Chief Petty Officer Vanessa Toohey was recently awarded the Conspicuous Service Medal in the King’s Birthday honours list.
Currently posted to HMAS Sydney as a stores accounting officer, Chief Petty Officer Toohey said it was “lovely and humbling” to be recognised in the honours list.
The citation for her medal reads: “For devotion to duty as a supply chain specialist supporting the Air Warfare Destroyer Enterprise.”
Sydney’s Maritime Logistics Officer, Lieutenant Commander Ian Nash, said Chief Petty Officer Toohey was one of the most professional people he’s worked with.
“Working alongside Chief Petty Officer Toohey is an absolute privilege. She is, without a doubt, the most impressive senior sailor I’ve ever had the pleasure of serving with,” he said.
“Beyond her brilliant work as a supply chain specialist, she is the heartbeat of our team – a phenomenal chief petty officer who brings out the absolute best in everyone around her.”
This year marks Chief Petty Officer Toohey’s 31st in the Navy.
She joined at 17 as a seaman in stores and worked her way up the rank to chief petty officer in 17 years.
“It’s been fun and rewarding … mostly,” she said.
“And challenging, most definitely. I love the challenge of the planning cycle and getting the ship ready to go.”
‘She is, without a doubt, the most impressive senior sailor I’ve ever had the pleasure of serving with.’
Her career has included postings to HMA Ships Stirling, Coonawarra, Cairns, Waterhen and Cerberus, Garden Island, and sea postings in HMA Ships Success, Norman, Perth, Parramatta, Brisbane, Hobart and Sydney.
“The only shore postings I haven’t done are Albatross and Creswell as a storby,” she said.
Her career also includes more than a dozen overseas deployments at sea and ashore, including a posting to the Middle East as maritime support to ships in theatre and Hawaii.
In her shore support role she also visited Tanzania, Seychelles, Jordan, Abu Dhabi, Oman and Bahrain.
Chief Petty Officer Toohey said life in the Navy threw up challenges regularly, such as the 40 pallets of stores her department had to on-board to Sydney in the past month. However, by far the most challenging part of her role has been upgrades to systems.
Personally, there have been the challenges of time away from family to overcome.
“I’ve been married for 27 years and I think we’ve worked out that we have lived together for about eight years posted in the same location,” she said.
Chief Petty Officer Toohey’s husband, Lieutenant Commander Russell Toohey, is a maritime logistics officer posted to Darwin.
Husband and wife will be reunited for Chief Petty Officer Toohey’s next posting as a regulator in London as part of the Australian High Commission team.
Chief Petty Officer Toohey is also excited that her 21-year-old daughter, Emma, is looking to follow in her mum and dad’s footsteps and join the Navy.
HMAS Sydney embarked on Australia’s third regional presence deployment for 2026 on June 9.
