CONTACT Compendium Volume 2

AIR LAND & SEA COMPENDIUM: VOLUME 2

HAMEL TAJI - RIMPAC - Northern Shield - & more

2016 IN REVIEW

2016 COMPENDIUM

Produced by Contact Publishing, PO Box 3091, Minnamurra, NSW 2533 www.contactairlandandsea.com

2016 COMPENDIUM

Compiled from the 2016 archives of CONTACT Air Land & Sea e-magazine

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CONTENTS

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6 The Big Pictures 10 Aussies in Iraq

On a training mission

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24 HAMEL

The biggest yet

32 RIMPAC

Canberra’s big test

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44 Pitch Black 46 Northern Shield

Defending the north-west

52 Black Carillon

Submarine rescue

58 Diamond Sprint 62 Ex Ssang Yong 64 Kiwi Earthquake 66 Ireland 2016

Rebellion remembered

74 Inner Sanctum

The mind of a sniper

84 New Military Equipment

Technology driven

98 Cadet Corner Subscribe free at www.aussiecombat.com

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MARCH BIG PICTURE

Photo by Chief Petty Officer Damian Pawlenko

Sister ships with new abi li ty to see far

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Anzac-class frigates HMAS Ballarat (155), HMAS Anzac (150) and HMAS Stuart (153) transit through Cockburn Sound in Western Australia on their way to Fleet Base West.

Of note is that the first two ships have undergone the ANZAC-class upgrade program, evidenced by the fact they sport the distinctive Australian designed-and-built CEAFAR radar assembly that radically changed the profile of their masts.

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JUNE BIG PICTURE

Photo by Corporal Nicci Freeman

In-f li ght Servi ce

actical Marine T s” EA, s p r o C arine hawk States M ron “Sea A United arfare, 4 Squad l Australian Air ic W oya Electron refuels from a R s in the Middle n r, io le n t 6B Prow A during opera ensed more tha 0 p g is -3 Force KC . RAAF tankers d of fuel since bein ) n s e East regio lbs (27,000 tonn ntil April 2016. u 0 4 0 1 ,0 0 0 2 50,00 ptember e S in d e deploy

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SEPTEMBER BIG PICTURE

Photo by Leading Seaman Helen Frank

Osprey has landed

A United States Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey lands on HMAS Canberra off Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2016.

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Photo by Corporal David Said

A No 36 Squadron C-17A Globemaster III is marshalled in next to an AP-3C Orion at RAAF Base Curtin during Exercise Northern Shield 2016.

See story page 44

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DECEMBER BIG PICTURE

BIG PUSH NORTH

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ANZAC Training Aussies and Kiwis with direct influence on Iraqi battlefield

Photo by Corporal Jake Sims, ADF

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Photo by Corporal Jake Sims, ADF

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Australian and New Zealand soldiers from Task Group Taji 2 have conducted a range of training scenarios for the Iraqi Security Forces, including a bayonet-fighting package for the first time.

The Iraqi soldiers were instructed on the process of conducting bayonet fighting, including the ready position, on-guard, parry and thrust.

Soldiers from the Ninewa Operations Command, Commando Battalion, recently received the training as part of their ‘extended period of instruction’.

It was the first time this type of training had been delivered by Task Group Taji and the first time the Iraqi soldiers had received bayonet-fighting instruction.

The lessons proved so successful it was extended to other Iraqi troops currently training with Task Group Taji.

Australian Captain Gareth Rochester said the training had been well received.

“They loved it,” Captain Rochester said.

“Bayonet fighting is all about focusing people on overcoming the enemy and the guys really absorbed what we were trying to teach them.

“They enjoyed it so much they asked for more.”

Training was delivered over three days, with each company cycling through the lessons.

Each officer and soldier was taught the basic moves including the ready, high port, thrust, slash and butt stroke, before attempting the bayonet assault course.

Captain Rochester said the commandos had quickly absorbed the concepts.

“They learnt the techniques quickly and performed quite well on the obstacle course.

“Because it was so successful we will look to include some bayonet fighting on their culminating activity and also include it in future training packages.”

Other training included weapon handling, building clearances and obstacle breaching techniques, as well as training in the tactics, techniques and procedures for squad- through to company-level operations, to use in their fight against Daesh.

Task Group Taji’s BPC contribution is part of Australia’s broader Defence contribution to Iraq, codenamed Operation Okra, which also includes a Special Operations Task Group and an Air Task Group.

About 780 ADF personnel are deployed to the Middle East in support of Operation Okra – approximately 400 personnel assigned to the Air Task Group, 80 assigned to the a Special Operations Task Group and 300 assigned to Task Group Taji.

The commandos were just the latest in a long line of soldiers who have been trained by the Aussies and Kiwis.

On 2 February, more than 900 soldiers from the Iraqi Army’s 71st Brigade, 15th Division, graduated from their training program that commenced on 30 September last year.

This graduation took Task Group Taji’s total number of Iraqi soldiers trained to more than 3000.

The 71st Brigade received training in military skills including marksmanship, urban building clearances, the employment of combined arms, medical instruction, Subscribe free at www.aussiecombat.com

obstacle breaching techniques, international humanitarian law and the laws of armed conflict.

Task Group Taji Commander Colonel Gavin Keating said the graduating soldiers were well prepared to take the fight to Daesh.

“We have seen significant improvements in the brigade since they began training and we are confident they are well prepared for future operations,” Colonel Keating said.

“Their graduation was an important milestone and it was auspicious that it was held [so soon] after Ramadi was retaken.”

During the graduation ceremony, Iraqi Army Ground Forces Command Training Director Major General Sa’eed Na’eem Abd Allah wished the brigade well in their future operations.

“This intensive course has produced good results and has prepared you to defeat Daesh,” he said.

