Academic swaps books for naval ship

Ray Hingst has been an Army reservist for more than 22 years, and recently swapped his job as a USQ academic for a military uniform when he embarked on the journey of a lifetime.

For 18 days Ray lived and worked on the USS BLUE RIDGE the flagship of the US 7th Fleet as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre- the main combined military activity between the Australian Defence Force and Australia’s US Army, Navy, Marine and Air Force allies.

Ray worked as part of the Civil Military Cooperation (CIMIC) branch, which has a key role in the military response to Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations.

He helped coordinate relief efforts with government, non-government and international organisations to ensure that the resources were delivered where most needed, and said there were some challenges living and working at sea.

'Life at sea brought some special challenges, such as sharing my cabin with over 100 others and getting used to the impact of sea-sickness on my team-mates. The longest shift I worked was 38 hours straight—the longest period of time I’d ever been awake in one go,' he said.

'Days would pass before I could get above decks and sometimes that meant emerging into a beautiful, dark but starry night rather than bright daylight. Once this resulted in a long conversation with a friendly (as most Yanks are) sailor before it became apparent from the number of young officers saluting him, that I had spent a half an hour or so speaking with the ship’s captain.'

Despite some of these challenges, Ray said the highlight of the experience was working with a team of committed diligent people.

'The highlight for me was working with a motivated and dedicated team of US and Australian soldiers in an intense and extraordinary environment. Our CIMIC team was staffed almost entirely by reservists from both the US and Australia with a variety of different backgrounds. One US member was also an academic like me. He’s a marine biochemist, and the only person I’ve met to have been 3000m under the sea.

'Another highlight was watching our ship refuel at sea alongside two other large ships, in close formation, steaming at a fair rate of knots.

'The whole experience gave me a chance to demonstrate skills in planning, leading and organising which I don’t normally have the chance to use in my role as a lecturer at USQ.

'I enjoyed the experience immensely and thank the University for granting me the time to serve the community and extend my cultural awareness. I’m also grateful to the Australian Defence Force for giving me the opportunity to complete such an exciting experience.'

Contact Details:
Connie-Louise Rego, USQ Media, +61 7 4631 2977