Commander Maxine White, takes over at Navcom from Steve Marshall (who’s moved on to a Canberra posting). A.K.A. “Knocker”, but never in her presence, unless you want to find yourself swabbing out the heads in the military lock-up!

Maxine comes with a reputation for being tough. Truth is, she’s very direct – a straight shooter – and can be more than slightly intimidating, but only if you get on her bad side – like by calling her “Knocker”, for example.

Hailing from ADFA in the same year as Mike Flynn, with a colourful and distinguished career already behind her, Maxine rose through the ranks as something of a pioneer female officer on Patrol Boats, in addition to other active service postings both in Australia and overseas. She’s had to mix it up with the males of her generation without the safety net of other female contemporaries and this experience has stood her in good stead when it comes to the administrative argy-bargy which is the fate of a Navcom commander.

She’s got a soft spot for Mike Flynn. Apart from the fact they go back – were class mates at ADFA – Mike is godfather to her seventeen year old son, Matt, and when her husband Jeff was killed in active service in the Gulf some years back, Mike was a true friend and a stalwart emotional support. That tragedy has occupied her more than she would ever admit and part of the reason she took a shore posting, because Matt was at a delicate stage on the cusp of teenagerhood and she needed to be there for him.

Maxine is a person of true heart and the wellbeing of her son is paramount. There’s a photo of him prominently and proudly displayed on her desk at Navcom, just in case you weren’t aware of it.

Since Jeff’s death, there has been no shortage of potential suitors as, despite her (undeserved) reputation as a ball-breaker, Maxine is very sexy and has great personal warmth. Sure, she can be tough when the situation warrants, but beneath that is the proverbial heart of gold.

The only person in Maxine’s life who could potentially fill the void left by Jeff’s departure is Mike Flynn but Maxine has valued that friendship too much to ever actively seek to morph it into something else. That and the fact there have been persistent rumours there is someone else – person unknown – who has Mike Flynn’s heart.

But when she sees first hand how Mike stubbornly refuses promotion to stay on as C.O. of Hammersley, Maxine feels it is her duty, if not her mandate as friend and colleague to convince him otherwise.

And who knows what may transpire if he were to occupy that vacant office next to hers?