SLt Matt Bate (00-10) is the first Young Officer to be awarded the MacRobert Sword, having gone through the Royal Naval Reserve’s Accelerated Officer Programme (AOP - fast track training route), rather than the traditional, longer, officer training route.

Matt commenced RNR Initial Naval Training in November 2016 and completed the fast-track Accelerated Officer Programme. He passed out as a Midshipman in September 2017 and successfully passed Fleet Board in 2018, subsequently joining the RNR Submarine Operations specialisation. As winner of the 2019 MacRobert Sword, he scored the highest combined score across all aspects of RNR Phase 1 training in the previous year. 

The MacRobert Sword is funded at the kind behest of the MacRobert Trust and is one of a suite of three swords that the Trust provides annually to Young Officers across all Reserve Forces. The Sword forms part of the Trust’s on-going support to the Reserve Forces.

Congratulations Matt, an amazing achievement!