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"Hi" to all forumfolk,
I have been a regular viewer of OfficerCadet.com for quite some time but have only recently made the effort to register.
About my past . . .
Originally from Sydney (New South Wales). I was an "Army Brat" and lived in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea before my father (who served in Army Small Ships) was posted back to mainland Australia and retired to Cooktown (a little coastal/bush town in Far North Queensland). I attended All Souls' & St. Gabriel's School (Charters Towers, North Queensland) as a boarding student, which is where I acquired the nickname "Bayb". Whilst at school I studied for various radio communications certificates and am still a holder of an Amateur Radio ("hobby radio") licence.
Although I originally trained in both Land-Mobile and Maritime-Mobile Communications I worked in our family-owned seafood-business/ice-works in Cooktown. My father wanted me to go to sea on "big ships", but as a teenager I knew better (of course), and joined the Australian Army when they visited the town on an exercise. Initially I thought that I would venture down the familial path of Army Small Ships / Water Transport, but for some reason I strayed and wound up in a niche combat-centric employment specialising in tactical/strategic intelligence gathering, harassment of enemy forces (in depth), conducting recovery operations, conducting counter terrorism and conducting/instructing special warfare. Whilst with the Australian Army I was able to complete two undergraduate degrees (work related) and numerous vocational/para-professional certificates and diplomas which are a normal part of professional career progression.
About my future . . .
Following numerous prolonged operational deployments I found myself dreaming of calmer waters (so to speak) where people don't shoot at you all day long and don't try to kill you everytime you make the effort to help and support to the local civilian population. After several aggressive attacks on my sub-unit I was injured and forced to pursue a quieter life. So, after having been rehabilitated and struggling to find relevance of milcentric qualifications within a civil environment other than in the fields of "security", "intelligence" or "policing" . . . here I am as a trainee mercantile Deck Officer.
So far I have had to self-fund my medicals, pre-sea study, transport, and accommodation at the Australian Maritime College (as most pre-sea students here in Australia have to). As a 'married member' it is very difficult to just meet normal living expenses without an income (i.e. living of savings and a meagre war-service pension), let alone pursue a new career. Unfortunately it is quite difficult to obtain fully or partially funded cadetships in Australia due to the current polit-industrial dynamics. A prominent Australian company has offered me a temporary training berth (for accrual of qualifying service and completion of the academic task and guided study program) as an unpaid trainee aboard one of their foreign flagged vessels, so (pending final approval) I am off to sea without a cadetship - pretty scary stuff - once on the ship I am "by myself" with no corporate support. I am still sorting out how things will work, and am due to board the vessel on 20 August. The vessel has a pretty set route: Australia - Brazil - France - Japan. The plan is for me to remain on board until she returns to Australia, which could be anywhere between four- and nine-months. The backup plan is to self-fund an 'emergency' return trip from one of the ports.
Hobbies / Interests:
- Fine woodworking (my maternal forebears were craftsmen and had a very strong pre-industrial traditional philosophy)
- Long range, low power, high frequency radio communications.
- Health and fitness.
- Archaeology (forensic, historical, maritime and industrial).
- Cultural Anthropology (especially linking extant material culture with human dispersal through archaeological evidence. See the SEALINKS project at Oxford University: http://sealinks.arch.ox.ac.uk/).
- Education and Training (lifelong adult and workplace education).
Memberships:
- Various exMilitary Associations.
- Australian Mariners' Welfare Society.
- Company of Master Mariners of Australia - Student Member.
- The University of Tasmania (Australian Maritime College) - my current institution.
My dream employment:
Ocean Seafaring Deck Officer (on any ship that will have me, but a working with Carnival is a nice thought at the moment).
So, that is my lot; and I hope to contribute more information as things progress.
Regards,
Bayb
I have been a regular viewer of OfficerCadet.com for quite some time but have only recently made the effort to register.
About my past . . .
Originally from Sydney (New South Wales). I was an "Army Brat" and lived in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea before my father (who served in Army Small Ships) was posted back to mainland Australia and retired to Cooktown (a little coastal/bush town in Far North Queensland). I attended All Souls' & St. Gabriel's School (Charters Towers, North Queensland) as a boarding student, which is where I acquired the nickname "Bayb". Whilst at school I studied for various radio communications certificates and am still a holder of an Amateur Radio ("hobby radio") licence.
Although I originally trained in both Land-Mobile and Maritime-Mobile Communications I worked in our family-owned seafood-business/ice-works in Cooktown. My father wanted me to go to sea on "big ships", but as a teenager I knew better (of course), and joined the Australian Army when they visited the town on an exercise. Initially I thought that I would venture down the familial path of Army Small Ships / Water Transport, but for some reason I strayed and wound up in a niche combat-centric employment specialising in tactical/strategic intelligence gathering, harassment of enemy forces (in depth), conducting recovery operations, conducting counter terrorism and conducting/instructing special warfare. Whilst with the Australian Army I was able to complete two undergraduate degrees (work related) and numerous vocational/para-professional certificates and diplomas which are a normal part of professional career progression.
About my future . . .
Following numerous prolonged operational deployments I found myself dreaming of calmer waters (so to speak) where people don't shoot at you all day long and don't try to kill you everytime you make the effort to help and support to the local civilian population. After several aggressive attacks on my sub-unit I was injured and forced to pursue a quieter life. So, after having been rehabilitated and struggling to find relevance of milcentric qualifications within a civil environment other than in the fields of "security", "intelligence" or "policing" . . . here I am as a trainee mercantile Deck Officer.
So far I have had to self-fund my medicals, pre-sea study, transport, and accommodation at the Australian Maritime College (as most pre-sea students here in Australia have to). As a 'married member' it is very difficult to just meet normal living expenses without an income (i.e. living of savings and a meagre war-service pension), let alone pursue a new career. Unfortunately it is quite difficult to obtain fully or partially funded cadetships in Australia due to the current polit-industrial dynamics. A prominent Australian company has offered me a temporary training berth (for accrual of qualifying service and completion of the academic task and guided study program) as an unpaid trainee aboard one of their foreign flagged vessels, so (pending final approval) I am off to sea without a cadetship - pretty scary stuff - once on the ship I am "by myself" with no corporate support. I am still sorting out how things will work, and am due to board the vessel on 20 August. The vessel has a pretty set route: Australia - Brazil - France - Japan. The plan is for me to remain on board until she returns to Australia, which could be anywhere between four- and nine-months. The backup plan is to self-fund an 'emergency' return trip from one of the ports.
Hobbies / Interests:
- Fine woodworking (my maternal forebears were craftsmen and had a very strong pre-industrial traditional philosophy)
- Long range, low power, high frequency radio communications.
- Health and fitness.
- Archaeology (forensic, historical, maritime and industrial).
- Cultural Anthropology (especially linking extant material culture with human dispersal through archaeological evidence. See the SEALINKS project at Oxford University: http://sealinks.arch.ox.ac.uk/).
- Education and Training (lifelong adult and workplace education).
Memberships:
- Various exMilitary Associations.
- Australian Mariners' Welfare Society.
- Company of Master Mariners of Australia - Student Member.
- The University of Tasmania (Australian Maritime College) - my current institution.
My dream employment:
Ocean Seafaring Deck Officer (on any ship that will have me, but a working with Carnival is a nice thought at the moment).
So, that is my lot; and I hope to contribute more information as things progress.
Regards,
Bayb
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