Flag Officer Sea Training

Flag Officer Sea Training
Agency overview

Formed	1958
Jurisdiction	Government of the United Kingdom
Headquarters	HMNB Devonport Plymouth England
Agency executives	Rear-Admiral John Clink 2015-Present Flag Officer Sea Training
Parent agency	Navy Command

Operations room staff on board HMS Illustrious during Basic Operational Sea Training.

Flag Officer Sea Training ^[1] (FOST) is a Royal Navy training organisation responsible for ensuring that Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels are fit to join the operational fleet. It is also the name of the senior flag officer responsible for all naval sea training, based at Navy Command Headquarters.^[1]

History

FOST has been a world centre of excellence in the Royal Navy for naval basic and advanced operational training since it was established by then First Sea Lord Lord Louis Mountbatten in 1958.^[2] Originally operating out of Portland, FOST moved to Plymouth in 1995 when Rear-Admiral Tolhurst transferred his flag courtesy of HMS Iron Duke and the chain of command changed from Flag Officer Surface Flotilla to Commander-in-Chief Fleet.^[3]

As a result of the Royal Navy programme 'Fleet First', FOST became the single command responsible for all sea training. The submarine sea-training organisation came under FOST and surface ship training previously undertaken by Flag Officer Surface Flotilla and the squadron staffs also shifted to FOST.^[4]

FOST operates a pair of Eurocopter Dauphin helicopters to allow its instructors to join vessels with minimal delay during intense training periods.^[5] Plymouth Airport closed on 23 December 2011.^[6] The aircraft operate from HMS Raleigh in Cornwall but are based at Newquay.^[7]

As well as training Royal Navy personnel, it has also been an important source of revenue in training foreign naval crews to handle and fight their vessels, with around one third of its work used in this capacity.^[5] FOST certifies crews and vessels as being sufficiently prepared for any eventuality through rigorous exercises and readiness inspections.

Training regime

The main training and testing period is called Basic Operational Sea Training (BOST), which typically lasts six weeks. It combines surveys of the physical condition of the ship with tests of the crew's readiness for deployment, including a weekly war-fighting and damage control scenario known as a 'Thursday War'. BOST thus has elements of the US Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) and Composite Training Unit Exercise assessments. When USS Forrest Sherman underwent a short version of BOST in 2012, comments from her sailors included "I've been through other exercises, inspections, and deployment and this was by far the hardest ... It was even more intense than INSURV".^[8]

Flag Officer Sea Training

Flag Officers Sea Training included:^[9]

Vice-Admiral William G. Crawford, September 1958-August 1960
Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Gretton, August 1960-December 1961
Rear-Admiral Horace R. Law, December 1961-May 1963
Rear-Admiral Patrick U. Bayly, May 1963-April 1965
Rear-Admiral Philip G. Sharp, April 1965-July 1967
Rear-Admiral John C. Y. Roxburgh, July 1967-May 1969
Rear-Admiral J. Anthony R. Troup, May 1969-March 1971
Rear-Admiral E. Gerard N. Mansfield, March 1971-October 1972
Rear-Admiral John O. Roberts, October 1972-April 1974
Rear-Admiral James H. F. Eberle, April 1974-April 1975
Rear-Admiral John R.S. Gerard-Pearse, April 1975-November 1976
Rear-Admiral Gwynedd I. Pritchard, November 1976-November 1978
Rear-Admiral Anthony J. Whetstone, November 1978-September 1980
Rear-Admiral David M. Eckersley-Maslin, September 1980-April 1982
Rear-Admiral John M. Webster, April 1982-May 1984
Rear-Admiral Michael H. Livesay, May 1984-December 1985
Rear-Admiral Barry N. Wilson, December 1985-June 1987
Rear-Admiral John F. Coward, June 1987-June 1988
Rear-Admiral Roy T. Newman, June 1988-December 1989
Rear-Admiral A. Bruce Richardson, December 1989-July 1991
Rear-Admiral Michael C. Boyce, July 1991-September 1992
Rear-Admiral John G. Tolhurst, September 1992-April 1996
Rear-Admiral Peter M. Franklyn, April 1996-July 1997
Rear-Admiral R. John Lippiett, July 1997-September 1999
Rear-Admiral Alexander K. Backus, September 1999-November 2001
Rear-Admiral James C. Rapp, November 2001-April 2004
Rear-Admiral Roger S. Ainsley, April 2004-June 2006
Rear-Admiral Anthony J. Rix, June 2006-May 2007
Rear-Admiral Richard J. Ibbotson, May 2007-February 2009
Rear-Admiral Christopher A. Snow, February 2009-July 2011
Rear-Admiral Clive C. C. Johnstone, July 2011-April 2013
Rear-Admiral Benjamin J. Key, April 2013-July 2015

Flag Officer Sea Training and Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Training)

Post holders include:^[10]

Rear-Admiral John R.H. Clink, July 2015-June 2018
Rear-Admiral William J. Warrender June 2018-

Notes

1 2 "FOST Royal Navy". www.royalnavy.mod.uk. MOD, 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
↑ Navy marks 50th year of world-renowned training Archived September 30, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
↑ Joris Janssen Lok, 'FOST: Preparing the RN's ships for action,' Jane's Defence Weekly, 15 July 1995, p.31
↑ Scott, JDW January 2005, 27.
1 2 FOST page at helis.com
↑ BBC Devon - Plymouth Airport Closed - 23 Dec 2011
↑ This is Plymouth - FOST Helicopters Move - 21 Dec 2011
↑ "American warship put to the ultimate test by Royal Navy trainers". Navy News. 26 April 2012.
↑ Mackie, Colin. "Senior Royal Navy Appointments from 1865: Flag Officer, Sea Training" (PDF). Gulabin. Colin Mackie, p.245, January 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
↑ Mackie, Colin. "Royal Navy Senior Appointments from 1865" (PDF). gulabin.com. Colin Mackie 2018. p.245. Retrieved 7 June 2018.

Further reading

Richard Scott, 'Fighting fit: Briefing: Operational Sea Training,' Jane's Defence Weekly, 5 January 2005, 26-30.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flag Officer Sea Training.

FOST at the official MOD web site.
Naval Air Organisation, Flight International, 20 April 1951

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