First Batch of RAN Sailors and Officers Graduate from USN Nuclear Power School
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Australia’s Department of Defence announced the graduation of the first seven Royal Australian Navy (RAN) enlisted sailors from the US Navy’s Nuclear Power School at Joint Base Charleston-Naval Weapons Station.
The seven RAN sailors began their training in October 2023, which included learning the science and engineering principles fundamental to the design, operation, and maintenance of naval nuclear propulsion plants alongside American and British submariners.
A third group of five RAN officers also graduated alongside the enlisted sailors and the group will be the pioneers in Australia’s establishment of a sovereign conventionally armed, nuclear-powered fleet of Virginia-class submarines in the early 2030s. Australian officers are already serving aboard both US and UK SSNs.
“Naval Nuclear Power training is exceptionally rigorous and to have seven Australian sailors and five officers complete the program and move on to Nuclear Power Training Unit takes us closer to operating our own SSNs,” Australia’s Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, AO, said in a Defence release.
Director-General Australian Submarine Agency, Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead AO, RAN, acknowledged the significant milestones of Australia, United Kingdom, United States (AUKUS) this year.
“Thirty-seven months after AUKUS’ inception, we are well on our way to developing Australia’s SSN capability,” Vice Admiral Mead said, adding that last month, Australian sailors conducted the first maintenance period on an SSN in Australia.
The graduates will now start training later this month at the United States Naval Nuclear Power Training Command, which trains officers, enlisted sailors, and civilians for shipboard nuclear power plant operation and maintenance of surface ships and submarines in the US Navy’s nuclear fleet.
RAN personnel are now also in various stages of the US nuclear-powered submarine training pipeline to equip them with skills and experience aboard Virginia-class SSNs.
