Anchored in excellence: a story from the seas
Joseph Reilly (MLitt 2022) won the prestigious Trench Gascoigne essay prize in 2023, awarded by the Royal United Services Institute for the best original work on international defence and security issues. He shares his story from the Indo-Pacific where he is currently posted aboard HMS Spey.
Like many, I was thrilled, relieved, and just a tad nervous when I first received my offer to study at St Andrews. At the time I was in the final year of my undergraduate degree studying History at Queens University Belfast and I knew that, via the Institute for the Study of War and Strategy, St Andrews was increasingly becoming a world leader in strategic studies – the field I eventually hoped to enter.
The gamble that paid off
My Masters application was a bit of a gamble – an ambitious attempt to work with and learn from some of the leading experts on history and international relations before I entered the world of work. Despite being sorely tempted by the MLitt in Strategic Studies, I settled on Modern History which, thanks to the interdisciplinary nature of St Andrews, allowed me to continue in my area of expertise whilst taking modules in other subjects. This approach led to so many fascinating conversations and opportunities.
To say that I loved my time at St Andrews would be an understatement. It was where I formed some of my closest friendships and had some of my most memorable experiences. I look back fondly on the many lazy summer afternoons spent in St Mary’s Quad or drinking copious amounts of coffee from Zest, finished off with a generous scoop of ice cream from Jannettas. I’m genuinely convinced there isn’t more gorgeous, more historic town in the UK in which to study.
Joseph Reilly
Across the water
Despite the many attractions of St Andrews, I ended up living in Dundee, in an old tenement flat above Waterstones. As my Masters was at the tail-end of the Covid era, there were still many lectures and seminars online, and I was fortunate to attend many of these sessions from the comfort of the cosy bookshop café located just beneath my bedroom. Dundee may not have the small-town charm of St Andrews, but it’s a thriving, bustling city with a great nightlife and fantastic people. I try to return as often as I can.
Graduation
In the Navy
After graduating in late 2022, I decided to pursue a long-held ambition and applied to join the Royal Navy as a Warfare Officer. Within a matter of months, I was in. I signed up for an intensive 30-week course at Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth starting in January 2023.
My time at Dartmouth was a unique and challenging period. Despite being remarkably different from university life, I found myself enjoying the trials and tribulations of military basic training. I strongly believe that my experiences and studies at St Andrews contributed to the early successes of my naval career.
Top of the class
I commissioned in August 2023 at the top of my intake for strategic studies, winning the Professor Eric Grove Prize for my efforts. While undergoing basic training, I was fortunate to win silver in the First Sea Lord’s Essay Competition. I swapped my soggy green military kit on Dartmoor for a tuxedo to receive the prize at St James’s Palace. My luck continued and I won the Australian Chief of Navy Prize, followed by the RUSI Trench Gascoigne Prize in November last year.
The latter was a particular surprise, as the Trench Gascoigne prize is generally considered to be one of the most prestigious awards in the discipline. Dating back to 1874, it is awarded annually by the Royal United Services Institute for original writing on international defence and security issues. I was honoured to receive the prize from the Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin KCB ADC at his annual lecture at RUSI’s headquarters in Whitehall, London.
My submission entitled Perfidious Albion? British Foreign Policy in an Age of Strategic Choice strongly criticised the argument that the Ukrainian war shows the UK needs a large, likely conscript army, and instead suggested that the national interest would be best served by increased investment in the domestic defence industrial base, to better supply the Ukrainian armed forces.
Joseph receiving the Trench Gascoigne Prize from Admiral Sir Tony Radakin KCB ADC
On deployment
It has been wonderful to have my academic writing recognised over the past year but, for the immediate future, it will almost certainly have to be placed on the backburner. I am currently deployed on HMS Spey in the Indo-Pacific, with a very tenuous wifi connection!
I very much hope to make further contributions to strategic and defence debates upon my return to the UK and I am incredibly fortunate that the Royal Navy does so much to encourage young officers to be involved in strategy debates and discussions. Much of this is thanks to the efforts of its internal think tank, the Royal Navy Strategic Studies Centre (RNSSC).
Perhaps there will be more articles to come, but for now I’m looking forward to commencing the next stage of my training and seeing where else my career – and my interest in international relations – will take me.