The head of the UK’s Maritime Reserves visited HMS Scotia – the hub for eastern Scotland – to thank personnel… and their ‘day job’ employers for their support and commitment.
Commodore Jo Adey’s time at the establishment in Rosyth included an employer engagement evening, a women and STEM event, time on the water and finally a whole-ship training day to see the unit in action.
HMS Scotia is the Royal Naval Reserve unit covering the whole of the East of Scotland with a ship’s company of 70 reservists.
The unit consists of HMS Scotia based in HMS Caledonia, and Tay Division who train weekly in Dundee.
The unit has access to sporting facilities at Caledonia, as well as a dedicated training wing comprising Royal Yachting Association classrooms, Initial Naval Training-dedicated instructional spaces, as well as presentation rooms and a large drill deck.
The visit opened with an employer engagement evening, allowing members of the ship’s company to show their ‘daytime’ employers what takes place at a training night.
It also gave Commodore Adey the opportunity to thank the many understanding employers, and highlight the transferrable skills reservists take back to their respective workplaces: reservists need the support of their employers to allow them to train and mobilise – so ‘open evenings’ strengthen those relationships and ultimately say ‘thank you’ for that support.
The next day saw a demonstration of Scotia’s new RIB, delivered last year and allowing sailors to train and improve their seamanship skills without a lengthy trek to other RNR locations.
It means Scotia personnel can hit the ground running when working alongside regular counterparts. The unit is also an approved RYA training centre, allowing reservists to gain RYA=accredited qualifications.
At a whole ship training day which aligned with an RMR Scotland training weekend, Commodore Adey addressed all present from Maritime Reserves Scotland, followed by an open two-way discussions with all groups – allowing the sailors and marines to speak directly with the head of the Service.
For team Scotia, this type of exposure to the Maritime Reserves HQ ensure an excellent two-way flow of information and the unique opportunity to address the commodore directly on pertinent issues.
