Lieutenant Commander Tim Williams has been appointed as the new Officer in Charge (OIC) of Tawe Division (Swansea), taking over from Lieutenant Commander Ruth Fleming, at the Royal Navy’s Reserve Unit in West Wales.
Ruth had been OIC for three years and moves onto a national role within Maritime Reserves. She leaves behind some great memories with Tawe, in particular receiving the Freedom of Swansea in 2018, and marching through the City.
Ruth said; “I have endeavoured to create a positive experience within Tawe Division and personally mentored and develop people so that they have the confidence to take on new challenges, as well as develop themselves in a really positive way; watching, sometimes timid, personnel find their feet and become upstanding members of the community has been amazing.”
Never to be over shadowed by their larger Big Brother in Cardiff, Tawe Division is a satellite of HMS Cambria, who this month will move into new premises on the edge of the Bay, in a £10 million state-of-the-art facility. Tawe Division uniquely recruits from the Swansea area as well as the Gower, Neath, Port Talbot, Bridgend and Carmarthenshire.
Lt Cdr Tim Williams, lives near Swansea and knows the area well, having lived there for almost 20 years. He joined the Royal Naval Reserves – RNR, ten years ago and started at the bottom as an Able Seaman, carrying out his basic training at HMS Raleigh in East Cornwall, near the busy Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth.
He transferred to the Officer Corps in 2012, completing Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth before initially joining the Submarine Operations branch and now as an Amphibious Warfare specialist.
Tim has also travelled on adventurous training expeditions with the Maritime Reserves and led trips to Southern Germany, the Baltic, Malta and the three Peaks Challenge in the UK.
In his Civilian life Tim trained as a Barrister and is a Fellow of Institute of Civil Engineers, and now is a Strategy Director of an International Engineering Company, working primarily in the water sector.
Tim continues, “It’s a real privilege to become Officer in Charge of Tawe Division, taking over at a key point in the UKs Maritime Reserves history, as we develop our seagoing capability and also have a fantastic new build in our parent unit at HMS Cambria. There has been significant investment also in Tawe which puts us in a great place for the future.
“I intend to make sure we keep the training and recruitment momentum gained so far. And take full advantage of our new facilities at Tawe once we start training there again, as well as build on the community engagement work done to date with the strong links with our local communities and supporters.”
