HMS Duncan: Reflections on redeployment to the Gulf.
18 months after joining the Royal Navy, Harry Cooper — Engineer Technician (Weapons Engineer) Communication and Information Systems specialist was drafted to join HMS Duncan in March 2019.
In 2017, at the age of 18, I left my home town of Basingstoke to join the Royal Navy. After 10 weeks of training I passed out of HMS Raleigh and was on my way to begin the 32 weeks training needed to become a Weapon Engineer, specialising in Communications and Information Systems.
This January, 18 months after joining the Royal Navy, I was finally drafted to a ship and I joined HMS DUNCAN. We kicked off the deployment in March 2019 by conducting exercises with the French and other nations in the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. It was an unforgettable experience, nothing I had done before could compare to it.
Just as the deployment was nearing the end, and people were beginning to talk of home, we got the news that we were being redeployed for maritime security operations in the Gulf.
At this point, I was feeling neither happy nor upset. On the one hand, I was going to have to wait to see my family, friends and the dog, but on the other, doing real operations in the Gulf was an exciting and new challenge.
When told that we were going to be operating in an area making headlines, it was a little scary, but it made me realise that times like these are what I joined up for. By supporting the safe passage of British-flagged ships through the Strait of Hormuz, our tasking directly affected the UK’s interests. Knowing our training is being put into practice is a great feeling.
Although it feels great to be doing worthwhile operations, the current routine can be tough both mentally and physically. Attempting to get a good night’s sleep in our 6 hours off at a time is sometimes difficult. It is peculiar waking up to a full roast dinner for breakfast and it can knock the system off a bit! Thankfully, I’m waking up to do a job I enjoy with people around me that are great and supportive — I couldn’t ask for much more than that.
I have always wanted a career in the Armed Forces and the Royal Navy offers me the opportunity to travel the world, experience different cultures and have new adventures.
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