Australia gives navy a holiday for Christmas

Source: Agencies  |   2008-11-19  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

AUSTRALIA'S navy gets a big Christmas gift this year ?? two months paid vacation for most sailors that will ease the effects of a recruiting slump but make the service Down Under look something like a part-time operation.

The navy hopes that by making life on the sea more family-friendly, it will attract the extra 2,000 sailors it needs achieve its target strength of 15,000.

Critics say the so-called shut down, which inspired a front page newspaper headline yesterday, "Navy Closes For Christmas," will worry Australia's major defense ally, the United States.

"Mothballing your ships for two months sends totally the wrong message to our region and to our allies," said opposition defense spokesman David Johnston. "I've never heard of anything like this. I'm flabbergasted."

All 55 navy ships and submarines that are not on operational deployments have been ordered home for Christmas and the number of sailors who stay aboard docked ships as sentries will be reduced to skeleton crews.

It is not clear how many how many sailors will take extra time off.

Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon told Australian Broadcasting Co radio that the two-month break for sailors, which begins December 3, is "just a way of saying thank you and encouraging them to stay in the service."

Fitzgibbon said a shortage of troops is the biggest challenge facing the Australian Defense Force and making their jobs more family friendly was part of the solution.

"The family-work balance is a very, very important part of the equation," Fitzgibbon said.

Navy Deputy Chief Rear Admiral Davyd Thomas said that the break will not adversely impact national security.

An Australian navy frigate would remain in the Middle East guarding oil wells over Christmas and seven patrol boats would guard Australia's northern waters from illegal fishers and smugglers, he said.