“The navy gives me so much opportunity to progress my passion and it gives me a chance to travel the world. I think the navy will allow me the chance to become the best version of myself,” he said.
JOCT is the first training officers undertake in the navy. The 21-week course takes men and women from a civilian life and teaches them core military, mariner and leadership skills. It also trains and tests their fitness, resilience, discipline and leadership skills, along with teaching sea survival and defence studies.
Midshipman Doole was head student at Coromandel Area School, which he said gave him a taste of what it meant to become a leader.
“My experience with leadership at school was really valuable. We also did a lot of navigation on water at school which I really enjoyed. Now the navy is the perfect place for me to develop these skills.”
The midshipman will be embarking on his Initial Sea Time training soon, where he will start putting in real-time learning to live at sea.
He will then continue his training to become a warfare mine clearance diving officer, which involves leading teams of divers in mine clearance, ordnance disposal and maritime security tasks.
“I’ve already had the opportunity to deploy to Fiji on HMNZS Canterbury on Operation Mahi Tahi. It really gave me an experience of what life is like on a ship.
“It reinforced that I’ve made the right decision to join the navy and I can’t wait to get back to sea,” he said.
