Submarine School
Gentlemen,
Please allow me to have a few words.
These days we only have 4 V boats / 6 T Boats and one A boat with more to come.
In the days of the Diesel boats.... the perk of passing Perisher WAS Command of your own diesel boat. These days however we only have Nuclear Powered submarines and all of these have a CO and XO who have both passed Perisher:
Commanding Officer: Who is a Commander (Royal Navy) who has already completed an appointment as XO
Executive Officer: Who is a Lieutenant Commander (Royal Navy) - invariably relatively new of course (Perisher).
And as to the silver/blanked out ranks epaulets etc was a means to simulate Special Forces (ie Ships Company pretending to be Special Forces) for the purposes of practicing the techniques BEFORE the real thing.
I have read many forum accounts these past 7 days - some none to complimentary about what they perceive to be the 'Cream of the Royal Navy'. I cannot attempt to portray in an email what it was really like to be on Perisher... a great deal of the pressure was self imposed but I can say that I am immensely proud to have had the opportunity to do the course and of course pass it. I do not pretend that the hard work is done - indeed the the hard work lies ahead as I form part of the team that regenerates a Submarine out of REFIT/Maintenance period. What I would say however, is that anyone with even an minute element of knowledge of the Submarine service WILL view the TV program with critical eyes... but dont forget that it is aimed at the everyday man who is somewhat blind to what we as Submariners do for a living... In those terms alone I think the Production Team have done a relatively good job...
The production team have the sequence slightly wrong.
We went to sea 20 Sep 10.
I started course as a Lieutenant but was promoted 1 Oct 10. This would have happened regardless of the outcome of Perisher. I was selected for promotion as early as February 10.
Part of the 'fear' / 'esteem' of Perisher is that it is a one shot / make or break course... It is ruthless and is designed to be so... is it correct? Well you will have your own opinions but all those who undertake Perisher know the rules, the rewards and the perils. Statistically we have endured a 50% pass (or fail if your cup is half empty) rate in recent years (10 years). This has rarely delivered the numbers required... so have things or standards dropped? I would suggest not.
I would invite anyone who thinks that Perisher is easy or that any one of us were 'duffers' to revisit their comments. As for comparing Perisher students to 'The Apprentice' I quite frankly find insulting.
The exposure of Perisher to the Cameras I think with hindsight was a good move. Every effort was made from a very early stage to integrate the Camera / Production teams into submarine routines and indeed forge a good relationship with the students. Filming commences 6 weeks prior to going to sea with the aim of us getting used to them... Did we feel under more pressure because of the Cameras? Whilst I cannot speak for all of us - but it is not something we discussed at length or were overly concerned about.
I am exceptionally proud to call myself a Submariner, a member of an exclusive club that pans international borders and is second to none in 'esprit de corps'.
Dolphin 32!
Submarine Jeff