A LIPHOOK man has celebrated his formal commissioning as a Royal Navy Officer during a parade attended by the Princess Royal.

Midshipman Dominic Raeyen (24) was one of 154 officer cadets taking part in Lord High Admiral’s Divisions at Britannia Royal Naval College.

Around 800 families, friends and distinguished guests, watched as the princess inspected the parade as the representative of her father, the Duke of Edinburgh, who is also the Lord High Admiral.

To earn his place on the parade ground, Dominic completed an intensive 30-week training course, which was split into three ten-week phases. While the course predominately takes place at the world renowned college in Dartmouth, the training includes a three-week ship placement when Dominic was assigned to the Royal Navy’s largest ship, HMS Ocean, operating in UK waters.

Dominic was educated at Bohunt School and graduated from Coventry University in 2014 with a degree in aviation management. He got his first taste of the Service while at university as a member of the Birmingham University Royal Navy Unit.

He said: “I joined the Royal Navy to have a varied, challenging and rewarding flying career. There have been a number of highlights over the past 30 weeks, such as the final leadership exercise on the River Dart, when we lived and operated in a small boat for four days. I’m now looking forward immensely to beginning my flying training at the Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton.”

The Royal Navy’s initial training course for officers is underpinned by nine core maritime skills which are the foundations of naval life and essential to operational effectiveness. It involves maritime training on the River Dart and uses the rugged environment of Dartmoor to teach the cadets how to operate and lead in the field.

The course is designed to ensure that the cadets are equipped to undertake assignments both at sea and on land.