For the ship’s company of HMAS Success, Exercise RIMPAC 2014 was the perfect environment for training and achievement of qualifications, so the ship’s command team made sure every opportunity was available for members at all levels to progress their training and individual career milestones while they were deployed to Hawaii for the world’s largest naval exercise.
Officer of the Watch, Sub Lieutenant Rhian Campbell-McBride was a notable example, earning her platform endorsement in Success on 13 July 2014. She was the first in her graduating class to achieve this important career milestone.
The Royal Australian Navy makes 250 hours of supervised bridge training time available to enable trainees to achieve the award of a platform endorsement. Sub Lieutenant Campbell-McBride achieved her endorsement in the remarkable time of just 124 hours. Supervising Officer of the Watch, Lieutenant Mel Pring praised Sub Lieutenant Campbell-McBride’s achievements on the bridge.
“She has demonstrated the right skills and enthusiasm and fully deserves her platform endorsement,” Lieutenant Pring said.
In order to receive the endorsement, Sub Lieutenant Campbell-McBride was required to demonstrate her proficiency in many areas of ship-handling and seamanship, including navigational safety (contact avoidance, avoidance of hazards including running aground, etc.); flying operations including vertical replenishments; replenishments at sea; and other exercises skills such as responding to engineering casualty control drills and recovering a man overboard. In addition, a candidate for endorsement must demonstrate a high standard of general platform knowledge.
“I was fortunate to be given an opportunity to participate in a multi-national exercise such as RIMPAC 2014 while in pursuit of my platform endorsement,” Sub Lieutenant Campbell-McBride said.
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