Information - NFF

Information
AB Darcy and AB Bergin, Watch Tactical Systems
Row the Suez Canal Challenge
periods at sea with only limited ‘runs ashore’.
These are the periods when my team will relax,
touch base with their friends and families, sort
admin and enjoy the local culture. Unfortunately
the submarine will not look after itself whilst
alongside and requires a constant duty watch that
will see most people spending one or two 24 hour
periods onboard during the average visit ashore.
These visits are never certain, so I encourage my
team to make the most of them and if possible fly
out their families. It is of course expensive and not
everyone can, but those who do have the support
of their shipmates, who take over their duties.
A milestone of the deployment was the Suez
Canal transit, which is a potentially hazardous
period for any vessel and requires meticulous
planning and constant concentration by all involved.
That said, I and my team managed to find time to
participate in the ‘Row the Suez Canal Challenge’
in aid of the submarine’s affiliated charity, the
Children’s Hospice South West Precious Lives
Appeal. The submarine took 11hrs 59 minutes to
transit the 161Km canal while the team of rowers
covered the same distance in 10hrs 46 minutes.
Showers were out of use during this period of
time which added to the challenge!
Operating in the Indian Ocean, where the average
water temperature is 32C, affects the submarine
and the crew. The inside of the boat is warm, my
cabin is 27C, 2 deck is 24C and the engine room
in places reaches 45C. The only country we have
visited so far has been the United Arab Emirates,
which is even hotter! Here we, as submariners
always do, stand out having had no sunlight for
prolonged periods of time.
These challenges are nothing compared to that
of leaving your family and friends for such a long
time. With a crew of 180 and only able to take
130 to sea at a time, my team will have managed
to rotate nearly everyone for a period of ‘fifth
watch’ back in the UK, where they will be able to
be with their families. That still means that most
will do over seven months away in total this year.
There will, however, be less than 10 of us that will
do the entire 10 month adventure that involves a
major sacrifice for our families, particularly with the
sporadic contact.
HMS TURBULENT continues to conduct vital
operations in the area and is due to return to the UK
very late in the year. The crew and their families will
have made the difference – we will have provided
deterrence to those who may wish us harm as well
as huge contributions in other areas. We are reliant
on your backing as well as organisations such
as NFF who support us all. I know, although
we shouldn’t, we take our families for
granted, we unfortunately have to. On behalf
of my crew, I thank you all.
For now though we must continue HMS
TURBULENT’S motto that is ‘Turbulenta Hostibus
Fiat’ – troublesome to our enemies!
The three part series about HMS TURBULENT
will air on Channel 5 in October 2011.
Support for the Eastern Caribbean
by Greg Hind, tri-Service Community Social Worker for the Eastern Caribbean
There are more than 1,200 Services personnel from
the British Armed Forces (Army, Navy and RAF)
who come from the Eastern Caribbean region and
whose families require welfare support.
This includes supporting the families of casualties
as well as dealing with compassionate cases and is
particularly important now that some casualties are
intending to return home to the Eastern Caribbean
to settle following their medical discharge.
The Review of the Armed Forces Compensation
Scheme recommended that those seriously injured
as a result of their Service, who choose to live
outside the UK after their medical discharge, will be
able to reclaim certain costs of ongoing treatment for
their injury. A local welfare presence in the Eastern
Caribbean ensures that Service personnel from the
region do not miss out on this entitlement, the details
of which still have to be worked out.
Families are given briefings that provide information
about how the compassionate system works and
the effects of the cycle of deployment on families
and the conditions faced by personnel on active
deployment in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Families
also experience difficulties in using the internet
to communicate with those in theatre as well
as sending parcels or packets from the Eastern
Caribbean to loved ones out in Afghanistan and
other locations.
Many Service personnel from the Eastern
Caribbean were recruited in 2008 and are now
facing the difficulty of bringing their families over
to the UK. Apart from the expense of flights, and
the eventual airfare to travel to the UK, each
settlement visa costs £810; therefore, for a family
with two or more children it’s important that as
much information as possible is given in order to
ensure no mistakes are made with the applications
as fees are not normally refundable.
There will be similar Families Briefings in St Lucia
and Grenada in the near future. You can find out
more about these events by contacting him at
GregHind249@mod.uk.
HOMEPORT AUTUMN 2011 27