THE NAVY RESERVIST - Royal Australian Navy

NAVY RESERVIST 8
Trip of a lifetime
By LEUT Anna Glover
In April last year, I joined HMAS Sydney and
sailed on Northern Trident 09, a five-month
circumnavigation visiting ports in India, Spain,
France, the UK, Canada, the US, Bahamas
and Samoa.
I was away for 7 ½ months CFTS.
LEUT Anna Glover contemplates going
down to the sea in ships.
My 60,000 nautical mile journey started
when I answered an expression of interest for
a Public Affairs Officer (PAO) to join Sydney
on her world trip. Until then, my Public Affairs
contribution to Navy was directed more at
writing for publications; however I was keen to
apply. I strongly believe that the best way to
get the most out of your time as a Reservist
is to go to sea and experience life aboard a
ship. REOC training can only teach you so
much –five months away in a ship will show
you so much more and give you experiences
that will add significant value to your overall
Reservist experience.
My deployment would never have happened
if it had not been for an extremely supportive
workplace that believes in the contribution
that Reservists can make to the business. I
was a Business Development Adviser for Corrs
Chambers Westgarth Lawyers in Brisbane.
However, with a Bachelor of Arts in Public
Relations, I was keen to use my PR skills and
what better way than on a world trip.
In response to the global financial crisis,
Corrs was offering people leave without pay
for six to 12 months, so I thought it would be
a good time to put my hand up. Corrs has
an excellent Military Leave policy, which gave
me a bit of extra security and I was pleased
that they would be eligible for the Employer
Support Payment.
When I found out that I was accepted, I was
very excited but a little daunted as there was
so much that needed to be done before I
embarked.
I was one of only two Reservists on the
deployment; the other, WO Bob McCann, left
the Navy after 29 years. He was a fantastic
help to me and was always ready to give me
some useful advice on the best way to ‘get
things done in the Pus’.
The Navy Reservist - ISSUE #2