Roberttown’s Able Seaman Tim Levene, along with his colleagues Andrew Mitchell and Robert Wright, have joined the Royal Marines based at HM Naval Base Clyde in Scotland for the next six months.
In total, 22 reservists – drawn from RNR units across the UK – will serve alongside the Royal Marines protecting Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships at home and abroad.
This is the first time that a RNR force protection team has been on permanent stand by to be deployed in support of the Royal Navy Fleet on operations at anytime and anywhere in the world.
The Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines usually guard Royal Navy warships and are the only force to conduct armed boardings of suspect vessels. None of the reservists board vessels, however, as this is solely a Royal Marine and not Royal Naval task.
With Tim and his colleagues now undertaking the force protection element of this role, this frees up Royal Marines for a range of other duties across the world.
As a member of Ceres Divison, a satellite branch of Nottingham’s Royal Naval Reserve unit HMS Sherwood, Tim and other members of the RNR train throughout the year in weapons and combat techniques, allowing them to provide a deterrent force capable of guarding ships in times of heightened threat levels.
Over the next six months they can expect to be deployed onto both Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships such as RFA Fort Rosalie in Spain and RFA Cardigan Bay, who will visit Portugal before transiting the Suez Canal.
A former pupil of Liversedge Secondary School, Tim (41) joined the RNR in 2000 and his career has taken him all over the world, from Europe to the Middle East.
Tim lives in Roberttown with his partner Fiona and works as a clerical officer for NHS Leeds Teaching Hospitals. Recognising the additional skills their employee gains as a result of his additional training in the Royal Navy, Tim’s employers are very supportive and help him out with leave for his RN training. However, reservists like Tim also volunteer considerable amounts of their own time, away from their families as well as their regular employment to serve as reservists.
“I can’t wait to get on board my first ship and get stuck in. We undertake a lot of training in the RNR to prepare us for just this sort of deployment and I’m really looking forward to putting all that training into practice,” Tim said.
“It’s also a real buzz to know that I’ll be playing my part in contributing to the Royal Navy’s efforts in making the waterways of the world as safe as they can be.”
This type of deployment is set to become more routine, with each member of the RNR’s Above Water Force Protection (AWFP) branch deploying in support of the Fleet around once every three years.
“These reservists are the culmination of years of hard work to better integrate the role of the Royal Naval Reservist with the needs of their functional employer, the Royal Navy,” explains Chief Petty Officer Paul Stenton, AWFP co-ordinator at HMNB Clyde.
“They prove that today’s Royal Naval Reserve is an integral and valued part of our defence structure and that we are able to provide a first class service whatever task we are given, anywhere in the world.”