‘Very significant milestone’: AUKUS brings another first

Australian forces will partner with the US in one of the most famous battlegrounds in the Pacific in the next step of the AUKUS pact.

Australian Navy personnel will maintain and repair US nuclear submarines for the first time in a five-month training mission to Guam that marks the next step for the AUKUS pact.

A group of 37 sailors and officers have arrived on the tiny western Pacific island to be embedded with their US colleagues aboard the USS Emory S. Land, the submarine tender tasked with supporting America’s nuclear-powered vessels in the region.

They will then form the first crew to work on a US nuclear submarine in Australia when one arrives at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia in the second half of this year.

In an exclusive interview, Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Mark Hammond said it was a “very significant milestone” on the path to preparing Australia to manage its own nuclear-powered fleet.

The future Virginia-class attack submarine Montana. Picture: U.S. Navy photo courtesy of HII by Ashley Cowan

It can also be revealed that three Australians have graduated from a nuclear power training course in the UK, following in the footsteps of three officers who are now completing their final course in the US before serving for two years aboard a Virginia-class submarine.

While the nuclear reactors in Australia’s future submarines will be sealed, Vice Admiral Hammond said our sailors needed to learn how to operate the different auxiliary systems required to enable nuclear-powered propulsion.

He said US Navy personnel were teaching their Australian colleagues about their “very high standards of maintenance and inspection”, including strict hygiene processes.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said: “The opportunity for our Navy personnel to learn from our AUKUS partners demonstrates meaningful progress along Australia’s pathway to acquiring nuclear-powered submarines.”

Chief of Navy Mark Hammond with Australian sailors deployed to Guam for training on maintaining US nuclear submarines. Picture: Department of Defence

Leading seaman Phillip, an electronic technician and fire control specialist who volunteered for Guam along with his colleagues, said it had already been “an exhilarating journey”.

“It’s been a seamless integration marked by professionalism, challenging training, and moments that resonate with excitement,” he said.

Able seaman Sam, who is responsible for marine technical issues, said the training had been “in-depth and insightful on the different procedures and techniques” used by US sailors who had been “eager to get us involved”.

New laws passed by the US Congress late last year were required to allow Australian personnel to carry out such work on American vessels, with Vice Admiral Hammond describing the legislative breakthrough as “a nice Christmas present”.

“It is a significant achievement and it’s absolutely fundamental to enabling us to move forward and stay on track with the optimal pathway,” he said.

‘Meaningful progress’: Australian Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. Richard Marles MP.

Vice Admiral Hammond said he wanted to move “as quickly as possible” to put more Australians through nuclear submarine training programs, as he also pushed to accelerate recruitment and continue improving the Navy’s retention rate.

“We’re on track … I’m astounded by how far we’ve come in such a short time from the optimal pathway announcement in March last year,” he said.

Guam, which is an unincorporated territory of the United States, was the scene of some of the fiercest World War II Pacific Theatre fighting. Strategically very important, especially due to its airfields, Guam was one of several US territories occupied by Japan during WWII.

The US recaptured the island in a near-three week battle in July and August of 1944, in which around 3000 US troops were killed and 18,000 Japanese soldiers died, according to the US Department of Defence.

US soldiers fighting on Guam during WWII. Picture: US Department of Defense.

The win at Guam was one of the Allies’ first major wins in the Pacific and helped them to gain air superiority over the Japanese and eventually pave the way towards the Imperial surrender.

Originally published as ‘Very significant milestone’: AUKUS brings another first