Serco supports Navy officers to gain Bridge Warfare Certificates

Serco Defence proudly congratulates the 38 Royal Australian Navy and 4 Royal New Zealand Navy Maritime Warfare Officers who graduated with their Bridge Warfare qualifications in a ceremony held yesterday at HMAS Watson in Sydney.

Throughout two years of intensive training, the Junior Warfare Application Course (JWAC) transforms junior RAN officers into fully qualified Maritime Warfare Officers (MWO) able to manage conflict operations on Australia’s fleet of warships.

Since 2012, Serco Defence has partnered with Navy to deliver simulator training in Phase Four of the JWAC. During this phase, officers are taught complex navigation, bridge management and mariner skills. Using a bridge simulator, the specialist trainers assess officers’ actions and reactions in high-pressure emergency, tactical and warfare situations. The simulator enables total manipulation of maritime conditions at any time of the day or night, providing an ultra-realistic training environment.

Successful completion of the JWAC results in officers being awarded their Bridge Warfare Certificate. This qualification allows them to perform one of the most sought-after roles in the Australian Defence Force – Officer of the Watch on a Navy warship. In 2018, 77 Navy officers completed the JWAC.

Serco Defence HMAS Watson team members are all former service men and women who have served with the Royal Australian Navy or the Royal New Zealand Navy. Their collective experience and enthusiasm for delivering premier training, mentoring and support to JWAC students has resulted in Serco maintaining a close and successful partnership with the Bridge Training Faculty uniformed staff.

Serco Defence Managing Director Clint Thomas AM, CSC, said the bridge simulator training showed the successful partnership between Navy and Serco to deliver skills capacity. “The whole team is dedicated to ensuring Navy officers have every chance to succeed during the course,” he said. “The final phase is a crucial part of their training, and we work hard to ensure the simulators provide an exceptionally realistic training environment. An additional Full Mission Simulator will be operational next year to meet the Navy’s demands for more qualified MWOs across their expanding fleet.”

The Junior Warfare Application Course is conducted in four phases. Phase One covers basic navigation and mariner skills. Phase Two requires students to spend 20 weeks at sea, consolidating what they have learned. Phase Three teaches officers advanced mariner skills, bridge management and complex navigation. In Phase Four, officers put all they have learned throughout the course into practice during 22 weeks of bridge simulator training, which includes mastering complex war fighting techniques.

Photo: Serco Defence’s Training Support Services and Professional Services Contract Teams who deliver simulator training as part of JWAC Phase Four.