24 trainee Reservists accelerate to their units

Two dozen men and women are ready to begin their adventures as Royal Navy Reservists after completing their initial transformation from civilians.

Friends and family converged on Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth and HMS Raleigh in Torpoint respectively as cadets on the eighth Accelerated Officer Programme and trainees undertaking the third Accelerated Rating Programme passed out.

The relative accelerated programmes – nine weeks of ‘militarisation’ and ‘marinisation’ for officers, five for ratings – condenses the traditional two-year package, providing reserve units with trained personnel more quickly.

Training concludes with a pass-out parade, typically Britannia Royal Naval College for Officers and HMS Raleigh for Ratings. On this occasion, for the first time in history, RNR Officers joined the parade alongside their Regular Service counterparts.

“Having the opportunity to pass out with our Regular Service colleagues was a real honour,” said Midshipman Lewis Riste, who named top cadet on his course. “The atmosphere and sense of occasion, made for a truly once in a lifetime experience.

“What made it even more special was passing out as a full team of 12, who all started this adventure together six weeks prior”.

Among these Passing out at Raleigh Able Seaman Alan Begg said: “The ratings programme is a compressed course squeezing weeks of training together which creates a lot of pressure to test how you perform and cope with the dynamic nature of military life.

“It was a very informative and encouraging course, with experienced staff and the opportunity to push yourself all the while making friends for life”.

At passing out, MacRobert’s awards were presented to the top reservists who have just completed their Initial Naval Training in 2022: the sword to HMS King Alfred’s Sub Lieutenant Sophie Nashford, the Bosun’s Call to Leading Naval Nurse Sandi Bern (HMS Dalriada).