Femme at the helm | Sunday Observer

Femme at the helm

31 March, 2019

Four ships from the Royal Australian Navy arrived in Sri Lanka a week ago on a joint defence exercise that kicked off last week under the Indo Pacific Endeavour 2019 (IPE19).

The ships were part of an Australian Joint Task Force which arrived in the country for the cross border engagement and comprised one-thousand men and elements from Australian Army, Navy and the Air Force. Sri Lanka is the first destination of the IPE19,a program which strives to strengthen maritime security interests in the Indian Ocean. The objectives included promoting defence cooperation and regional stability.

Indo-Pacific nations, Australia and Sri Lanka, also a chosen partner -of- interest, are working together in this defence exercise which is the Aussie’s biggest military engagement with Sri Lanka.

As part of the IPE19, HMAS Canberra, the flagship vessel of the Royal Australian Navy, and HMAS Newcastle, an Adelaide class guided missile frigate, arrived at the Colombo port on the morning of Saturday, March23 while HMAS Parramatta, an antisubmarine frigate and HMAS Success, a replenishment ship reached Trincomalee Harbour to engage in joint exercises from March 23 to 29.

HMAS Newcastle is manned by Commander Anita Sellick, one of the three currently serving female Commanders in the Royal Australian Navy.A seasoned officer who had spent more than half of her 25 year Naval career out at sea, Commander Sellick was here to take part in the training drills and humanitarian activities side by side with her male colleagues.

Taking time off her hectic itinerary she spoke to the Sunday Observer of her experience in the Navy, and her rise up the ladder in a profession which is by far a male Bastian.

Excerpts of the interview:

Q:  Is it a challenge for a woman to become a captain of a Naval ship ?

I think it will be as challenging as it is for anybody else. Women (in the Australian Navy) had been at sea for 25 years, HMAS Newcastle had been one of the first to have females on board. But when the ship was first commissioned only 2% of the ship’s company was women and there were only a few select officers.

Q:  How difficult was it to break the glass ceiling initially, because the military is more like a man’s territory ?

It is not a phrase that I would subscribe to. The Navy has grown during the past 25 years where I have been at sea….in 2016 women were offered combat roles…I think it is more about making the opportunities available, than targeting them as they push themselves through the glass ceiling.

Currently we have three women commanding officers and we have had many before. We have 20 percent women on board the HMAS Newcastle.

Q: Do you see a change in women taking up higher positions in the military?

There is a change now. It takes a while for people to move up in the structure and it does not happen overnight. I have been with the Navy for 25 years. And if you force it too hard, in my opinion, you don’t get at what you are actually after. I think people need to get there on their own merits.

Q: What do you like most about your job ?

Although you are on a ship, every day is different, there are routines but every day brings something new, the problems that need to be solved for instance and the support we extend to each other. It is also wonderful that we get to celebrate achievements of the people on board,we’ve got some smart and very talented people in the ship’s company at all ranks, not just the officers. There are highly educated junior sailors on board. This is a feature that has not been there earlier. And I love this beautiful view of the sea from the Captain’s seat and I will definitely miss that after June.

Q: What do you consider as your biggest challenge at sea ?

Being away from home is the biggest challenge. Not just for me, it is the biggest worry for many on board. During this mission we have been away from home for four months. The issue is our problems at home don’t stop when we go out to sea, and they certainly don’t wait for us to come home, they simply happen while we are away. So, we try to settle our problems the best way we can. We have some great support systems in the Navy for our families while we are away.

Q: How well received are you by your male colleagues, has there been any unwelcome gestures ?

Not for me, no. But I have spent a lot of time at sea, I have spent 13 years straight at sea, one job after another, so the sea environment does not concern me. I have been on ships as much as any other person has been. It is regular work and we are just doing our job.

Q: What have you learned from being the Captain of the ship?

Listen to your people, no matter what their ranks may be, if you litsten to the people you definitely come up with a better solution all the time.

Q: You were on board HMS Newcastle before returning as the Commanding officer?

My first posting was on HMS Newcastle as a young midshipman and that was three years after the ship was actually first commissioned. It is nice to come from the city of Newcastle which is where I grew up,and it is very emotional to return as the Commanding Officer of the very same ship I first served in the Navy as well.

Q: Last year HMAS Newcastle and you visited Newcastle, your home town?

Yes, last year we visited the city where I grew up. The ship is named after the city of Newcastle, so we get special treatment whenever we come home. My family is in Sydney but Newcastle and Sidney iare not very far apart. I’ve got my extended family still in Newscastle. And we feel very sad when the ship has to leave. But we will get one last chance to visit Newcastle before the ship is decommissioned in June.

Q: What were the engagements with the SL Navy, especially withthe female sailors?

We have not had any exchanges so far, but we will be sharing knowledge, giving tours on board our ships about the aviation facility which I understand is a growth area in Sri Lankan Navy. We are sharing as much as possible. There is a program on board and tomorrow there are joint operations with the SL Navy.

The ship’s 25th birthday was celebrated in December last year. The ship is actually on its last voyage before it is decommissioned in June to let the new capability take over.

Commander Sellick’s ship’s company (the crew) has 201 on board and around 20 per cent are women. “We are very excited to be here, it seems that the HMS Newcastle had been in Colombo every second year,” she said, adding that HMS Newcastle had called over at the Port of Colombo in 2015 and 2017 while on voyages to Middle East, to take part in Joint Task Force operations on narcotics. 

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