A BACCHUS Marsh-raised seaman is busy keeping 200 Australian sailors in tip-top shape.
But it’s not all glamour for Mitchell Bryan .
Recently he was off the coast of Hawaii as part of a special exercise involving 22 other nations – however, he’s also in charge of waste disposal in the junior sailor’s cafe.
You could argue Leading Seaman Bryan was always destined to join the navy. He grew up in a defence family, was actively involved in navy cadets and was a big fan of Top Gun.
After dedicating his time to the cadets on the Williamstown training ship Voyager in his formative years, Mitchell joined the navy as a boatswains mate.
He’s progressed through the ranks and fulfilled his dream of becoming a physical training instructor.
“I joined knowing that I wanted to be a navy physical trainer but I just had to do my time as a BM [boatswains mate] first. I set myself some goals as a BM so that I completed time on warships and patrol boats,” he said.
Bryan is on board HMAS Perth, taking part in the ‘Rim of the Pacific’ exercise.
The activity involves 25,000 personnel from 22 nations, of more than 40 ships and submarines and more than 200 aircraft.
The exercise is split into two phases, harbour and sea, with the former involving the ship’s company in sports with other nations ashore. HMAS Perth sailed from Pearl Harbor for the sea phase, where the crew were able to cross-deck to another nation’s ship.
“USS Crommelin was the first cross-deck I have done,” Bryan said.
“It was great as we had played softball against them in Pearl Harbor. Due to the rough seas, I had to stay on the ship overnight and they treated me like one of their own ship mates.”
Bryan will take part in another exercise off the coast of Darwin before returning to Perth.
