Libyan Navy visits Royal Naval training bases

A del­e­ga­tion from the Libyan Navy recent­ly vis­it­ed HMS Raleigh and Bri­tan­nia Roy­al Naval Col­lege (BRNC) for an insight into the meth­ods used by the Roy­al Navy to train new recruits.

Com­modore Bush­nak (cen­tre, in white, with mous­tache) views weapons train­ing in the sim­u­la­tor at HMS Raleigh [Pic­ture: Crown Copyright/MOD 2012] Source: Min­istry of Defence, UK Click to enlarge

Here you can find more infor­ma­tion about:  Naval Expen­di­ture in UK to 2016: Mar­ket Brief The Glob­al Naval Ves­sels and Sur­face Com­bat­ants Mar­ket 2011–2021

The del­e­ga­tion was led by Com­modore Has­san Ali Bush­nak, Chief of Staff of the Libyan Naval Force. 

Dur­ing their time at HMS Raleigh in Tor­point the vis­i­tors were able to see recruits under­go­ing their 10-week ini­tial naval train­ing course. 

The vis­i­tors were shown the facil­i­ties used to teach recruits how to safe­ly han­dle and fire the SA80 rifle and first aid training. 

They were also invit­ed to see the for­mer minesweep­er HMS Bre­con, which is now used to give recruits their first taste of life on board ship, and for a diverse range of spe­cial­ist train­ing from sea­man­ship to cater­ing and hospitality. 

Com­modore Bush­nak is no stranger to BRNC Dart­mouth, hav­ing trained at the Col­lege him­self in 1973. 

Dur­ing their time in Dart­mouth, the Libyan del­e­ga­tion were able to meet with Offi­cer Cadets and wit­ness a demon­stra­tion of mar­itime lead­er­ship train­ing on the Riv­er Dart. 

This demand­ing four-day exer­cise is the cul­mi­na­tion of the sec­ond stage of Ini­tial Offi­cer Train­ing, known as the ‘marin­i­sa­tion phase’. 

In crews of sev­en, the Offi­cer Cadets use motor whalers and pick­et boats in a tac­ti­cal sce­nario based on a human­i­tar­i­an oper­a­tion, bring­ing togeth­er the skills they have learnt through­out their course, includ­ing lead­er­ship, nav­i­ga­tion and seamanship. 

The vis­it to HMS Raleigh and BRNC formed part of a wider vis­it by the Libyan del­e­ga­tion to the Roy­al Navy in the UK to build rela­tions, offer oppor­tu­ni­ties, and to help under­stand the enor­mous chal­lenges Libya faces in cre­at­ing a mod­ern naval force. 

Press release
Min­istry of Defence, UK