Willie
(Jock) Beresford (CPO 1979-1982)
in
response to the request for "A Day in The Life", I thought
that the other Ambusmen might like to read of my tough life here in
sunny WA!
The sun rises here about 05.10 and is incredibly bright. Currently
in our summer here in Perth it can be 22c (71F) overnight and when
the sun comes up the temperature starts to climb to the high 30's.
Anyhow, I work "flex" routine as a technical officer in
the Directorate of Submarine Sustainment (DSMS), for the Department
of Defence at HMAS STIRLING, Garden Island WA and have a 54k (32Miles)
drive to work from the Perth suburb of Thornlie. So, I drag myself
out of bed at 0540 and aim to be on the road at 0600. I never have
any trouble getting motivated for the drive as I have a Honda ST1100
and love the challenge of spotting Multanova Speed Cameras and hand
held speed guns on the trip. (Last week I collected my second in a
lifetime ticket from the motorcycle cop I have had eye contact with
over a long period and copped it sweet...$100!). My alternative is
an old Saab 900 which gets most use in the winter in the heavy rains
we get here.
Arriving at the control point for entry to the causeway onto the island,
I have to remove my crash helmet completely and hold up my phot id
before staying at 80kph on the 5k causeway and bridge to the island.
The next challenge is to guess if someone has drawn the key to our
offices. If I get off the bike and go in for the key, it's drawn already,
if I don't, I have to go back and get it!
Our offices are upstairs in the Maritime HQ building and my next task
is to put the filtered coffee machine on for that first brew. I then
unlock the key cupboard and daw the keys to our cabinet. We have an
open plan office and each "cell" has 4 workstations and
a cabinet for restricted and commercial in confidence documents to
assist the "clear desk" policy. My cell is the Contract
Cell and we manage 8 In Service Support (ISS) Contracts for the Platform
and Combat equipments on the Collins class submarines. I log on to
my computer and check my emails as we now use email as official correspondence.
The eastern states are 3 hours ahead of us so there is generally quite
a few messages from our Generation division in Canberra or contractors
in Sydney.
I am the Contract Manager for the Thales In Service Support (ISS)
Contract for the SCYLLA Sonar suite, Communications Mast and Towed
Array. My main focus is ensuring Contractor performance, authorising/overseeing
the tasking process used by our stakeholders, liaising with the "Domain"
users on System Engineering taskings and reports and validating the
routine quarterly payments. Currently I have the same role for the
British Aerospace Systems ISS Contract for the support of the Periscopes
but it is a smaller contract with plans to develop it further. The
office is filling up now as people arrive between 7 and 8 am and we
have about 40 on our floor. If the telephone rings it is generally
a query on a support issue or the status of concession or trial documentation.
HMAS RANKIN the last of the Collins to be delivered is currently in
AMP and getting every extra we can muster for her busy programme including
RIMPAC 2004, where we expect her to perform well. CPO Rod Charles
(ex RN) is currently DWEEO in RANKIN and although he is a Rangers
supporter we have a good working relationship developed during his
2 year stint in our office when he was the BAE Systems contract manager.
(Yes I support Celtic!)
At 9am on a Tuesday we have our weekly cell meeting and receive our
ever changing policy directives on what we need to add or remove from
our contracts and told how our last weeks priorities have been replaced
by new ones. The sound of a car horn about 0940 informs us that the
"Chuck Truck" is outside the building for those who want
pies, sandwiches, milk etc. Aussies love their pies and tomato sauce,
even in 38c which blasts you as you leave the air-conditioned office
to walk the few metres to the food wagon. The meeting over, I am now
into the mass of paperwork on the contract change proposal to add
fully funded repairs to my Thales Contract. Having already proved
the benefits by a 2 stage 12 month trial, we have received approval
to proceed, identified and made the funding available and now have
to ensure that the Detailed Service Description clearly specifies
the deliverables.
I have a full in tray and work on it until 1200 when I get changed
and go to the Gym. I have several routine workouts but generally jog
the 1k to the gym as a warm-up, run 3 - 5 km on the treadmill and
then have a set of exercises on the weights before warming down by
walking back to the office. That takes me an hour including the shower
back at the office. ( Well maybe a bit longer but I am a Public Servant!)
To be allowed to join in any organised sport on the island all personnel,
civilians like myself included, must be in date for the fitness test.
For 53 year olds like me it can be a real test to run 2.4k in 17mins,
do 10 pushup and 6 situps! As an ex Devonport Field Gunner and rugby
and soccer player I don't have too much trouble, but only because
I still keep fit. I aim to match the fitness requirements of those
in the 35 year old range and usually do the run in 12 mins and do
the 25 pushups and situps annually in July when it isn't so warm.
As the lunch break is over, I eat a sandwich in front of my computer
read emails and review messages on my voicemail from the eastern states
guys now on their way home. I have to fill out a travel req for my
trip to Sydney next month, obtain the several signatures for approval
and then fax it to our travel rep in the Adelaide offices. They are
only 2.5 hours ahead so I can manage that before they go home. Several
of the men in the Thales field service team need their passes renewed
and as we are waiting the arrival of our new security officer I have
to fax a request to the pass office with the necessary details, before
they can go and renew their passes. I regularly log onto the signal
distribution system and review the signals on Urdefs, (Aus equivalent
of Opdefs) particularly on sonar but also on any which might impact
on any of our Contractors. Next to my desk is the Ship Information
Management System (SIMS) terminal and I also regularly log on to check
the Tasking Register in case we are action or info addressee on any
issues.
Most of the office pack up at 1600 and there is a traffic jam to get
off the island, so I finish at 1610 which matches my flex routine
of a 9 day fortnight and gives me a clear run off the island. Traffic
is a lot heavier on the way home and I have the choice of wearing
my motorbike jacket and sweating at traffic lights or risking it in
my t-shirt. As I head inland on the trip it gets warmer and I normally
get changed and jump into our pool as soon as I get home around 1700.
My wife Janice is manager of a retail store and I have time to cool
down and knock up a meal before she gets in around 1800. Walk the
dog, play around with the Ford Escort I have to repair in the garage
and shout at our 2 remaining schoolchildren is in the agenda for the
rest of the evening before waking up tomorrow and doing it all again!
Oh yes I forgot to mention the couple of cool beers from the beer
fridge!
It's a tough life but someone has to do it!
Willie (Jock) Beresford
26 Jan 04 (Australia Day)
