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No sex please... we're navy

SEXY TV drama Sea Patrol has been slammed by former sailors who say its raunchy storylines are making a mockery of the navy.

Naval Association of Australia president Les Dwyer has accused the popular Channel 9 show of undermining one of Australia's proudest institutions.

"The amount of sex on the show is simply a bloody joke," Mr Dwyer said.

The revelation comes days after the Defence Department launched an investigation into allegations screen star Tania Zaetta had sex with Australian special forces soldiers during a recent tour of Afghanistan, denied by Zaetta.

Mr Dwyer — who served 44 years in the RAN rising to the rank of Warrant Officer — says the program is an insult to navy personnel.

Series two of the popular show has seen increasingly steamy scenes aboard the fictional patrol boat HMAS Hammersley.

One storyline has the characters played by Gold Logie winner Lisa McCune, Ian Stenlake and Ditch Davey in a love triangle.

Now navy stalwarts have questioned the RAN's five-year deal with the show's producers, giving it access to ships, personnel and equipment, library footage and technical advice.

"It makes a mockery of the incredible lengths that the navy and Department of Defence have taken to ensure that interpersonal relationships are kept at a professional level," Mr Dwyer said.

"The reality is some of it is absolutely absurd."

A spokesman for Defence Force Recruitment — the agency responsible for ADF recruits — admitted the series exaggerated the sexier side of the profession.

While Sea Patrol was part of a wider recruitment strategy to target people aged 17-24, the spokesman said the show did not reflect the realities of life at sea.

"It's a dramatisation and it glamorises certain elements," the spokesman said.

He said the RAN had a strict no-fraternising policy and employees were required to report romantic affairs to their supervisors.

And a navy spokeswoman said the RAN was perfectly happy with Sea Patrol.

By Shannon Deery and Sharri Markson
June 01, 2008
Sunday Herald Sun