23 and 24: THE NAVY’S NEW MOTELS F R I E N D
Page 25 and 26: O U R P E O P L E LTCDR Mark Morgan
Page 27 and 28: F L E E T P R O G R E S S RNZNVR HM
Page 29 and 30: H Y D R O G R A P H I C S U R V E Y
Page 31 and 32: F LT E EL T E VP IRS OI OG NR E S S
Page 33 and 34: SEPTEMBER W W W . N A V Y . M I L .
Page 35 and 36: G A L L E Y S L I D E MESSAGE FROMC
Page 37 and 38: O U R N A V A L H E R I T A G E LTC
Page 39 and 40: OTHER VJ DAY PARADES AND COMMEMORAT
Page 41 and 42: R N Z N B A N D AMUS Craig Simpson
Page 43 and 44: S A I L T R A I N I N G With Custom
Page 45 and 46: S P O R T S INTER SERVICES SOCCER 1
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