Milton Keynes man joins parade before Crown Prince to celebrate commissioning as Royal Navy officer

Midshipman Dominic Waters, from Grange Farm, celebrated his formal commissioning as a Royal Navy officer during a parade attended by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister from the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Dominic was one of 152 officer cadets taking part in Lord High Admiral’s Divisions at Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC) in Dartmouth. Around 800 families, friends and distinguished guests, watched as HRH inspected the parade.

Dominic has completed an intensive 29-week training course at the college which also included being assigned for six weeks to the amphibious assault ship HMS Albion, operating in the Mediterranean.

The highlights of the training so far for Dominic have been completing the Basic Sea Survival Course (BSSC): firefighting and damage control.

Dominic said: “I love the challenge of keeping a ship and her personnel afloat and fighting fit, and potentially finding myself on the opposite side of the globe.”

Dominic graduated from the University of Hull in 2016 with a BSc (Hons) in physical geography and prior to joining the Royal Navy he was employed at Ellis Brigham Mountain Sports. Dominic has had some experience of the armed forces having joined Yorkshire URNU whilst an undergraduate.

Dominic said: “The training has been both enormously challenging as well as rewarding. I can’t wait to get into my branch specific training later this year.”

With the first phase of his training complete Dominic will join HMS Raleigh to begin his professional course to ultimately qualify as a Logistics Officer.

The Royal Navy’s initial naval training course for Officers is underpinned by nine Core Maritime Skills that are the foundations of naval life and essential to operational effectiveness. It involves maritime training on the River Dart and also uses the rugged environment of Dartmoor to teach the

Cadets how to operate and lead in the field. The course is progressive and designed to ensure that the Cadets are equipped to undertake assignments both at sea and on land, working jointly with other parts of the UK Armed Forces and in partnership with other nations. Fitness training is delivered using a disciplined method of military fitness, which focuses on developing co-ordination and individual physical strength and endurance. Command, leadership and management training is a constant thread throughout the course with an emphasis on coaching, mentoring and development activities.

Visit www.royalnavy.mod.uk