“You are just some of our brave soldiers and fighters from all over the Army who will liberate Iraq from the hands of the terrorists.

“I wish you every success in your future endeavours and we will hear good news about the Brigade when you achieve victory after victory.”

Colonel Keating said Task Group Taji could be proud of its efforts.

“This was very much a team effort between the Iraqi Army and New Zealand and Australian trainers.

“I am extremely happy with the efforts made by our trainers since we assumed responsibility for training at Taji.

“They have displayed excellent professionalism under very fluid conditions.

“This is the first graduation parade we have attended since we arrived in Iraq and it was a great privilege to be here.”

Briefing media in December, Australia’s Chief of Joint Operations Vice Admiral David Johnston updated the situation in Iraq, starting with a brief overview of how tumultuous the operating environment was.

“Some of the key events that have occurred [in the past six months] – we’ve had the downing of the Russian airliner in the Sinai, the downing of the Russian fighter jet by the Turkish Air Force, the attacks in Paris and the dreadful tragedy associated with that, and a number of national decisions by governments about changes to their contribution across the Middle East and South Asian region, including Afghanistan.

“All of those events have had and will have an ongoing influence on the way the ADF conducts operations,” Vice Admiral Johnston said, before elaborating specifically on the tactical situation TG Tajitrained Iraqi soldiers were graduating into.

“The counterattack by Iraqi security forces in Ramadi commenced in mid July. As expected, Daesh had used the period of occupation to prepare significant defensive measures, including heavy concentrations of improvised explosive devices and concealed fighting positions, and we have seen both used extensively.

Photo by Sergeant Kalie Jones, US Army

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Photo by Sergeant Kalie Jones, US Army

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“Over a number of months, the Iraqi security forces have made progressive gains in recapturing Ramadi.

“Progress has been made to the north, west and south of the city.

“Earlier this week [early December] the Iraqi security forces captured the area of Al-Tamim, an important area within the urban environment on the West Bank of the Euphrates in Ramadi.

“This has effectively split Daesh forces and isolated several Daesh elements from resupply.

“While it’s too early to predict the date for the counterattack to be completed in Ramadi, there is consistent progress being made on the ground.

“In general, within Iraq, Iraqi security forces and coalition momentum is increasing.

“Daesh now finds itself under pressure on multiple fronts in Iraq, at Sinjar, Baiji and Ramadi.

“This, in combination with successes in northern Syria and strikes on oil-generation facilities that limit their finances, is having a significant impact upon their force availability, their freedom of movement and effectiveness.

“The Iraqi government, with coalition support, has continued to consolidate its operational position.

“Iraqi forces are reconstituting and improving their skills through the conduct of further training, often delivered by coalition partners, including our own efforts.”

Shortly after Christmas, an ADF update indicated that Australia’s Special Operations Task Group and the RAAF had been directly involved in assisting Iraqi forces retake Ramadi.

Vice Admiral Johnston said Australian Special Operation Task Group joint terminal attack controllers had assisted with precision air strikes and RAAF fighter jets had dropped several bombs during two missions, at least one of which killed several Daesh fighters in central Ramadi.

“This, combined with the obvious affect of Australian and New Zealand training on the Iraqi forces allowed the locals to raise the Iraqi flag on government buildings and officially and fully retake the important city on 28 December.

Vice Admiral Johnston congratulated the Iraqi Forces on retaking key territory in Ramadi and highlighted the Australian Defence Force’s contribution to the operation.

“After months of fighting through the complex urban environment, the Counter Terrorism Service 1st Iraqi Special Operations Force Brigade (1st ISOF) raised the Iraq flag over government buildings this week, symbolising the liberation of Ramadi on 28 December 2015,” Vice Admiral Johnston said.

“The success of the CTS is just one aspect of the efforts of Australian Defence Force personnel in Iraq which encompasses the Advise and Assist, Building Partner Capacity, Air Task Group and

embedded personnel in coalition headquarters.”

Vice Admiral Johnston said the 1st ISOF Brigade supported remotely by Australian SOTG joint terminal attack controllers, had successfully fought their way to the government buildings in the heavily defended Daesh-held centre of Ramadi.

“SOTG-I advisors enabled more than 150 airstrikes in support of 1st ISOF Brigade’s offensive, resulting in the destruction of some 50 Daesh fighting positions, 16 heavy machine guns and numerous vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices.

“It is deeply satisfying to see how the Australian Special Operations Task Group have supported 1st ISOF Brigade.”

He said SOTG-I had provided training assistance to 1st ISOF Brigade for more than a year, including advanced skill sets needed in the Special Operations environment, such as tactics, medical aid and counter IED skills.

“Other Australian Task Groups in the Middle East have also contributed to the Iraqi operational successes.

“The F/A-18A Hornets from the Air Task Group were vital in striking Daesh fighting positions that were hampering the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Services to advance through Ramadi,” he said.

“Air Task Group Hornets conducted two missions on 22 and 29 December where five and two munitions were released respectively.

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Photo by Corporal Jake Sims, ADF

Photo by Sergeant Kalie Jones, US Army

“As a direct result of at least one attack, the Daesh fighters were silenced and the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Services were able to continue with their clearance of central Ramadi.

“Overall, the Air Task Group has completed 99 missions and released 96 munitions since July for operations in Ramadi.”

Vice Admiral Johnston said the combined Australian-New Zealand Task Group Taji training mission also contributed to the Ramadi operation.

“Soldiers from Iraq’s 76th Brigade, previously trained

by Task Group Taji, have been occupying defensive positions around Ramadi since July,” he said.

“During this major operation, 76 Brigade coordinated indirect fires to suppress enemy positions, cleared obstacles laced with IEDs, seized objectives and maintained momentum despite casualties.

