NOWRA, Australia, June 11, 2019 – Sikorsky Australia, a Lockheed Martin company, today announced it has welcomed three local apprentice aircraft maintenance engineers to join its Maintenance & Logistics Support facility at Nowra.

Local residents, Joel Grimston, Luca Taglieri and Nicholas Poelczer will join Sikorsky’s formal apprenticeship and trainee program as part of the Commonwealth’s $1 million investment over four years to engage and recruit apprentices and trainees in the Shoalhaven region.

Neale Prescott, Director Business Development, Lockheed Martin, said Lockheed Martin Australia is proud to be working with the Commonwealth to support local defence capabilities through the Sikorsky Australia program.

“As an employer of more than 1200 Australian men and women across the country’s regional and urban areas, we believe investing in our local workforce and planning for our future workforce is critical to our success and Australia’s future defence capabilities,” he said.

“As our work becomes more technologically complex, recruiting Australians with the right skills mix for these capabilities is even more important.

“We are pleased to welcome Joel, Luca and Nicholas to our team at Nowra and look forward to supporting them on their way to becoming fully fledged aircraft maintenance engineers.”   

Today’s appointments bring Sikorsky Australia’s total apprentices and trainees from the local area to seven, after four were engaged 12 months ago. Every 24 months, Sikorsky will offer two apprenticeship and two trainee positions for placement at the Nowra facilities.

The program will see apprentices take up four-year placements with Sikorsky Australia and attend an accredited course provided by local training company Aerospace Training Services  with the goal of becoming fully qualified aircraft maintenance engineers.

Located at Albatross Aviation Technology Park, Sikorsky Australia’s purpose-built Maintenance & Logistics Support facility houses through-life-support services for the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) fleet of 24 MH-60R (Romeo) maritime helicopters. The MH60 Romeo fleet was built by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, with the mission systems integrated and the full fleet delivered by to the RAN by Lockheed Martin in 2016.

For additional information, visit our website: www.lockheedmartin.com.au

About Lockheed Martin Australia

Headquartered in Canberra, Lockheed Martin Australia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation. The company employs more than 1200 people in Australia working on a wide range of major programs spanning the aerospace, defence and civil sectors.

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Media Contacts:

Michelle Scully, +61 448 032 387; michelle.m.scully@lmco.com