Navy has always struck me as the service most guided and shaped by its history. A sense of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ seems the preferred modus operandi. But there is a change going through the organisation, particularly when it comes to the training of its people.
As Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Ray Griggs points out in this month’s From the Source interview, Navy is relying more on simulation than ever before. They are challenging the status quo in many ways. Indeed they have to, given the evolution of the platforms they will be operating over the coming decade. There are fewer ships than perhaps many would like but they are more potent in terms of capability and also complexity. This brings with it some unique challenges of which Navy is slowly coming to grips.
Perhaps the biggest one is that industry really can help solve these issues and help Navy transition into the organisation that it would like to be. The new LHD training centre at Mascot (see P62 for more) is testament to what industry can do if Navy has a clear idea of the outcomes they want. The finer details of the course and the mix of simulation, classroom work and emulated training were left in the hands of industry in the main, with certain parameters put in place.
With a limited number of platforms available across all classes, the role of simulation in training is growing. Add to that, the cost effective nature of the medium, and Navy is very much onto a winner. It would be good to see this approach go up the chain when it comes to collective and joint training as well. There is nothing really but attitudes stopping ships and boats from taking part in such exercises, regardless of their geography. Or indeed, just simulate the ships themselves with crews in land-based sites such as HMAS Watson. The possibilities are endless.
The next round of possibility chasing comes in the form of a new government. I put the challenge to ADM readers last month to let me know what they would do if they were Defence Minister and will aim to publish the best and brightest in the end of year December/January edition, alongside our annual Top 40 Defence Contractors and Top 20 SME survey. Whether you want your name attached the published version is up to you (we understand that Defence is an incestuous community with a long memory).
I’d also like to take this opportunity to welcome the new Defence team to our community of Senator David Johnston and Stuart Robert along with parliamentary secretary Darren Chester.
Industry was waiting with baited breath for the updated Defence Capability Plan and Defence Industry Policy Statement, which I understand were ready to be released when that pesky election got in the way. As to whether the new government will see the need to redo all the work done on these two important documents remains to be seen.
I suspect there will be some delay given the new Defence Minister is keen for the government to release a new Defence White Paper in 18 months. There were so many changes and iterations of the DCP at one stage earlier this year that it was affectionately known as the Daily Capability Plan, much to the consternation of those involved.
Widely rumoured cuts to the Defence APS workforce under the new government have both their supporters and detractors. I’m all for an efficient and effective Defence Materiel Organisation. If that means changing the DMO to a purely contract management body rather than a project management organisation, so be it. I only hope there is the realisation that the work done by the DMO will still have to be done somewhere by someone with an understanding of complex capability requirements from the services and the stringent government legislation that such contracting entails.
There are many international experiments going on with this in mind. As to which path Australia follows, that is the purview of the government of the day that has to balance political and financial realities with the long-term nature of Defence procurement.
Defence capability is not an industry policy and industry policy should not guide requirements for the services, but there is a symbiotic relationship that has to be considered when such far-reaching decisions are made. The current crisis in shipbuilding, commonly referred to as the Valley of Death, is evidence of that.
Not all industries are created equal when it comes to the national interest and protecting those interests.
