A Life on the Ocean Wave

A LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE

Article by Lieutenant Michelle Coleman, RAN

Long Look Exchange has taken place between Australian, New Zealand and British forces for the last twenty years. It commenced primarily as an exchange for the Senior NonCommissioned ranks of the Army, but has since been opened into a Tri-Service venture and is open to all trained ranks. Twenty positions were available to the Royal Australian Navy in 2004 and I was one of the lucky contenders. On Friday 17 May 2004, I boarded a Royal Air Force Tri-Star aircraft with about 100 other excited souls wondering what was awaiting us all at the other end, and just what were we letting ourselves in for during the next four months. It wasn’t long before we realised that it would take a little more time to find out. We were taking the “long-route” to the United Kingdom so that the aircrew was able to do an around the world flight. First stop Fiji – unfortunately a few hours for refuelling at Nadi airport does not constitute “been-there, done-that.” Next stop was much more substantial, being Honolulu, Hawaii. We arrived there local time 0100 Friday morning, which was approximately 5 hours before we’d left to travel to the airport in Sydney. All that after spending over 14 hours in the air. A prime example of the time line playing tricks on the mind and body. Our Friday extended over 40 hours. Luckily we had a full day in Hawaii, and the time to be able to visit Pearl Harbour. The memorial that is set up there is fantastic and well worth the visit to anyone that gets the chance. Of course, I also got the chance to view (and photograph) the world famous sunset over Waikiki beach – absolutely stunning. Next morning we headed off bright and early for the second and final leg of our trip. This was broken up with another “airport visit” – this time in Edmonton, Canada. We finally arrived at RAF Brize Norton on Sunday afternoon local time after more hours in an aircraft than I’d like to remember. From Brize Norton is was about a two hour drive to Portsmouth and HMS Nelson, which was to be my home for the next four months. For the duration of my exchange I was posted to the Royal Marines School of Music. I was lucky to work with some great musicians and had the chance to really learn about the finer workings of the training system within the Royal Marines Band Service (RMBS). As many of you probably know, the Royal Australian Navy Band was initially originated from the Royal Marines (RM), so our ties go back a long way. We have kept many of our RM traditions, but have also changed quite a few things. Two of the most noticeable differences between our two organisations now are with regards to instrumentation. The RMBS trains all its personnel to play string instruments, and the orchestra is still a large part of their commitments. The second main difference is that the RM still has a dedicated Drum and Bugle Corps. Upon joining the RMBS, musicians that play drums will either become a percussionist or a drum/bugler. It is quite overwhelming listening to those beginning bugle players that have just started training – some interesting sounds. The percussionists will play cymbals and bass drum on parade, but never military side drum. As with the RAN, the majority of RM musicians play more than one instrument. The categories set by the RM are much stricter however. For example if you audition on saxophone, you will also be required to learn either the violin or the viola. A euphonium player would also learn to play cello. At this point in time, the RM is not hiring specialist vocalists and guitarists, although a guitarist was hired just before I left. As there is no specific category for him, he will need to learn new instruments, but will also be utilised on guitar. All newly recruited musicians attend a 10 week training course which is run at the Royal Marines School of Music by Royal Marines Commandos whom are posted to the school. Following their recruit training, the new entries commence their music training course. This course is of 2 years duration for the drum and buglers and 2 years 8 months for the musicians. Some trainees complete the course in much less time than this, but many must learn a new instrument, so the majority of training time is utilised.