Five Nations Work Together to Improve Navy Safety

Naval safety representatives and exchange officers from across the Five Eyes (FVEY) alliance convened at Naval Safety Command this week for a four‑day working group focused on aligning operational safety, maintenance practices and organizational standards across partner navies.

The visit brought together senior leaders and safety professionals from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Leadership Advocacy and Shared Maintenance Challenges

Phil Wheadon, director of Naval Safety for the Royal New Zealand Navy, described the value of engaging directly with counterpart safety professionals throughout the Sept. 14–17 sessions.

Wheadon emphasized that despite differences in fleet size, all FVEYs nations face similar operational hazards and leadership challenges.

“We’re a much smaller navy, but it’s great to actually learn from other people’s experience and see the sorts of challenges that other people are dealing with,” said Wheadon. “There’s always a great tendency for the military to focus on operations … and trying to persuade leaders sometimes to take into account safety requires strong advocacy.”

A highlight of the week included a visit to USS Kearsarge (LHD 3), where Wheadon met with the ship’s chief engineer to examine strategies for managing complex maintenance periods. As a former chief engineer himself, he noted the striking similarities between the United States and New Zealand engineering challenges.

“It’s really fascinating to see the same sorts of issues USS Kearsarge are dealing with that are the same issues we deal with,” Wheadon said. “It’s great to see the bigger countries … treat smaller nations like New Zealand and Australia as equals.”

Standardization and Interoperability

Royal Navy Lt. Cmdr. James Newbury, personnel exchange officer to the U.S. Navy and secretary for the FVEYs meeting, said this year’s event marked his fourth working group. He highlighted the importance of standardizing workflows and establishing operational parity across the alliance.

“We’re getting five navies together to collaborate … to come up with simple solutions to standardize work and make things equal,” said Newbury. “When we’re interoperable here, we can be interoperable at sea.”

Newbury explained that unified standard operating procedures and shared tactical behaviors ensure all partner fleets operate on a common playing field during major multinational engagements such as RIMPAC and NATO exercises. “The main goal is to ensure everyone follows the same standards and SOPs so our navies can work together seamlessly.”

The working group followed a detailed schedule that included trend analysis, technical discussions, ship visits and environmental safety topics. These sessions provided delegates with shared frameworks for improving safety governance and aligning analytical approaches across the alliance.

Strengthening a Unified Safety Posture

Across four days of collaboration, ship visits, technical discussions and strategic planning, the FVEYs Naval Safety Working Group reinforced the alliance’s commitment to unified standards, data analytics, shared operational learning, risk modeling and strengthened interoperability.

By aligning safety practices and exchanging lessons learned, the five navies continue to build a common foundation that enhances readiness and ensures seamless cooperation during multinational operations.

“Our allies and partners bring different perspectives, but we share the same responsibility: keeping our people safe and our fleets combat ready,” said Scott Jones, executive director, NAVSAFECOM. “When we learn together, we get better together – and that’s one line of effort for how we strengthen naval readiness across the entire alliance.”

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