“It has taken time, but the continual efforts of our troops and our coalition partners are paying off, and the Iraqi government and security forces are deeply appreciative of our help.”

Elaborating on Australia’s wider contribution Vice Admiral Johnston said Australia had been a key contributor in the fight against Daesh throughout 2015.

“We are the second-largest contributor to the military effort on the ground in Iraq, and one of the major contributors to the air campaign.

“Each of the Australian force elements have made significant contributions to the overall effort against Daesh.

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“I received overt recognition of the scale and quality of Australia’s contribution from several senior coalition military commanders, with whom I met in Iraq, and Afghanistan.

“In addition to supporting their operational planning and manoeuvre, our advise-assist efforts included enabling some 917 strike missions [to early December].

“The majority of these missions occurred in the vicinity of Ramadi, resulting in significant numbers of Daesh fighters killed, the destruction of more than 420 defensive fighting positions and 85 Daesh vehicles destroyed, many of them vehicle-born IEDs. “This contribution has been a genuine combat multiplier in the grinding battle to recapture Ramadi, and has been a key factor in aligning the Iraqi security force ground assault with coalition air support.

“Additionally, the Special Operations Task Group continues to train and prepare the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service for operations.

“Our Special Operations Group has now qualified more than 830 Iraqi special operation force soldiers in a range of combat skills.

“This is building their capability and, importantly, their confidence.

“Task Group Taji has trained and has in training several contingents of the Iraqi army.

“Our training has upskilled more than 3000 personnel, including Iraqi army brigades, the junior NCO academy and specialised units, many of whom are now involved in operations around Ramadi and elsewhere in Iraq.

“The feedback from the Iraqi Ministry of Defence and senior Iraqi military commanders regarding the building partner capacity mission has been extremely positive.

“Iraqi commanders [told me] they have observed a commensurate improvement in the competence of their forces who have received this training.”

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Junior leader course

Right: Australian Army officer Captain Matt Sebesfi gives orders to Iraqi Army soldiers during an urbanclearance scenario, whcih was a culminating activity of the recent Iraqi Army Junior Leaders’ Course at the Taji Military Complex, near Baghdad, Iraq.

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Marchout Paraded Iraqi Army soldiers demonstrated their parade-ground prowess during their graduation parade from a Junior Leaders’ Course of Iraqi Army non-commissioned officers at Taji Military Complex, Iraq, in February.

More than 200 Iraqi non-commissioned officers completed training provided by New Zealand and Australian troops at Camp Taji, bringing the total number of Iraqi soldiers trained by the ANZAC training force to more than 4000.

The 235 soldiers who marched out of the third Junior Leaders’ Course on 21 February, brought the grand total number of soldiers trained by the combined Australian and New Zealand Task Group Taji, to 4220 since it commenced training last April.

Major General Tim Gall, Commander Joint Forces New Zealand, said this marked an important milestone in New Zealand’s ongoing contribution to international efforts to train and build the capacity of the Iraqi Security Forces.

“Building the capability of the ISF to a level necessary to secure the defeat of ISIL will take time,” Major General Gall said.

“But what is encouraging is that the Iraqis are regaining their confidence and have begun to demonstrate, like in Ramadi, the capability and determination they need to mount a successful counter-offensive.”

Commander Task Group Taji Australian Colonel Gavin Keating said the training provided by the task group would lead to the long-term development of the Iraqi Army.

“This training is significant because this is all about developing their junior leaders and junior non-commissioned officers,” Colonel Keating said.

“And that’s critical for the long-term institutional development of their Army.”

A new Junior Leaders’ Course will commence in mid-March.

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big guns of

Photos by Corporal Jake Sims

Australian Army soldier Private Jesse Brockway of Task Group Taji 2’s Force Protection Company.

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Australian soldiers from Task Group Taji 2’s Force Protection Company provide security to Australian and New Zealand soldiers from Task Group Taji at the Taji Military Complex, northwest of Bagdhad, Iraq. It’s a tough but important job that, in the early part of 2016, rested with D Company 8/9RAR with an attached platoon of New Zealand soldiers from the 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment.

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Foreign

relations

Chinese-born Australian Army officer Lieutenant Yikang Feng has lived the corporate life but wanted something more – eventually exchanging stocks for bang-sticks.

Yikang Feng moved to Australia in 1999 when he was 18, and completed a maths and finance degree at the University of Technology Sydney.

“I was a stock broker for a number of large firms for about eight years following university,” he said.

“But I wanted to do something different.

“It is a bit of a romantic idea to have a bigger calling – a purpose – but I wanted to serve the country.”

“I initially joined the Army as an infantry reservist in 2006 and became full-time in 2010 when I attended the Royal Military College, Duntroon, to become an officer.”

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Now Lieutenant Feng has completed a deployment to Iraq as an infantry platoon commander in charge of around 30 soldiers.

“We oversaw security on the ground and provided a safe working environment for the trainers to teach lessons to the Iraqi Army.

“It was my first deployment, a good experience and great opportunity.

“I felt like my platoon and I did our bit during the deployment. We had no incidents.

“I even celebrated my 37th birthday in Iraq, which not many people can say.”

Lieutenant Feng said he wants the community to see a different perspective of the Army.

“We see people with different heritages and cultural

backgrounds in the Army but it’s rare to find someone from China.

“There is a saying in Chinese that good steel doesn’t make nails and good boys don’t join the Army.

“I think this is a false idea and we are missing out on opportunities to serve our country.”

Lieutenant Feng completed approximately seven months in Iraq as a part of the Australian government’s commitment to build the capacity of the Iraqi Security Forces.

He is looking forward to his next adventure and the challenges that the Australian Army can provide.

Photos by Corporal Matthew Bickerton

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Drivi ng passion

Photos by Corporal Oliver Carter

Toowoomba man Luke McKinnon always had a passion for driving.

