Royal Navy Officer Goes Solo on Parade

As Naval personnel play their part in helping the government deal with the coronavirus, one Naval officer has made history at Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC) by passing-out of training – on his own.

Sub Lieutenance (SLt) Matthew Poxon Royal Navy was unable totake part in the passing-out-parade with the rest of his entry held at thehistoric College on 2 April 2020 due to being in self-isolation. Instead aseparate parade was organised, when SLt Poxon was inspected by the CommandingOfficer of BRNC, Captain Roger Readwin Royal Navy, and as is tradition, marchedup the steps from the parade ground and through the main College door.

Capt. Readwin said: “The passing-out-parade is a huge occasionfor the Officer Cadets and their families. In these difficult times, familieswere not invited to the parade to comply with the Government’s directives todeal with the COVID-19 pandemic. The current situation by no way undermines theirgreat effort and determination to serve their nation as so many Naval Officershave done so before them. My staff and I thought it was important to recogniseSLt Poxon’s achievement and afford him the same right of passage as his fellowCadets. There is also an important lesson here for fellow Officer Cadets undertraining, in that good leadership is about looking after not only the team butalso every single individual.”

In total more than 60 engineers, 50 warfare specialists, twoNaval chaplains, five logistics experts and nine officers from the Royal FleetAuxiliary, which supports the Royal Navy on its operations around the globe,passed out of the College. All have undergone a 29-week course to transformthem from civilians into Naval Officers.

While some will move on to continue their specialisttraining, others have been put on standby to join the COVID Defence Force tohelp the local authorities and other government departments to deal with thecoronavirus crisis.