By Margaret Maccoll
When a 16-year-old Robert Eames saw a glossy pin up of a naval officer in a sports car he thought, “that’s me” so he signed up to the navy.
The Royal Australian Navy Commander (RAN) who prides himself on being one of few naval officers in uniform over 70 was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in the military division “for meritorious service in the fields of international engagement and capability management”.
Now a Reserve Officer the Commander spends half the year in Noosaville and the other half in Canberra on official business. Some of the highly classified meetings he is flown to for his role as Secretary of the Navy Capability Committee are too secret to be recorded and certainly not for discussion except to say his input has had an impact on major projects including future submarines and frigates.
His other work in international relations deals with the relationship the RAN has with navies of other countries.
Whether it’s working together during natural disasters, dealing with drug trafficking or coming together for international exercises the operations are dependent on the relationship developed between cooperating navy forces.
“International relations is really important,” said Cdr Eames whose work whose expertise was called on for the development of the Navy International Engagement Plan. Chief of Navy Vic Admiral Michael Noonan said since the plan’s inception Navy has formalised strategic relarionships with an additional five overseas navies which has increased its regional and global influence and improved its position as a strategic partner of choice.
The other attraction of being in Canberra for Cdr Eames and his wife Tricia is being able to spend more time with one of their two married daughters (the other living in London) and their grandchildren which is not surprising in a life that has always revolved around his work in the navy.
After signing up in 1965 a young Robert finished school at the Royal Australian Navy College at Jervis Bay then took on the role of midshipman on HMAS Sydney which was operating at the time as a troop carrier going up and down to Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
As a junior officer he was based on Manus Island, PNG, which was at the time an Australian naval base and continues to be used as a PNG patrol base.
“It was a tropical paradise,” he said. Stationed there for two years it was where he met Tricia who was a nursing officer. After they married Trish became the first nursing officer allowed to continue working after marriage. Soon after the wedding, however, Tricia fell pregnant and according to the rules of the day, was discharged.
Over the years the couple have moved to Sydney, Darwin and for four years in London while Robert undertook Warfare Office training with the British Navy.
At 55 the couple moved to Noosa and Robert set up a recruitment business, Sunrise Solutions, but after a couple of years offers of positions back in the RAN were too hard to refuse.
Having served 40 years in the RAN Cdr Eames said an OAM was a nice recognition.
