Family and friends gathered at Garden Island, Sydney to welcome home HMAS Newcastle from a six month deployment to the Middle East Area of Operations (MEAO). Prime Minister of Australian, the Hon Tony Abbott MP, Commander Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Tim Barrett, AM CSC RAN and Commander Australian Surface Forces, Commodore Jonathan Mead, AM RAN were on the wharf to welcome Commander Paul O'Grady, CSM RAN and his crew of 230 back to Australia. Newcastle Commissioning Lady, Mrs Margaret McNaughton, AM and her husband John helped cheer the ship alongside. During the deployment, Newcastle provided essential naval support to Coalition Maritime Security Operations as part of Operation SLIPPER. Newcastle was flexibly employed across Task Forces 150, 151 and 152, conducting Counter Terrorism and Counter Piracy patrols. The deployment marked Newcastle's fourth deployment to the Middle East Area of Operations (MEAO) and the fifty-fifth rotation of a Royal Australian Navy Fleet Unit to the regions since the first Gulf War in 1990.
