- Author
- Editorial Staff
- Subjects
- Biographies and personal histories
- Tags
-
- RAN Ships
- None noted.
- Publication
- June 2018 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
Portrait artist shave the luxury of many sittings with their subjects extending over hours, days and weeks, capturing just the right pose to illuminate expression and character. We mere scribes have minutes in which to investigate a personality formed over many years. However, your Editor was extremely pleased that Admiral Mead was able to give half an hour from his busy schedule on a quiet Autumn afternoon, allowing us to find out a little more about the man who carries this important mantle.
Background
Jonathan Dallas Mead comes from a military family. His grandfather served with the AIF in the trenches in France during the bloody First World War where he survived bullets and gas attacks. His father enlisted in the RAAF during the Second World War where he served as a Flight Sergeant and was later selected for Pilot Officer training.
Post war, the Mead family settled in Melbourne, with young Jonathan receiving secondary education at the Catholic boy’s school of St Bede’s College in the inner suburb of Mentone. He was a sound student who enjoyed all sports but excelled at water sports. Keen daredevils would swim out to the wreck of the old monitor Cerberus resting nearby in Port Phillip Bay where they would swim beneath her to enter the hull through holes in her sides and reach her rusting topsides. Jonathan still carries some of the scars from this rite of passage of youthful escapades.
He grew into a tall, well developed young man, with a fresh complexion and a rather unruly mop of dark hair, and in 1984 was accepted into the Naval College at Jervis Bay.
Specialisation
After Sub-Lieutenant training courses and gaining a Bridge Watchkeeping Certificate, LEUT Mead undertook the physically demanding Clearance Diving Course and specialised in Mine Warfare and Explosive Ordnance Disposal. Serving with the close knit Clearance Diving community provided a firm grounding in team work. This phase of his career ended after a posting as Executive Officer of Clearance Diving Team 1. He summarised this saying: Altogether these were some of the happiest days of my career. But career prospects call for a wider appreciation of future possibilities. As a young Lieutenant Jonathon was already searching beyond the known horizon where ship command is the ultimate goal in a seaman officer’s career. This all led to a slight change in direction, seeking qualifications as a Principal Warfare Officer specialising in Anti-Submarine Warfare. He also enrolled as an external student at Deakin University.
The long haul through PWO courses, ship postings and gradual advancement is known to many. After serving as the Fleet ASW Officer, he returned to sea duty as Executive Officer of HMAS Aruntawhich was the first on scene during the MV Tampaaffair and subsequent turn-back operations. All this time Lieutenant Commander Mead was still carrying out his external studies with Deakin University. He eventually graduated with a Masters degree in International Relations, before finally achieving the accolade of a Doctorate (Ph.D.) in International Relations.
Command
Eventually the hard work paid off in 2005 with command of the Anzac class frigate HMAS Parramattawhich saw active service in the Persian Gulf. His ship was awarded the Meritorious Unit Citation and he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM). This also provided an opportunity to visit the subcontinent and gain some first-hand experience of Indian naval capabilities.
Well-deserved promotion followed with serious consideration now given to ‘where to next’. The opportunity had arisen for Navy to nominate a candidate for the prestigious Indian National Defence College (INDC). This one year course is available for up to 50 students in the Indian Defence Forces and allied civil authorities who are destined for senior, two star and above, positions. To provide variety and stimulus up to 15 places are offered to foreign students, with Australia usually invited to nominate one candidate.
With his previous command posting, work in the Indian geographic region, and his studies in International Relations, CAPT Mead was a sound choice. And so the captain and his family set off for new adventures on the subcontinent.
Entry to the INDC follows in some illustrious footsteps as our Governor-General, General Sir Peter Cosgrove, is a leading member of the overseas alumni. Sir Peter maintains this was a turning point in his career from which he never looked back. Jonathan Mead says: The Indian learning experience was daunting and challenging but wonderfully enlightening, to eventually see the world not only through Australian eyes but through those of another perspective provides an insight enjoyed by very few. The Admiral summed up his Indian experiences thus: A country and a culture that will challenge you in every aspect but with perseverance and understanding the rewards are immense.
With no let up on his academic interests Jonathan Mead is a published author with his work Indian National Security: Misguided Men and Guided Missilesbeing published in 2010. Aspiring young officers will already have this on their reading lists!
After Staff College he was posted to New Delhi to take up the two year tri-service position of Australian Defence Adviser.
Homeward Bound
Promoted Commodore in 2011, a deployment to the Middle East followed where he commanded Combined Task Force 150, responsible for maritime counter-terrorism. He was consequently awarded a Commendation for Distinguished Service. Upon returning home it was back to Fleet Headquarters as Commander Surface Force.
In 2015 he was promoted to RADM and posted to head Navy’s Capability Division in Canberra. No one could have predicted the enormous changes that awaited him with the First Principles Review and the White Paper thrusting naval shipbuilding onto centre stage.
Then the ultimate challenge came earlier this year (2018) with the appointment as Fleet Commander at a wonderful time of fleet renewal and expansion.
The Fleet has never been more impressive. Our ability to project power, exert influence and control those parts of the sea which matters to us goes to the heart of what our Navy does and it does this extremely well. Just dwell for a moment on the level of capability which resides within our Task Groups and the effects they can deliver. Think about the warfighting muscle a DDG brings to the table, or the amphibious options that the LHDs offer. Couple these with our upgraded Anzac frigates, the state of art MH60R ASW helicopter, and the world’s best conventional submarine in Collins, not to mention a kaleidoscope of other force elements within Navy and you can see why I’m so excited to be the Fleet Commander. I have just returned from Exercise OCEAN EXPLORER with sixteen of our ships and two submarines, in partnership with US, UK and RNZN assets, exercising in Bass Strait. And I can attest that our Fleet is not one to be messed with.
We briefly spoke of the Naval Historical Society’s recent website initiative in attempting to better engage with the naval community. The Fleet Commander acknowledged that many other organisations also suffered from having an aging membership with difficulties in finding young recruits. He suggested more contemporary stories might resonate with a younger audience. Could we work together encouraging midshipmen and other new entrants to record accounts of their experiences – which make our future history?
The Flag Lieutenant reminded us that our time is nearly up. In summary, it was a pleasure to have this frank interview with an impressive senior officer, someone with his feet firmly upon the deck, whether this is on land or at sea, but look deeper and you can still glimpse the younger man searching just beyond the horizon to a brighter future.