When hoards of schoolies descended on Surfers Paradise in 1995, Luke was among them, not to party, but to start his first job as a delivery driver for Marie’s Pizzas.

Little did he know back then that his enthusiasm for driving and his conviction for hard, honest work would take him to some very strange places on Earth – even stranger than the Gold Coast during schoolies.

Luke’s father served 20 years in the Australian Army as a combat engineer and ordnance clerk.

His great grandfather served and died in World War II in Burma, and his mum’s great uncle perished in Changi, Thailand.

Despite this military pedigree, however, Luke said he grew up with a dislike for the army.

“We moved from town to town, place to place far too often,” he said.

Before joining the Army, Luke spent 18 months living and working on dairy farms in New Zealand and, after returning to Queensland, spent another three years working in an abattoir.

“I did short stints on the kill floor, the boning room, fresh meat packing, and inedible offal,” Luke said.

“After three years I thought, no, I’m done, I can’t do this anymore.

“That’s when I thought about joining the Army.”

Twelve years later and Luke, now a transport driver with the rank of corporal in the Australian Army, has just returned from his third overseas deployment – his second to Afghanistan – the first being to Uruzgan province, in 2012.

On this second Afghanistan deployment, in 2015, Luke was deployed to Kandahar and Kabul as a member of the Force Protection Element, driving the Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle (PMV) and Mack trucks.

He said that despite the risks, the opportunity to drive on the open road in cities like Kabul and Kandahar had been rewarding.

“Most people in the military spend their time in training and on exercises,” he said.

“I feel like it’s a privilege to be able to do my job in real-time.”

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As a transport manager he supervised a fleet of PMV’s, Mack trucks and 20-tonne trailers, including maintenance, servicing, equipment and cargo.

“It was our job to resupply the forward operating bases with food, water, firewood – anything they wanted we would try to get to them.

“We provide the transportation and force protection for Australian Defence Force mentors as they conduct their meetings and provide advice to their Afghan counterparts,” he said.

“It’s a good feeling being able to drive into an Afghan National Army barracks and lower our weapons.

“We wave at people and they wave back and we share a lot of mutual respect.”

Luke said that although the tempo of driving had been higher in 2015, the threats were greater in 2012 when he and his colleagues were constantly targeted by insurgents using IEDs. Around 250 ADF members and Defence civilians are currently deployed in Afghanistan on Operation Highroad.

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A long way

from home

As NAIDOC Week was marked across Australia in July, 21-year-old Adymathna Yamitji man from the Flinders Ranges area of South Australia Private Jermaine Stuart was serving Australia a long way from home.

Currently deployed on active service near Baghdad in Iraq, Private Stuart said NAIDOC Week was a time to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture and achievements and to recognise the contribution that Indigenous Australians make to our country and our society.

“A lot of people, especially the oldies, go on about how NAIDOC Week is for remembering white oppression,” Private Stuart said.

“But most of the young people celebrate that we’re still here and we’re still going strong.

“I like to remember my old nana who passed away four years ago.

“She was part of the Stolen Generation and used to tell us stories about what life was like when she was a kid.

“I think about those days, too.”

In Iraq, Private Stuart and his colleagues are tasked with providing security for the Commanding Officer and the RSM of Australia’s Training Task Unit when they go out to the Baghdad Fighting School to organise to train Iraqi soldiers to defeat Daesh.

The soldiers received a week of Iraqi culturalawareness training before deploying in June.

“We were up at Murray Bridge and the Army brought in some people who were born and raised in Iraq,” Private Stuart said.

“They told us about the country’s history and religion, and taught us things to say and how to behave.

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“When you meet an Iraqi soldier, you greet them by saying marhba, which is like g’day, and shake hands.

“If they offer you something, you should accept it.

“I thought the Iraqis were going to be pretty strange and different from us, but they turned out to be normal people – just like me pretty much.

“All they want to do is have a laugh, meet some new people, have a chat and go home at the end of the day.

“They love taking selfies with us. They want to show their brother or dad a photo of themselves with an Australian soldier.”

Private Stuart was born in Port Augusta, and moved to Toodyay, a small town outside Perth, when he was eight. His mother is a Yamitji woman from the Cue/Mount Magnet area 600km northeast of Perth.

As a young man, Jermaine Stuart struggled to find work, and applied to join Defence’s Indigenous Development Program run by NORFORCE in the Northern Territory.

“I went up to Darwin for the 10-day recruiting course and did all the physical testing and aptitude assessments,” he said.

“The NORFORCE warrant officer told me I could go full-time straight away if I wanted to, so I went down to Adelaide and enlisted.

“A couple of weeks later I was off to Kapooka, then I went through Singleton, and on to Charlie Company at 7RAR. “My family and mates keep telling me they’re proud of me, and to keep doing what I’m doing.

“But it’s not like I’m anything special. I’m just a digger like everyone else.”

2016 National NAIDOC logo

Right: Private Jermaine Stuart, 7RAR. Left: Private Jermaine Stuart chats with Iraqi soldiers in Baghdad.

Below left: Private Jermaine Stuart (left) and his colleagues, Private Corey Bidart, Corporal Samuel Bruce and Private Sean Birkett, in Iraq.

Photos by Leading Seaman Jake Badior

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LEFT: Warrant Officer Class One Jason Robinson is the Sergeant Major for the deployment.

Photo by Private Jayden Osborne.

ABOVE RIGHT: Corporal David Druery with his family following the pre-deployment farewell parade. Photo by Corporal Kyle Genner.

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As Australians paused to remember more than a century of military service on 11 November, another group of service men and women were preparing to deploy.

Task Group Taji Rotation 4 was formally farewelled with a military parade at Robertson Barracks, Darwin, before deploying to Iraq.

