Desborough woman earns her 'wings' after qualifying for frontline service with the Royal Navy

A Royal Navy sailor has earned her ‘wings’ after five years of study and will now serve with the UK’s new aircraft carriers.

Lieutenant Emma Turner, 24, from Desborough, has completed her training to become a helicopter observer, a position that combines the roles of mission commander and weapons officer.

It means she will fly as part of the four-strong aircrew team on the Royal Navy’s Merlin Mk2 helicopters, used for hunting submarines or identifying possible threats on the sea and in the air.

Having qualified for frontline service, she will now join the navy’s 820 Naval Air Squadron, the helicopter force dedicated to protecting the UK’s new carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.

She said: “I joined the navy in 2016 as I'd always been keen to get involved in flying after watching the Red Arrows when I was younger.

"My careers advisor at school then showed me a flyer from the Royal Navy which gave me the opportunity to get a degree while doing my military training.

“Finishing training has been the culmination of nearly five years of assessment.

"Completing the final simulator sortie was a massive relief, and the feeling that all the hard work had paid off.”

Lt Turner completed her final training this month at 824 Naval Air Squadron, the Merlin helicopter training unit at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose in Cornwall.

She has spent the last year learning how to operate the helicopter’s sophisticated kit and how to use it as an effective fighting force.

She added: “The hardest part of the training was what they call the ‘passive phase’ – that’s learning how to hunt submarines without putting any sound into the water.

“I'm looking forward to finally having the chance to do the job I've been working and training for now for the last five years.

"It is an exciting concept to think we are finally qualified to fly on our own and trusted to operate such a complex piece of machinery without any input from our instructors.”

A low-key socially distant ceremony was held in one of the hangars at RNAS Culdrose for six students who have all completed their training. Commander James Taylor, the commanding officer of 824 Naval Air Squadron, congratulated each of the students on this significant milestone in their careers.

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