Nine aviators participated in a Navy-led mission on the commercial vessel MV Offshore Solution as part of a workforce upskilling activity focusing on robotic and autonomous systems last month.
The voyage gave aviators the opportunity to work with Navy personnel to innovate around maritime geospatial and mine warfare.
As Defence rapidly and simultaneously introduces new capability, it's welcoming the insights of others across the ADF to approach challenges laterally and realise the potential of the new capability in a timely, safe and efficient manner.
Flying Officer Jack Tucker, from the Joint Logistics Unit at RAAF Base Richmond, and Sergeant Hannah Freeman, from the Health Operational Conversion Unit at RAAF Base Amberley, were among aviators who joined the voyage.
"I was excited to take up a last minute opportunity to join the voyage. I jumped on board not knowing what to expect but I am now glad that I got to have this experience," Flying Officer Tucker said.
"We worked in small groups of five from very mixed backgrounds. It was great to learn about the new systems with my team and then to operate them in a real life search for a shipwreck."
Flying Officer Tucker has completed the Edgy-Air Force Applied Design Thinking course, which he says prepared him well for the voyage.
"The course assisted me in thinking differently about the problems I encountered during the voyage," Flying Officer Tucker said.
"I enjoyed working with the industry partners, including Ocius, to discuss and test different ways their emerging technologies could be used in the Defence context.
"It was great to be exposed to this Navy project and understand the problems they are facing. I gained a new perspective on the sea domain and hope to collaborate further with the Navy on these challenges.
"Departing from Dampier Port, WA, we spent 21 days at sea, learning about remote operated vessels, uncrewed surface vessels and autonomous sub-surface vessels. This culminated in a real-life search for the lost shipwreck of the SS Koombana, where we used all the skills we had gained at that point to search 600 square kilometres."
"It was great to be exposed to this Navy project and understand the problems they are facing. I gained a new perspective on the sea domain and hope to collaborate further with the Navy on these challenges."
Sergeant Freeman said that as a reservist, she was surprised and thrilled to have been selected to accompany the voyage.
"I'm a personnel capability specialist by trade, so being selected over those from technical specialisations was a tremendous opportunity," Sergeant Freeman said.
Despite her lack of technical experience, Hannah embraced the challenge.
"In order to successfully complete the training and operational tasks, we had to rely on each other's natural strengths, openly communicate and work as a team," she said.
"Whilst I believe that developing critical thinking and problem solving skills is the key to a person's success and excellence, this experience reminded me that the greatest success in innovation within the ADF comes from collaboration."
Sergeant Freeman had also recently completed the Edgy-Air Force Applied Design Thinking Course.
"The Applied Design Thinking training is about challenging assumptions and redefining problems in to find the best solutions," she said.
"By the end of the voyage, I came to the conclusion that training on technology well outside my experience and sphere of knowledge is not unattainable, and that even complex problems can be solved when teamwork and collaboration is involved."
Sergeant Freeman, Flying Officer Tucker and their colleagues engaged in aspects of planning, equipment preparation, deployment and recovery activities, operation of physical equipment and associated applications, and data manipulation and management.
Additionally, workshops were provided on the operation of various types of positioning equipment, recognition software and ancillary sensors.
"By the end of the voyage, I came to the conclusion that training on technology well outside my experience and sphere of knowledge is not unattainable, and that even complex problems can be solved when teamwork and collaboration is involved."
Director, Preparedness Innovation - Air Force, Wing Commander Kylie Cimen, said the experience enriched and challenged aviators.
"We were very grateful that Navy reached out to invite Air Force participation in this voyage," Wing Commander Cimen said.
"Bringing new perspectives and new attitudes to today's challenges is at the heart of innovation in Air Force.
"We relish the chance to bring that attitude to challenges across multiple domains and we'll continue to work with Navy and Army to explore opportunities where aviators can contribute their creativity, their ingenuity and their innovative attitude to problems in the integrated context."