Predominantly drawn from the Australian Army’s 1st Armoured Regiment in Darwin, Task Group Taji 4 represents the Australian and New Zealand Defence Forces’ contribution to the international effort to combat the Daesh terrorist threat in Iraq and Syria.

Task Group Taji is a combined Australian-New Zealand military training force located at the Taji Military Complex north-west of Baghdad and is deployed to Iraq to support an international effort to train Iraqi Security Forces.

Many of the Iraqi soldiers engaged in the retaking of Mosul in late 2016 were trained at the Taji Military Complex by earlier rotations of the Task Group.

The combined Task Group consists of around 300 Australian Defence Force personnel drawn largely from the Australian Army’s 1st Brigade, alongside more than 100 New Zealand Defence Force personnel.

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Exercise Hamel tests men, machines and concepts to ensure they are ready for potential future deployments in support of every mission profile, from humanitarian assistance through to high-tempo war fighting operations against peer or near-peer forces.

For the past six years, Exercise Hamel has been conducted in Queensland. But this year, the newly and massively expanded Cultana Military Training Area in South Australia was chosen to host this major Armycentric activity.

With more than 9000 military personnel from the Australian Army, Royal Australian Navy, Royal Australian Air Force, along with personnel from the United States Marine Corps, the United States Army (Pacific Command) and the New Zealand Army,

Three phases of the Australian Army’s force-generation cycle:

Phase 1 – Ready – is when the brigade is ready and certified to deploy on operations.

hase 2 – Reset – is when the brigade is released from P operational readiness and conducts equipment remediation as well as individual training including promotion courses. hase 3 – Readying – is when the brigade recommences P collective training, prepares for missions and is evaluated during a major exercise, such as Hamel.

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Exercise Hamel 2016 was a significant undertaking.

Director General for Army Training and Doctrine Brigadier Mick Ryan said Exercise Hamel was designed to test and evaluate the Australian Army’s highreadiness deployable brigade.

Darwin’s 1st Brigade has been in the ‘readying’ phase of the Army’s force-generation cycle and, after successfully completing Exercise Hamel 2016 is deemed ready and prepared to deploy on any potential future operations.

“What we’ve got here is thousands of soldiers from brigades and units from all across Australia,” Brigadier Ryan said.

“Over a period of several weeks, we assembled all the different army units, consisting of infantry, artillery, tanks, aviation, logisticians, communicators, HQ units and so on, and brought them here to see how they cope with a rather complex scenario we’ve laid out for them.

“This year we’re witnessing a bit of a stoush between East Cultania and West Cultania, and there’s a political situation and a military situation, with an underlying economic situation and an information environment they have to operate within so that our soldiers can get used to operating in a fairly complex environment.

“There are quite a few reasons we do this.

“First and foremost it’s about exposing our soldiers and leaders to very contemporary environments – the types of environments they might have to deal with on real operations – which may well be a low-level humanitarian or disaster-relief operations, up to a fairly

sophisticated near-peer warfighting environments with a very sophisticated threat.

“But it’s also about developing interoperability with our allies.

“We have US Army, British Army, New Zealand Army and US Marines here. So we ensure that we are able to work closely together when we have to deploy on operations again, as we’ve done quite a lot in the past 15 years.

“It’s about – in the Australian Army – building the cohesion of combined-arms teams where we link together infantry, armour, engineers, artillery, logisticians, communicators and so on, in a single team, focused on a single mission, where they can be successful.

“But, finally, and I think most importantly – this kind of activity is where we evaluate our high-readiness organisation. And in doing so, we provide a level of assurance to the Australian government that, should they call on the Australian Army for any mission, regardless of where it is, that we are ready and able to do that.”

Brigadier Ryan said getting the different armies to work together so closely took a lot of time and planning.

“We have people embedded in different armies around the world, in their training schools, as they do here. Especially the US Army and the British Army.

“We work together on a daily basis in many parts of the world.

“Developing that interoperability is about learning

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Taking its name from a battle fought in France in 1918, Exercise Hamel is designed to develop, confirm and evaluate the foundational warfighting skills of an Australian ready brigade and assigned force elements within a joint task force setting.

This year, Darwin’s 1st Brigade was tested.

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how to work together, how our logistics systems interlock, how our communications systems connect.

“But the most important thing we share that helps all of this happen is that we share common values. We all come from societies that have very strong democratic values, that have very strong professional military ethos – and that helps us work together.

“Even though we may have different weapons, different uniforms or different radios – that common set of values underpins a strong working relationship and interoperability that we practice here on exercise Hamel.”

He said this was the first time an exercise of this size and type was held in Cultana, where a large-scale expansion, which massively increased the size of the training area, was recently opened.

“This is very different to where we traditionally conduct Exercise Hamel, on the east coast, and that difference is good for our soldiers – it gets them used to different operating environments.

“This year as well, we’ve also integrated the live exercise with a large-scale simulation so that there’s a live and virtual combination within the scenario that we’re applying here.

“Another first is that we’ve brought our divisional headquarters into the exercise.

“So, we’re elevating scale, size and complexity. It’s the largest Exercise Hamel we’ve done.”

Another significant element of Exercise Hamel – and of 1 Brigade’s makup – is Battle Group Jacka, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Tom Biedermann.

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“Battle Group Jacka is a 707-soldier-strong infantry battle group comprised of three infantry companies, two of which are supported by protected mobility vehicle lift capability provided by Armoured Corps – plus we have a light artillery battery, an engineer squadron, a combat services support squadron providing our administration and logistics,” Lieutenant Colonel Biedermann said.

“We also have detached to 1 Armoured Regiment a light cav scout platoon who work with 1 Armoured Regiment in 1 Brigade as part of the integration piece for Battle Group Jacka – plus 40 logistics soldiers who work with the 1st Combat Services Support Battalion providing logistics to 1 Brigade.

