34 NAVY NEWS, OCTOBER 2009
World of sport
ANY major deployment
– somewhat against the odds –
When Bulwark went alongside line for a revival.
by a task group means
RFA Wave Ruler; the tanker was
in Gibraltar on the homeward Lt Cdr Gary Mills, SO2 Regional
leg she had embarked in her the Physical Development, said the
plenty of hard work for all
undergoing maintenance, so to
assemble a team of 12 from its
Ocean boxing team, presenting the deployment was a fair reflection
concerned. modest crew was quite a coup.
first opportunity in five years for a of how Temeraire – the home of
And after the hard work, POPT Rob Greetham and
Fleet-sponsored boxing event. RN physical training and sport –
there are golden opportunities
LPT ‘Kenny’ Kennet arranged
Both ship squads were coached to ensured they are doing their bit to
to challenge a local team at
a programme featuring rugby
a high level for novice contests, and support operational capability.
with an enthusiastic crowd of 350 Key messages – including “fit to
your (or their) favourite sport,
7s (male and female), soccer 6s,
cramming the flight deck, bolstered fight, fit for life” and “time for sport,
to keep fit, or just to unwind.
volleyball and tug o’ war, with
some 170 sailors and Marines
by visiting families, and the Rock not time off for sport” – indicate a
Take Taurus 09 – more than
taking part; Ocean took the overall
providing a dramatic backdrop, desire to keep physical fitness at
3,000 sailors, Royal Marines and
laurels (although not surprisingly
the fighters delivered a memorable the heart of the RN ethos, and
Gurkhas in a flotilla around 12
the Kiwis were too strong with the
evening’s entertainment. the Temeraire team is investigating
strong (ships dipped in and out
oval ball).
Bulwark took the honours, every avenue to ensure ships and
en route) including assault ships
There were football, cricket,
and the presence of experienced deployed units are supported.
Bulwark and Ocean, frigates
basketball, volleyball and rugby
RNBA officials helped make the That might mean sourcing the
Argyll and Somerset, three RFAs
fixtures pitting ship teams against
event even more valuable for right fitness equipment – some kit
and two nuclear submarines, not
each other and local sides as the
participants. will simply not fit in a Trafalgar-
to mention elements of six Naval
deployment made its way from
Taurus also allowed the top brass class submarine, for example – or
air squadrons.
nation to nation, while even the
at Temeraire to breathe new life into setting up an RN Fitness Test on
The exercise to the Far East gave
golfers occasionally got the chance
a number of Fleet competitions, a jetty half a world away.
Capt Mike Farrage, Director of
to show their prowess.
which used to be competed for Apart from the obvious health
Naval Physical Development, and
And ships also amused
over six-month periods. benefits, there are other gains
his regional physical development
themselves, such as when POPT
Thus Bulwark won the title for from such activities.
teams the chance to pull out all
Lenny Armstrong organised a full-
the Suez row and AT, while Ocean Leadership qualities come to
the stops in terms of supporting
blown Field Gun competition on
were top dogs for the 50x1km row. the fore in AT scenarios, while the
physical activity during the
Bulwark’s flight deck, with teams
For the record, HMS chance to let off steam after a long
deployment.
representing various departments
Westminster – not a Taurus ship period at sea is also a good reason
Leading PTs, whether from
and Royal Marines.
– took the Gib Rock Race title to pound a mountain bike across
PORFLOT, DEVFLOT or
Other flight-deck sports are a
for the first half of 2009, while dirt tracks in Turkey or bounce
FASFLOT, are routinely sent out
staple of such deployments – deck
another three competitions are in around in a white-water raft.
to deployed units for low-level
hockey, brighter cricket, bucketball
support, travelling to the Gulf or
and dodgeball among them.
Regional Physical Development Teams:
the Med, perhaps, to help set up
In terms of AT, supported by
Northern Region and FASFLOT: WO1(PT) Paul Nash, DES
events.
the Sports Lottery and Navy
NBCC-WOPT North tel 93255 3615
Picture: LA(Phot) Shaun Barlow
But Taurus was the first chance
Command through Operational
Eastern Region and PORFLOT: WO1(PT) Ian Binks, DES NBCP-
for the teams to flex their muscles
Welfare Packages, mountain COB-PT&RO tel 9380 22828
in a major exercise, and the full
biking, white-water rafting, Western Region inc DEVFLOT: WO1(PT) Neal Frame, COB-daro
range of support was offered,
sailing, climbing, skiing, scuba
tel 9375 68158
from advice and inspections to
diving and trekking all featured
Royal Marines: Maj Paul Curry, CTCRM-LDGR-IPTRM tel 93785
sending white jackets out to help
in the list of achievements, giving
at the sharp end, whether by
4008
sailors and Royals a chance to test
leading adventurous training (AT)
themselves and prove they possess
Naval Air Command: Lt Paul Mitchell, YEOVILTON-PT & RO tel
expeditions or officiating at more
the grit which Second Sea Lord
93510 6200
formal sports events.
Vice Admiral Sir Alan Massey is
DIN with full details to follow in due course.
That is not to say that the
looking for.
embarked experts were not up to
But there is also a need for a
the job – the assault ships each complete break and to switch off.
carry a POPT while LPTs cater And where better to do that
for the needs of the frigates – than in the Maldives?
but the sheer breadth and scale Built into the Taurus 09
of some undertakings required a programme was a massive task
little more input. group banyan – a Senior Service
Such as the olympiad held on picnic or barbecue.
the site of the former HMS Terror Around 1,200 people landed on
in Singapore at the end of an an island for water sports, beach
operational stand-down, featuring games, sunbathing and a lunch
teams from Ocean, Somerset, complete with crates of goffer.
New Zealand ship Te Mana and That’s right – soft drinks all round.
● Anticlockwise from top: Happy faces (except from the chap
steering...) on a white-water rafting trip in Turkey; Ocean and Bulwark
battle it out in the boxing ring in Gibraltar; mountain bikers in Turkey;
Ocean sits offshore in the Maldives during a banyan for 1,200; taking
a dip in a boom net on a sailing trip
034_NN_oct.indd 1 17/9/09 13:32:16
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