{"id":300530,"date":"2024-10-15T14:22:39","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T14:22:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=300530"},"modified":"2024-10-15T14:44:07","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T14:44:07","slug":"an-aukus-first-seven-royal-australian-navy-enlisted-sailors-graduate-nuclear-power-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=300530","title":{"rendered":"An AUKUS First, Seven Royal Australian Navy Enlisted Sailors Graduate Nuclear Power School"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><\/div>\n<p>GOOSE CREEK, South Carolina \u2013 Demonstrating another significant milestone for the Australia, United Kingdom, United States (AUKUS) trilateral security partnership, 12 Royal Australian Navy uniformed personnel, including the first seven enlisted sailors, graduated from the U.S. Navy\u2019s Nuclear Power School at Joint Base Charleston-Naval Weapons Station, Oct. 11.<\/p>\n<p>The enlisted Royal Australian Navy sailors, who trained alongside U.S. sailors, began the naval nuclear power training pipeline in October 2023. Since then, they have been learning their specific rates, as well as the fundamentals of design, operation and maintenance of naval nuclear propulsion plans. These sailors are the vanguard of Australia establishing a sovereign conventionally armed, nuclear-powered, submarine (SSN) fleet in the early 2030s.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNaval Nuclear Power training is exceptionally rigorous and to have seven Australian sailors and five officers complete the program and move on to the Nuclear Power Training Unit takes us one step closer to operating our own SSNs,\u201d said Chief of the Royal Australian Navy Vice Adm. Mark Hammond.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwo days after assuming command of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, I presided over the graduation of the first three Royal Australian Navy officers from Naval Nuclear Power Training Unit Charleston,\u201d shared Adm. Bill Houston, Director, Naval Reactors. \u201cI have been nothing but impressed by the quality of Australian sailors and officers in our training pipeline and serving aboard our nuclear-powered submarine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Following graduation, the Royal Australian Navy sailors will report to the Naval Nuclear Power Training Unit Charleston for training focused on shipboard nuclear power plant operation and maintenance of the U.S. Navy\u2019s nuclear fleet.<\/p>\n<p>Making Australia Sovereign-Ready<\/p>\n<p>Training and education opportunities are critical to ensure Australia is ready to operate its sovereign Virginia-class SSNs early next decade.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Australian sailors are receiving the same training as their American counterparts,\u201d shared Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy James Honea. \u201cThey are held to the same high standards required to operate nuclear-powered attack submarines so that when they report to their boat, they\u2019re ready to put their training to the test, integrate with the crew, and become Australia\u2019s future front-line warriors aboard their own sovereign SSNs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Currently, there are six Royal Australian Navy officers serving aboard or assigned to U.S. Navy Virginia-class submarines, 12 officers and 28 enlisted sailors within the naval nuclear power training pipeline with an additional 19 enlisted sailors completing Basic Enlisted Submarine School in Groton, Connecticut. Additionally, 39 personnel from ASC Pty Ltd. (formerly known as the Australian Submarine Corporation) are training at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to prepare them for future roles in maintaining nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy.<\/p>\n<p>Full Speed Ahead, \u2018Well on our Way\u2019<\/p>\n<p>The first three Australian-flagged SSNs will be Virginia-class submarines that are typically crewed by 15 officers and 117 enlisted submariners. Australian submariners will be joining U.S. SSN crews to gain practical experience and build their crews ahead of taking possession of their first sovereign SSN in the early 2030s.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe training at Goose Creek and Groton are preparing our Australian allies to operate Virginia-class submarines,\u201d said Rear Adm. Lincoln Reifsteck, Director, AUKUS Integration and Acquisition. \u201cOver the coming months, we will see that number grow significantly across both the uniformed and civilian training pipelines so we can make sure, come 2032, Australia can fully crew its first, sovereign, conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The AUKUS partnership is a strategic endeavor aimed at strengthening the security and defense capabilities of each partner nation. The U.S. remains committed to peace and prosperity in order to secure a free and open Indo-Pacific. This alliance helps sustain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, benefits each country\u2019s national security and prosperity, and uplifts all three industrial bases.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThirty-seven months after AUKUS\u2019 inception, we are well on our way to developing Australia\u2019s SSN capability,\u201d said Vice Adm. Jonathan Mead, Director General of the Australian Submarine Agency. \u201cLast month, Australian sailors conducted the first maintenance period on a U.S. SSN in Australia. Today we graduate the first enlisted personnel from an exceptionally rigorous school, already we have Australian officers serving aboard both U.S. and UK SSNs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>AUKUS Pillar 1 will deliver a conventionally armed SSN capability to the Royal Australian Navy by the early 2030s. The Department of the Navy\u2019s AUKUS Integration and Acquisition Program Office is the U.S. lead responsible for executing the trilateral partnership for Australia to acquire conventionally armed, nuclear-powered attack submarines at the earliest possible date while maintaining the highest nuclear stewardship standards and setting the highest standards for nuclear non-proliferation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GOOSE CREEK, South Carolina \u2013 Demonstrating another significant milestone for the Australia, United Kingdom, United States (AUKUS) trilateral security partnership, 12 Royal Australian Navy uniformed personnel, including the first seven enlisted sailors, graduated from the U.S. Navy\u2019s Nuclear Power School at Joint Base Charleston-Naval Weapons Station, Oct. 11. The enlisted Royal Australian Navy sailors, who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-300530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=300530"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":300532,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300530\/revisions\/300532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=300530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=300530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=300530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}