“This is all part of the integration and reinforcement Battle Group Jacka brings to 1 Brigade.”

But, what’s so different about Battle Group Jacka – why have we singled them out for special mention?

“Aside from a couple of regular army in key positions that the Army Reserve cannot fill, essentially this is a group of Army Reservists from Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia, who have trained over the past two-and-a-half years to be ready, not only for Exercise Hamel, but also for the Plan Beersheba ‘Ready’ cycle and potential operational deployment with the 1st Brigade,” Lieutenant Colonel Biedermann said.

“Essentially Army reservists get trained and, through the collective-training sequence we have put the battle group through over the past two-and-a-half years, those skills get refined and enhanced so that we have part-time soldiers who are capable of full-time work.

“But not only that, from their civilian occupations, these men and women bring us quite a range of other skills – be they chefs to lawyers to senior management.

This is particularly important in Battle Group Jacka’s role with 1 Brigade where we dominate the rear area for 1 Brigade and provide security in the rear area where there are a number of civilian populations, simulated on this exercise.

“With their training, we start with everyone being individually qualified for their rank and for their trade.

We seek to that in what’s called the ‘Reset’ year, where we’re concentrating on individual competencies.

“Then we go into the ‘Readying’ phase, which is the culmination of small-team-level training where they get the collective skills needed to work together.

“From there we start matching those up so we can command and control those elements for larger tasks.

“This is all part of a carefully crafted series of exercises with training outcomes that lead us to three ‘gate exercises’ we have to pass through to get to Exercise Hamel.

“At Hamel, the expectation is that we are fully collectively trained to do our job.

“It’s been a long journey for us, and even longer for the 1st Brigade, because they’ve done considerably more training time.

“However, we’ve made the best we can of the training time we’ve been allocated.

“I have a pretty simple message for my soldiers – we’ve all done the training, we’ve all done our individual competence training, and now it’s all got

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to come together and everyone’s got to give it their best, understand what they’re being asked to do, and understand the bigger picture of what 1 Brigade is trying to achieve and where we fit in to that.

“This exercise is considerably longer than any other experiences to date. This brings a hardship and a resiliency element which the soldiers may not have been exposed to at any time before in their career.

“But, the soldiers have leaders and the leaders need to get those guys onto a work pattern, where they work, rest and are good to go on any task they get.

“For myself, this is a culmination in my career as an infantryman over the past 20-or-so years.

“I am working to bring it all together in the battle group – that everyone does their job, leaders lead, soldiers follow and we complete our tactical tasks at the battalion level.

“What I’m also doing is concentrating on what Battle Group Jacka brings to the 1st Brigade. They rely on us to bring a substantial amount of capability. And already that’s been well used on this exercise.

“I want to continue to bring that reinforcement to the 1st Brigade by providing them with well-led, welltrained men and women to do work for 1 Brigade.

“I also want to see soldier continue to learn and benefit from their experience and for them to see what they bring to 1 Brigade – but also that they see the bigger picture of what 1 Brigade brings to the army.

“There’s a lot for my soldiers to see here. The reserves don’t have tanks for example. But it’s not just a visual experience – we can learn a lot through signal trades, combat services support, engineers and artillerymen in particular about how the full-time army goes about their business – and if we, Battle Group Jacka, the parttime army, can learn something from that, that’s what I’d seek to achieve on this exercise.

“The reserve force is definitely integral to what they’re trying to achieve on Exercise Hamel.

“Under Plan Beersheba, when the combat brigade was formed, the reinforcing battle group, of which Battle Group Jacka is one of three in the Army Reserve, was perceived as integral to providing not only soldiers to perform tasks that may not be present in 1 Brigade, but to bring a capability.

“The capability we bring is three infantry companies, a light artillery battery and an engineer squadron.

“And that is an integral part of 1 Brigade’s scheme of maneuvere, which is well factored into the tasks we perform.

“So what we do is very meaningful to the way 1 Brigade does operations.”

Brigadier Ryan said this year’s Exercise Hamel was further complicated by Mother Nature.

“The landscape here in Cultana – we’ve got large expanses of relatively flat land and not a lot of vegetation in large parts of the training area. But, over the past few weeks, we’ve had a bit of rain, so it’s a little bit boggy, which poses challenges for crosscountry movement, whether for wheeled vehicles or tracked vehicles – all of which reinforces the importance of our helicopters and our tracked vehicles.

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“The variety and conditions here forces our commanders to really think about managing their detectability to the enemy force – ensuring their signature is as low as possible, whether it’s a visible signature by day or a heat signature at night.

“So camouflage, concealment, deception and all these of things, which are within the intellectual domain, are very very important in this exercise.

“Conditions here have been very tough on the soldiers too. But, it’s all about developing individual and team resilience.

“That resilience is not just about being able to deal with different climatic conditions, it’s also the resilience to be able to respond appropriately when things go poorly on the battlefield.

“When you’re surprised, that engenders shock – and a resilient individual or a resilient team is able to overcome that shock quickly, adapt and move on and be successful with whatever their mission might be.

“Exercise like this test individuals and teams at almost every level, from platoon all the way through to the divisional level.

“We test their capacity to anticipate. We test their ability to plan and respond to unforeseen events. We test their capacity to undertake the most basic drills – whether it’s the conduct of a patrol, the conduct of a resupply mission, the conduct of an aerial reconnaissance mission.

“There’s multiple levels of testing.

“And we underpin that with a Combat Training Centre, which has observer-trainers and instruments 28

to not just make real-time observations, but we record what we see and we’re able to play it back over and over and undertake after-action reviews so we can learn the necessary lessons that a professional military organisation like the Australian Army must learn as it continues to seek to hone it’s capability.

