Dental Officer Oversees Navy Passing Out Parade
A Royal Navy dental officer has fulfilled a dream by overseeing the passing out parade at HMS Raleigh; surgeon commander Tim Dean supervised the parade in what appears to be a first.
Thirty nine year old Tim is based at St Germans and holds the position of Senior Dental Surgeon at HMS Raleigh, Cornwall. He volunteered to step in and oversee the passing out ceremony, which entails a huge amount of work and the parade ran like clockwork.
Tim said that it was a great honour to be able to supervise the parade, as it is not usually a role offered to dental officers; in fact, this was the first time a Royal Navy dentist was offered the responsibility of Parade Commander.
The sword used during the ceremony belonged to Harry Thompson, Tim’s grandfather and a Royal Navy Commander who was recently given the prestigious Artic Star. The sword has been used in ceremonies all over the UK since 1944 and Tim said it was an incredible feeling to know that the sword had been used by his grandfather.
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