NHC Appoints Global Training Manager
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18 March 2015
Lieutenant Commander Richard Watson has been appointed as
Global Training Manager for National Hyperbaric Centre (NHC) the leading provider
of worldwide training courses for the subsea industry.
During 2014, the centre drove forwards development within its successful
training department. New courses were added to the NHC portfolio including
Subsea Isolations and ROV System Auditing & Assurance, both receiving
positive interest and feedback within the industry. Further investment was made
by opening a new training and consulting office in Singapore, which is now
running courses on a regular basis and experiencing positive results.
Richard, or as he has been known for the past 31 years, "Soapy” (Watson being
the name of the soap used in the Royal Navy during the early 20thCentury), brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Centre.
Richard started his career in the Royal Navy as a diver in 1984, performing
tasks such as underwater engineering and bomb disposal duties, working his way
through the ranks. In 2000, he was promoted to Officer, where he became one of
the select few Deep Specialist Officers working in diving and underwater seabed
operations. Working his way up through various positions led him to become Head
of Diving Training for all Royal Navy Diving and Operations Manager of all
Diving Units based in UK (around 190 divers). Finally, Richard was the Client
Representative/Diving Standards Officer on behalf of the Ministry of Defence
for Royal Navy and Royal Marines which is the UK’s largest single employer of divers.
Alongside
his new role, Richard continues his service as a reservist in the Royal Navy
Reserves (RNR) where he is Officer in Command of Reserves Diving Unit 2, which
supplies operators and supervisors to the NATO Submarine Rescue System.
Lieutenant Commander Watson commented: "I am truly delighted to be joining the NHC in these very exciting times and hope to bring my knowledge and experience of diving/underwater operations and management to the competitive arena of training to make NHC the best training organisation in our specialist field."