“What all this does is provides the foundational skill sets that our soldiers can use on whichever operation they go on. The ability plan, the ability to command, the ability to move, to shoot, to see, to logistically support themselves – and then those foundational skills can be adapted across a range of different scenarios and environments.

“But, at its heart, it gets back to building that individual and team resilience that is applicable regardless of where we find ourselves.

“For me, this exercise is about bringing a wide range of units from all around Australia – indeed from all around the world – orchestrating them within the scenario of the exercise, and having our soldiers go away knowing that they’ve participated and succeeded in a very demanding activity that should give them the confidence and knowledge as individuals and teams that they are well trained and well prepared for whatever operation we might send them on.”

One participant on Exercise Hamel who was prepared for any eventuality, real or virtual, was Captain Roslyn Glass, the officer in charge of the emergency department at the lead medical facility on the exercise.

Originally from Adelaide, Captain Glass initially joined the Army 21 years ago as a signaller, after leaving school, but transferred to the Royal Australian Nursing Corps after a couple of overseas deployments.

“I wanted to give back to people so I decided to study nursing.” she said.

“Now, as the officer-in-charge of the emergency and evacuation departments, I have 22 people working for me.

“We are working in a pretty austere environment, so getting the right equipment to the patient at the right time can be a challenge.

“Despite that, we have had a couple of very sick patients come through here and we’ve been able to stabilise them and get them to the right facility in the right amount of time so they made full recoveries quite quickly.

“It’s rewarding seeing the difference we can make.”

Another officer making a difference at Exercise Hamel was Major Kelly Dunne, Officer Commanding Close Health Company.

Major Dunne studied management at ADFA, specialising in health management, specifically emergency and disaster response.

“That delineation between the management role and the clinical expertise was really tricky to get my head around when I first came into the Medical Corps,” Major Dunne said.

“I certainly joined with a far more military focus than a medical focus in my training, whereas the clinical specialists – the doctors, nurses, physios, medics – come

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in from their normal civilian universities with very little military experience.

“So, bridging that gap, I speak army to the warfighters and they worry about the patient.

“But that also makes the divide pretty clear. The specialists don’t have to step into the management side and, equally, they know I’m not the best person to go to if someone’s bleeding or needs resuscitation.

“It takes a little while to get used to at first, but with their focus on putting the casualty first, we get a pretty good mix and very rarely is there any conflict between the two.”

Major Dunne said that as the officer commanding, her role was to control the health assets as well as to provide advice to commander 1 Brigade on how to deploy his health assets.

“My company has about 140 people, mostly in Darwin, with a small element in Adelaide, and quite a number of those staff are here on Hamel.

“While they are out there doing their business, my role is to provide them with the guidance and direction they need to prioritise casualties, get logistic support and to understand the warfighting plan.

“Commander 1 Brigade will come up with his plan involving all the manoeuvre elements – infantry, armoured, artillery and so on, doing their bits and pieces – and my job is to understand his plan and factor in what medical support he will need around those eleents, and move my assets around to meet the plan.

“If someone is going a really long way forward, I need to make sure that they’ve got some medical assets close to them, so that if something were to happen, they don’t have to travel back many many kilometres to get care.

“It’s a fine balance. There are never enough assets to go around, to cover as much as you’d like. So one of the things we do is try to get it right between making sure everyone’s got a little bit of something and that anywhere where there’s a high risk, we always try to put a larger health element there.

“That’s what my guys are out there doing right now, and I try my best to support them while they are out there.”

Major Dunne said her medical staff joined the army with this sense of wanting to serve and they would always go above and beyond to make sure that casualties are well looked after.

She herself also joined the army wanting to help people.

“I had a very keen interest in high school to study medicine, but that didn’t quite work out for me, so I joined the army, still wanting to get as close to that side as possible.

“I didn’t think I had the physical makeup to be a warfighter but saw a lot of my friends on that side of the house and was very happy to be allocated to the Medical Corps, so I could help them.

She said Exercise Hamel was the culmination of everything her unit had been learning over the past year.

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The Battle of Hamel – 4 July 1918: he Battle of Hamel was a successful attack launched by T Australian and American units against German positions in and around the town of Hamel in northern France.

Lieutenant General John Monash, in his first action as a corps commander, employed new and innovative combined-arms tactics to overwhelm the enemy in just 93 minutes, paving the way for allied victory in the First World War. The Battle of Hamel was primarally an infantry assault with tanks, artillery and aviation support.

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“Back in barracks we’ve been learning medical serials and military serials.

“This exercise is more a demonstration of the capability we can provide and a demonstration of what we could do if we were deployed on operations.

“It’s critical for us to come out here and practice what we preach and show that we are up to the task.

“But, one of the good things about Medical Corps I guess is that we get practice at our core skills every day.

“People are always being injured or getting sick, so, we’re actually doing our business all the time.

“The sad part about that, I guess, is that when we’re getting our best educational opportunities is when someone else is having the worst day of their lives.”

Out on the ‘battlefield’ Lance Bombardier Tim Muhamad, 8th/12th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, had just completed a road move.

“We’ve completed the first stage of Hamel in old Cultana and we’ve now moved across to the new range on the other side of the highway,” he said.

“Our gun position is currently situated in a hide, waiting for the rest of the brigade to cross the highway to continue with the rest of the exercise.

“I’m a detachment commander of Bravo gun. I have a detachment of guys underneath me and we deliver indirect fire with the 155mm M777 Howitzer.

“It’s a real rush firing those big rounds. The noise they make and the kick and percussion from the gun itself really gets you – wakes you up in the morning.

“These exercises are really good because, obviously, we can’t really train on the M777 in barracks.

