Navy Captain to deliver Anzac Day prologue in Narrabri

Royal Australian Navy Captain, Chris Waterson, will be welcomed to Narrabri’s Anzac Day commemorations next Tuesday.

Capt Waterson will be involved with the commemorations held throughout the morning and will deliver the prologue at the morning civic observance.

Capt Waterson joined the RAN as a Seaman Officer in 1996 through the RAN College at HMAS Creswell. Following training and sea service in the guided missile destroyer HMAS Perth, he served in the patrol boats HMA Ships Cessnock, Dubbo, Wollongong and Geelong conducting fisheries and customs patrols in Australia’s northern waters.

Waterson specialised as a hydrographic surveyor in 2000 and after building experience in a number of specialist postings, he completed advanced training at HMS Drake in the UK in 2005-6 and subsequently went on to command HMAS Shepparton in 2008-9.

After a successful command, Waterson posted to the Australian Joint Operations Command Headquarters as a planning officer. A highlight of this posting, was leading the Australian Defence Force support to the 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games.

Captain Chris Waterson.

In 2012 Waterson completed the Australian Command and Staff College and went on to command HMA Ships Melville and Leeuwin where he was twice awarded the Endeavour Shield for Excellence.

Waterson deployed to the UN Mission in South Sudan in 2015-16 where he worked as Deputy Chief of Joint Operations, planning, reporting and coordinating multiagency efforts within the mission. Upon return to Australia, he was posted to the Australian Hydrographic Office where he was responsible for programming and tasking the RAN’s hydrographic fleet. He was posted as Deputy Director of the Maritime Geospatial Program at the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in 2018. In this role he was awarded an Australian Defence Force

Commendation in 2021 for his development and introduction into service of Satellite Derived Bathymetry.

Waterson deployed to the Middle East as Director of Operations for the Combined Maritime Forces, working alongside the US 5th Fleet. He posted to NHQ in 2022 and is currently posted as Deputy Chief of Staff at Navy Headquarters. He holds a Masters of Military Studies from the Australian National University, Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) from the University of Western Sydney and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Hydrographic Surveying from Plymouth University. Waterson is also a Certified Practicing Surveyor (AHSCP Level 1).