Interview with Emmy Lehane, Naval Communications Operator

Able Rate Emmy Lehane explains what a Communications Operator actually does in the Irish Naval Service, from the radios and procedures that run the ship to representing it on the airwaves as the first voice every other vessel hears. Four years on from her recruit class, Emmy walks through the Communications Branch role and the qualifications and courses that took her from Comms 1 through Comms 3 — and is preparing her for the Potential NCOs course — including operational tours that have put her in the middle of Ireland's biggest ever drug seizure. In this interview, Emmy discusses: • What a Naval Communications Operator actually does: working military and civilian radios, port and ship comms, surveillance cameras, and signal-lamp Morse code • Working in the Main Communications Office (MCO) on a 4-hours-on, 8-hours-off rolling watch system • Why the Comms Operator is "the voice of the ship" — the first person fishing vessels, merchant vessels and ports hear when LÉ William Butler Yeats makes contact • The Comms 1, Comms 2 and Comms 3 progression and what each level actually qualifies you to do • Preparing for the upcoming Potential NCOs course and the leadership step it sets up • Choosing the Communications Branch after a Warrant Officer talk during recruit training • Operation Irene in the Mediterranean: 6.5 weeks of intense communications work • Being part of the MV Matthew interception — five days of defence stations during the largest drug seizure in Irish history, alongside the Army Ranger Wing, Air Corps, Garda and Customs • Qualifying as a drone operator and why drone capability is shaping the future of Defence Forces operations • Nine women in her recruit class, and being trained "the exact same way as the lads" Emmy joined the Naval Service at 22 after starting and stopping a path through PLC Emergency Services and Nautical Science at NMCI: "I was seeing the lads in recruits and all the officers training and coming in their uniforms, and I was in awe. So when they came up for recruitment, I said I'm just going to go for it, and now I'm here." On what the role actually is: "We're kind of the voice that represents the ship, because we're the only ones that will actually converse with fishing vessels or merchant vessels, or coming into a port. You're the first voice that they hear. You're also working with all the radios, relaying that information back to the base. Any problems we have, any orders we're given, we're the first port of call. We have a really big responsibility on board that ship." Apply: https://irish-defence-forces.rezoomo.... TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 - Introduction: 4 Years As A Comms Operator 0:33 - From PLC Emergency Services To NMCI To The Naval Service 1:04 - Nine Women In My Recruit Class 1:36 - "There Is No Difference" — Equality In Training 2:06 - Family Reactions, Six Months Of Recruit Training 2:37 - 26 Strangers Becoming "One" 3:07 - Choosing The Communications Branch 3:38 - Comms 1, Comms 2, Comms 3 And Potential NCOs 4:11 - The Voice That Represents The Ship 4:42 - Building The Confidence To Speak Up 5:46 - Working In The MCO With Marine And Defence Forces Radios 6:49 - Communications As A First Port Of Call 8:25 - Watch System: 4 Hours On, 8 Hours Off 8:57 - Operation Irene: 6.5 Weeks In The Mediterranean 9:29 - The MV Matthew Interception: Ireland's Biggest Drug Bust 10:31 - Six Or Seven Months As The Only Female On The Ship 11:34 - GMDSS, ABs And The Drone Course 12:05 - "Go For It. You Can Leave If You Want To."