BY OKONKWO ANTHONY UCHE
The Royal Australian Navy has announced two events within its program of engagement at Indo Pacific 2023, The Sailors’ Forum and the Maritime Environment Working Group (MEWG), are now free and open to all accredited Trade Visitors to attend.
In a first for Indo Pacific 2023, all attendees will have the opportunity to attend both conference sessions with the MEWG taking place on Wednesday 8 November and The Sailors’ Forum on Thursday 9 November.
The Maritime Environment Working Group (MEWG) is a forum for engagement between Defence and Maritime Industry to consider opportunities for innovation and collaboration early in the capability life cycle.
It provides an opportunity to test the strength of capability requirements and proposals, to inform industry regarding future capability programs and challenges and to foster the development of Navy’s capability modernisation program.
The MEWG is free to attend, and the session can be selected as part of the registration process for Indo Pacific 2023.
Head Navy Capability, Rear Admiral Stephen Hughes, CSC, RAN, will speak as part of the MEWG’s program.
Rear Admiral Hughes is responsible for identifying the needs and requirements of Navy’s future capabilities and for the development and delivery of these capabilities to the Fleet.
He served as a warfare officer in Frigate and Destroyer class ships, commanded the guided missile frigate HMAS Melbourne and had shore postings including Director Navy Information Warfare, Director Capability Development in the Air Warfare Destroyer program, Commander Surface Force and Head Intelligence Capability.
The Sailors’ Forum will see keynote speakers Warrant Officer of the Navy, WO Andrew “Bert” Bertoncin, OAM and Professor John Blaxland from the Australian National University address the forum’s theme for 2023, Our People: Our Decisive Advantage.
WO Bertoncin completed his training at HMAS Cerberus and served in his first Fleet unit HMAS Swan before serving as a junior sailor on HMAS Tarakan and Bunbury and ashore in key Strategic communications centres.
As a senior sailor he amalgamated to the Communication Information Systems category and served two postings with HMAS Arunta. Promotion to WOCIS5 in 2007 led to a wide range of CIS manager roles before he served as CWO in HMAS Sirius, Stirling and MHPFOR. In December 2022 WO Bertoncin was appointed as the Royal Australian Navy’s tenth Warrant Officer of the Navy.
Professor Blaxland is Professor of International Security and Intelligence Studies in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre (SDSC), Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University (ANU).
He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales and has previously been a Chief Intelligence Staff Officer (J2) at HQ Joint Operations Command, defence attaché to Thailand and Myanmar, Head of SDSC and Director of the ANU Southeast Asia Institute.
