The Royal Navy is introducing a new approach to Initial Naval Training that will see officers and ratings complete the same 10-week foundation course at HMS Raleigh before officers progress to a redesigned 14-week commissioning course at Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, according to the Royal Navy.
The changes replace the previous separate pathways for officers and ratings at the start of their training, creating what the Navy describes as a consistent starting point for all new entrants and removing duplication across the training pipeline. The first officer cohort will begin the new initial training phase on 1 June.
Director of People and Training Rear Admiral Andrew Rose said the Royal Navy had always adapted to maintain advantage over emerging threats, adding that “this modernised system strengthens our ability to generate capable, confident and mission-ready leaders” and describing it as “the right change, at the right time, to ensure we remain ready to fight and win.” He added that while initial training would now see all personnel start at HMS Raleigh, Britannia Royal Naval College remained “an integral part of Officer training and will continue to be our leadership training centre for the Royal Navy”, with everyone completing courses required to meet “the immovable high standard which the Royal Navy demands.”
Captain Andrew Bray, Captain of Britannia Royal Naval College, said his role was to ensure the Royal Navy continued to generate capable, confident and mission-ready leaders and that the new system “strengthens operational effectiveness and provides a sustainable model that supports the long-term needs of the fleet.” He said the redesigned pathway supported the First Sea Lord’s Warfighting Ready plan by ensuring new officers were “better prepared for leadership in a fast-moving and contested environment.”
Bray acknowledged that change could be unsettling, saying “I recognise that change can be unsettling, both for our people and for our partners but this approach has been carefully designed, informed by evidence and shaped by those who deliver training every day.” He confirmed there would be no redundancies, saying “we will support every individual affected by realignment” and describing the changes as being about “investing in our people, improving our resilience and ensuring our training pipeline is ready for the challenges of the future.”
“Understand it’s unsettling”
“Carfully planned”
“No redundancies”
“Ready for the challenges of the future”
The all too familiar reassuring words seen time and time again.
The CDS Stirup endorsed the 2010 SDSR with words along the lines of “ready to meet the challenges of an uncertain world.”
Was training broken? If not, why fix it?
I predict the start of bye bye to BRNC.
What would be really interesting to see is whether they will have officer cohorts and ratings cohorts going through Raleigh (like Lympstone) or whether they are mixed (more radical).
If you wanted to be truly radical, put every recruit through PH1 Trg and then do AIB and see what that does to who is actually selected. I would bet that there are those who self-select out of an officer pipeline feeling it’s not their place etc. conversely those who want to be officers but the Navy says no, and are then lost from the system but could make very good sailors.
I know the same is true for the Army.
Very good idea to my mind?
No half measures…put every recruit, RN, Army, RAF, through foundation military training in the same place so that all have basic fitness, hand to hand fighting skills, skill at arms…
The USMC have been doing it quite successfully (a 13 week course now) since the 18th Century…
I would assume it is a separate group for officer training. The idea of a mixed cohort is not a good idea as it undermines the whole carefully designed officer recruitment and selection process and especially AIB. The other factor is that experience shows that even cadets without prior military experience usually learn faster than new entry recruits even during the basic training phase. I also assume this means a complete officer cadet division plus DS has to move to Raleigh. Training and coaching officer cadets requires carefully selected and trained officers and SRs.
By the way USMC officer training i.e. NROTC, OCS is conducted completely separately from USMC recruit training. RM YO training is separate at CTCTM Lympstone.
I do tend to agree that the introduction of this new systems probably means that BRNC Dartmouth will close within 10 years -the bean counters will immediately see options for costs savings by running all officer and recruit training at Raleigh. Of course this leaves no room for expanding intakes in the future.
Yes. Completely agree. The size of Britain’s armed forces is an open goal for bean counters. Not much to be done about that (ship has sailed). Probably best to use it to advantage. Combining all three services staff colleges points the way. CDS, now in command of all three (four or five, including Strategic and Space…are we in a bit of a muddle?) services, should offer up a cost saving reform to unite all service Whitehall staffs into just one, as with USMC which happens to be about the same size in manpower as all three UK services.
Basic training for all recruits, including Officer Cadets, could be done at just one site but with separate Officer cadres or, as you cogently argue, (importantly) a separate staff and site for Officer Cadets of all three services. But every single wearer of the Kings Uniform must be trained to fight ruthlessly with weapons, bayonets or hand to hand to destroy the King’s (Britain’s) enemies!
The siloed structure is the bane of good government in Whitehall and, regarding the services, particularly unhelpful in training and staffing for Sea/Land/Air and Land/Air battles of the future (which, unfortunately, may not be so very far off).
“Training and coaching officer cadets requires carefully selected and trained officers…” Not in my day (the 90s) it didn’t. My course officers were all sent back from sea under a cloud and were stuck at Dartmouth to improve.
I am very sorry that was your experience in 1990s it was not mine in in the 1980s. The appointer should have been sacked for sending anyone who was not first rate! Training the next generation of naval officers is a critically important role. I had a very good officers and role models as DOs and ADOs both at BRNC and on DTS.
I don’t know who things are viewed now –moreover things have changed alot from watching various TV programmes Senior ratings seem to have a much greater influence especially in leadership training then when I was there. That may or may not be a good thing.
BRNC itself is in a pretty poor state of repair and the listed building really requires a significant refurbishment so the costs involved to bring it up to date would be significantly north of £75m.
There is a substantial upgrade planned for HMS Raleigh with new training, accommodation and other facilities, which will be in the order of several hundred million pounds.
Personally, I think the change in the training is a good idea but I would like to see BRNC retained so that future RN leaders understand that they have joined what was once one of the most powerful and influential intuitions in world history. Take one step inside that main building at Dartmouth and you feel that sense of being part of something that was and expected to rule the worlds oceans and that shouldn’t be lost just because a bean counter can save what in the scheme of things is a few million quid a year.
Many countries still send their future naval officers to Dartmouth, which I am sure makes a suitable impression and provides valuable income. I am sure many of those countries would still send their officers to Raleigh but it would not be same.
Your last comments are the primary reaso I’d want it retained, and that goes for RAF College Cranwell and RMA Sandhurst as well.
Names, history, tradition, all matter, all loathed by the bean counters and some politicians who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
If you ever get the chance take a guided tour of the college it is definitely worth it.
I’ve gained $17,240 only within four weeks by comfortably working part-time from home. Immediately when I had lost my last business, I was very troubled and thankfully I’ve located this project now in this way I’m in a position to receive thousand USD directly from home. Each individual certainly can do this easy work & make more greenbacks online by visiting
following website——>>> http://www.giftpay7.vip
“…. understands the long term needs of the fleet”
Huh, we have a fleet ? 🤔
Good Day,
Subject: Royal Navy reduced to 5 frigates!
How is the government reacting to this? For example, Prime Minister Starmer and his defence minister? They certainly can no longer turn a blind eye to reality.
Nick
Dumb and dumber ?
They’ll spin some tales about a growing navy, cutting edge ships, massive building programme and stuff like that.
Which Is all true just decades late.
We need Stability, maybe a Dictator who likes military parades.
So fishead Ruperts get levelled? Is this the end of fishead Ruperts? In the interests of diversity and inclusion will they have mixed messing? Will fishead Ruperts hot bunk with smelly matelots if necessary? Will fishead Ruperts dance a hornpipe and take a turn in the barrel?
The world gets stranger under Liebour….