An Cosantóir

38 FIRST FEMALE NAVY DIVER LT NS TAHLIA BRITTON DIVER After a helicasting exercise Lt NS Britton is seen here swimming to a RHIB Lt NS Britton gives the thumbs up after initially entering the water fully kitted for a dive By Tony O'Brien Photos by AB David Jones Surfing, lifesaving and a love of the sea in her native Rossnowlagh, Donegal in many ways meant that Tahlia Britton's future was mapped out from an early date. It had to have something to do with water and the sea. So it was no surprise then that the 30-year-old Donegal woman found her natural home in the Irish Naval Service. Nor was it any surprise when last year she became the first female member of the Navy's diving Unit (officially known as the Naval Service Diving Section). Tahlia tended towards a military career from early on, but when she expressed that ambition to a careers adviser in school, it didn't go down well. "She kept saying 'no, no, you don't want to do that' and pointed me towards science. So I did a degree in Podiatry in NUIG, essentially a foot doctor. "But the lure of the sea and military life never went away. "I studied for years for the degree but I couldn't see myself working in Podiatry for evermore. Actually, in my final year had already applied for a Cadetship. I applied to the Army as well as the Navy, but as the process went on I knew it had to be the Navy." With very supportive parents, once she had her degree, Tahlia set about her 24 months of training for the Naval Service with the 91st Cadet Class. The initial three months of the Naval Cadetship is conducted in the Military College, Defence Forces Training Centre along with cadets from the Army and Air Corps, the focus of which is to learn about the basics of soldiering. She found those early months – marching, learning to shoot etc – very Army focussed. "There was no naval element, very little mention of water." Overall, she said it was physical and demanding. However, as she had always been into sports, surfing and meeting challenges, she stayed the course and came out the other side. So she was happy when she shifted back to the National Maritime College of Ireland in Haulbowline and the training became more relevant to her future career. The first thing to happen there was "marinisation" where she had to get used to naval life and the basics of being a sailor, including seamanship, gunnery and engineering. "There was pretty intensive studying, as well as the practical elements; at the end of which Tahlia emerged with a Nautical Science Degree. "They were training us to be leaders and overtime, you had to develop your own leadership styles. We are all still developing in that regard, you never really stop. Looking back objectively on the training I now, I think it was great! Although at the time I thought it was hellish, including travelling home to Donegal at weekends, which could take as long as 12 hours depending on the means of transport I had to take. As cadets we initially were not permitted to use our own cars." There was plenty of learning skills of seafaring and navigation too. "You go to sea for up to eight weeks: getting used to life on board, working with the crew, learning basic seamanship skills," she recalls, adding that she spent plenty of time on board the L.É. NIAMH and the L.É. EITHNE. A particularly interesting element in the initial years was three months of "work experience" with the Merchant Navy, when she worked with a merchant shipping company called D'Amico. This was a real learning experience for Tahlia: "It was obviously much different from what we do in the Navy but it was a valuable lesson in terms of merchant shipping, dealing with cargoes and being at sea with various nationalities. I visited Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and other places and it was great to visit these parts of the world." Tahlia eventually qualified as a Naval Watchkeeper, which is a big responsibility on board, as one is in charge of the safe navigation of the ship and all of her crew. Her first posting was as Gunnery Officer on the L.É. JAMES JOYCE. "You are essentially in charge of all weapons systems onboard. It's quite a responsible job but I enjoy it. I have a great crew within Gunnery Department onboard which helps make everything run well." But Tahlia wasn't content to leave it at that. The former surf life-saving champion, who had competed for Ireland at international level, had her eye on becoming a Navy diver. "I guess it goes back to my younger days of surfing and surf life-saving in Rossnowlagh. I always had a love of the sea", she explains, "They advertise every year, so I saw the advertisement looking for members of the diving Unit. I applied and was delighted to be given the opportunity to undertake the course." There were 10 on the course and she was the only woman. But she found she had to put in a lot more work to, as she puts it, "level the playing field and catch up with the men" in terms of physical strength because of the weight of diving equipment etc. "Beforehand I put in a good deal of gym work, because I had to gain upper body strength; an area where men may have a natural advantage," she said adding that the diving course is very much about perseverance and mental resilience as well as physical ability. Even with training being interrupted for a period because of COVID, she came through it all and Tahlia became the first female member of the Navy diving Unit. "It's important to say that I am treated as an equal, because I've had to prove myself on the exact same playing field as everyone else, so that we can all be held to the same standard," she says. But she is keen to emphasise that teamwork was a massive part of the Diving Course: "I wouldn't have been able to achieve what I have without the people who were willing to help me from pre-course training, to giving me advice and even the encouraging words of motivation to help me

• Cover