HMS Queen Elizabeth I 145 AE Department personnel profiles: Warrant Officer 1 (AET) Mick Davidson MBE, Air Engineering Department Warrant Officer I’m the Air Engineering Department’s warrant officer, and one of my many jobs is to control the movement of aircraft around the hangar and up on to the flight deck. Whilst on board I am writing operating procedures about how we move the fighter jets and helicopters around the hangar safely. The flight deck is one of the most dangerous places on the ship, so we need to make sure it is a safe working environment. HMS Queen Elizabeth is very different to any other ship in the Royal Navy – so we have lots to learn. I joined the Royal Navy back in 1982 as an air engineering artificer (weapons electrical) and have served with most Naval Air Stations and aircraft carriers. Highlights of my career include surviving arctic training in northern Norway and being awarded an MBE for service with the Harrier Operational Conversion Unit at RAF Wittering as part of Joint Force Harrier (JFH).
Petty Officer (AET) Martin Curry, Mechanical Workshops Petty Officer I work in the mechanical workshops with the jets and the helicopters, fixing aircraft associated components such as engines, cranes and lifting gear. I joined the Royal Navy as an air engineering mechanic (AEM) in 1995 and served with 899 NAS at RNAS Yeovilton before being drafted to 800 NAS attached to HMS Invincible, which deployed to Iraq and the Former Republic of Yugoslavia. In my time, I’ve served in all three aircraft carriers and also deployed to Libya in HMS Ocean. Now in HMS Queen Elizabeth, I’m the first PO in the Mechanical Department and it’s my job to get the workshops ready for business. I love being part of a ship this size – it’s empowering to think that the decisions we make now will set the ship up for the rest of her working life.
Royal Navy photos
WO1 (AET) Mick Davidson MBE
PO (AET) Martin Curry