On 18 April it was announced that three RAN officers will be assigned to US Virginia class submarines based at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii after graduating from their submarine training in Groton, Connecticut.
Lieutenant Commander James Heydon, Lieutenant Commander Adam Klyne and Lieutenant William Hall are the first RAN officers to graduate from the Submarine Officer Basic Course (SOBC), following their studies at Naval Nuclear Power Training Command and Nuclear Power Training Unit in South Carolina. The officers have now completed the US Navy’s 15-month nuclear submarine training pipeline with the SOBC being the last step.
Over the last two months, the trio trained alongside US Navy sailors, learning the fundamentals of operating nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs). Lieutenant Commander Heydon, Lieutenant Commander Klyne and Lieutenant Hall will now serve as division officers on Virginia class submarines.
At Groton, the RAN officers experienced the same training as US Navy officers entering the submarine force. Their training at the SOBC involved the hands-on experience needed to safely operate Australia’s future conventionally-armed SSNs. The number of RAN personnel training across the US will increase to over 100 in the next 12 months.
Source: RAN
