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Rear Admiral John Okon, Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (NMOC), travelled to Australia earlier this month for an engagement and familiarisation visit with the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation (AGO) and Royal Australian Navy meteorology-oceanography (METOC) activities.
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This visit is the first by the head of the US Navy’s operational meteorology and oceanography command in more than 20 years.
The four-day trip included visits to the Australian Hydrographic Office (AHO), Fleet Base East in Sydney, Australian Defence Headquarters in Canberra, AGO, and HMAS Cairns Naval Base.
“RAN/AGO and Fleet METOC are great friends. Our partnership is critical because we cannot, and should not, go it alone sensing, collecting data and predicting the physical battlespace. We must leverage each other’s capabilities to build a stronger partnership and maximise our combined resources,” RADM Okon said.
The invitation to RADM Okon was extended by Commodore Fiona Freeman, Hydrographer of Australia and Director-General Hydrography and METOC, after Royal Australian Navy and AGO visits to US Naval Oceanography commands highlighted opportunities for further co-operation.
RADM Okon was able to visit the lead ships of two classes of Australian oceanographic survey ships: HMAS Leeuwin, lead ship of the Leeuwin Class of deep ocean hydrographic survey vessels, and HMAS Paluma, the lead ship of the Paluma Class shallow coastal survey vessels.
“These vessels are impressive and agile. The professionalism of the crews and the capability are world class,” he said.
Discussions were focused around environmental data collection of the ocean bottom and within the water column that directly supports submarine operations.
“It is clear that our respective navies and capabilities need to be not just interoperable but interchangeable. Commodore Freeman and I are committed to advancing this partnership to meet these goals,” RADM Okon said.
Naval Oceanography has approximately 2,500 globally distributed military and civilian personnel, who collect, process and exploit environmental information to assist Fleet and Joint Commanders in all warfare areas to guarantee the US Navy’s freedom of action in the physical battlespace.
