Australia has a lack of submarine sailors?
 

Interesting:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...-31477,00.html

Follow up with this idea:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...24/2500218.htm

-S

On the upside, the mining boom has bust, so those cushy gigs in the mining sector are drying up.

Twelve subs is a huge fleet for Australia. I'd love to see the latest white paper on defence, would be an intersting read, but I'm guessing China's continued double digit increases in defence spending and blue water navy buildup are behind it.

This has been an Aussie dilemna for a couple of years now. The recession on land could well reverse the trend though.

What is potentially worrying though is the fact that a countries ability to adequately crew it's vessels is almost solely determined by the economic climate.

This is one of the problems with having a relatively small population compared with the land mass/coastline required to be defended. Maybe we need to start breeding like flies.:hmmm:

Common problem, brought about in part by almost all teachers indoctrinating kids into thinking that any form of military service is bad.

What we need to do is look at how the US, the UK, as well as say Sweden and Germany attract and then retain their submariners. We have a lot to learn.

There is a lot to be said for conscription into the navy in some respects, too, but I fully understand why it won't happen there.:)

They need more crews than subs, so that there can be a good amount of time between sailing times. The fact they spent so much time out there was a big drain on them. The US does two crews per sub, I don't know if that's possible here in Australia, but 1.5 is a good goal to go for!

Geesh! They are having trouble manning 6 boats? I wonder if they will take a 47 year old. Would I have to give up my citizenship?

I question this. The ratios of navy personnel to total armed forces personnel to total population are almost identical in both America and Australia. In other words, accounting for the size difference of the two countries, just as many people are signing up for naval service.

My guess would be either that six subs are too many for the ADF to manage (not something to be ashamed of, we Canucks only have 3 subs but we have 10,000 more active duty personnel) or that the Collins have a bad rep because of the weld problems or whatever and people are hesitant to volunteer for sub service.

They probably dont like the idea of being on a boat that can submerge itself. That and maybe they're afraid of the claustrophobia that goes with subs.

If I ever joined the navy I'd sign up for sub service. It'd be a very interesting challenge I think.

I had some mates who left the RAN for the merchnat navy. The pay was better, the hours were better and the union looked after them-the same three reasons all of them gave.

The navy is not seen as a career, it's seen as a stepping stone, a way to get qualifications and experience to be more profitably employed elsewhere.

Back in the days when my dad joined up, he was running away from home, hadn't finnished high school and was underage (forged his birth certificate). He stayed in for more than 20 years, but his options were pretty limited and the only training he got wasn't readily transferable to a civvy street gig.

Filling twelve subs is a huge ask-I'd have thought more small to mid sized patrol boats would have been more relevant-is that white papaer open to the public yet?

I'll sign up:salute: . I'll even bring my own insulin:up: . What kind of safety record do they have?

Better than the Russians. Just think Nik, all the Fosters ale and kangaroo jerky you can stomach.:salute:

I didn't know we could actually get Fosters over here. Haven't seen it anywhere............. not that I'd buy any.;)

[/whispers] I'm interested in the Aussie girls, I hear they like americans [/whispers]:hmmm: :woot:

Your right.....but it's your hamburgers they're after :O:

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/200...11_468x378.jpg