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“So this gives us a good opportunity to get out and deploy the gun in different positions, like hides or hasty positions.

“It also gives us time out on the ground among all the other elements and gives us good experience working with them for future exercises or if we were to deploy as an artillery unit.”

Lance Bombardier Muhamad said the weather played a big role on Exercise Hamel this year.

“It’s really cold at the moment – we’ve had lows of minus 1 – and we’re normally based up in Darwin where it’s really hot.

“Coming from the tropics, we’ve encountered cold and rain down here, but I think the boys have adapted really well.

“Also living on hard rats [rations], sleeping in the dirt, firing from different positions – all give us really good experience and is probably the closest simulation we could get to the real thing.

“It’s given us other good training values too, like recovering vehicles from washouts and bogs for example. It’s really been a challenge.

“The sheer scale of this exercise also makes it different.

“Being an Army-wide exercise, we’ve got choppers flying overhead, tanks rolling by at night, and we have an actual enemy picture, which puts us in good perspective for possible real-life scenarios to defend the gun position from direct targets as well as indirect targets.

“So, we’ve been practicing infantry minor tactics – digging pits, using small arms as well – it’s all really good training.

“Some other challenging aspects to this too are that most of our movements have been done under the cover of darkness.

“That means long days for the boys on the gun line, followed by long nights, which can really test you mentally.

“If you’re not mentally prepared for the late nights, it can really show the true character of the boys out here.”

Lance Bombardier Muhamad, a Torres Straight Islander who suffers from seasickness – and copped significant ribbing from his ‘salt-water-people’ peers growing up – said he always wanted to join the army as a kid.

“Artillery really stood out to me – the heavy weapons and the role really appealed.

“I’d like to progress through the ranks in artillery and eventually be an Indigenous recruiter and spread the word about how the Defence Force can really benefit indigenous Australians looking for a pathway to a good career.

“That’s really important to me. Who better to defend Australia than its first people.”

While the Battle of Hamel paved the way for allied victory in WWI, Exercise Hamel 2016 was the Australian Army’s capstone exercise that proved 1 Brigade’s ‘Ready’ status as Australia’s on-call formation, ready to defend Australia.

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THE WORLD’S LARGEST NAVAL EXERCISE...

RI M

of the

PACI FI C

Twenty-six nations, 45 ships, fifive submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel participated in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise from 30 June to 4 August, in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California.

The world’s largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain cooperative relationships critical to the safety and security of the world’s oceans and sea lanes.

Clockwise from top left: Royal Australian Navy clearance diver Able Seaman Brett Hain dives into RIMPAC at Pearl Harbour – US Navy combat camera photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Charles E. White: An ASLAV from 2nd Cavalry Regiment moves through the Pohakuloa Training Area – ADF photo by Corporal David Said: Boatswains mates on HMAS Canberra conduct a .50cal machine gun practise at night – ADF photo by Able Seaman Steven Thomson: Soldiers from 2RAR relax in Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii, after a convoy drive – US Marine Corps photo by Staff Sergeant Jesse R. Stence: Military divers from the Royal Australian Navy, US Army, US Coast Guard and US Navy inspect pier pilons during a pier-maintenance training mission – US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Charles E. White 33

Clockwise from above: A US Navy Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) from amphibious transport dock USS San Diego enters the well dock of HMAS Canberra. ADF photo by Leading Seaman Helen Frank.

A US Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463 lands on the flight deck of HMAS Canberra.

ADF photo by Leading Seaman Helen Frank.

A United States Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey lands on HMAS Canberra. ADF photo by Lieutenant Andrew Ragless.

An Australian Army Light Armoured Vehicle from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment waits on the wharf at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam waiting to load onto HMAS Canberra. ADF photo by Corporal David Said.

Corporal Ryan Dills communicates with other amphibious assault vehicles while traversing from USS San Diego to HMAS Canberra.

US Marine photo by Staff Sergeant Christopher Giannetti.

Australian soldiers from 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, land ashore from HMAS Canberra at Kawaihae Pier, Hawaii.

US Marine Corps photo by Staff Sergeant Jesse R. Stence.

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This year’s exercise included forces from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, the UK and USA. This year was the first time Denmark, Germany and Italy participated.

Proving it was a truly integrated exercise, various senior command positions were shared around. Vice Admiral Nora Tyson, USA, was the Combined Task Force Commander. Royal Canadian Navy Rear Admiral Scott Bishop served as her deputy commander, with Japan Maritime Self Defense Force Rear Admiral Koji

Manabe as vice commander. Other key leaders included Commodore Malcolm Wise of the Royal Australian Navy commanding the maritime component, Brigadier General Blaise Frawley of the Royal Canadian Air Force commanding the air component, with the amphibious task force led

by Royal New Zealand Navy Commodore James Gilmour.

Australia’s Chief of Joint Operations Vice Admiral David Johnston said the biennial RIMPAC provided valuable training opportunities to validate Australian Defence Force capabilities and enhance interoperability with international partners.

“RIMPAC strengthens international maritime partnerships and improves the readiness of

participating forces for a wide range of potential operations,” he said.

“ADF personnel will exercise across a broad spectrum of scenarios from humanitarian assistance and disaster response to maritime security operations, sea control and complex war fighting.”

He said Australia had participated in every RIMPAC since 1971 and this year featured the first deployment of Navy’s flagship HMAS Canberra and the last deployment of the RAAF’s AP-3C Orion.

HMAS Canberra featured heavily in reporting back home, achieving some remarkable and spectacular interoperability firsts, especially with US Marine Corps assets – landing an MV-22B Osprey and a CH-53E Super Stallion on her helicopter deck,

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Above and right: Australian Army soldiers from 108th Battery, 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, take part in a pack march with United States Marine Corps personnel at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

ADF photo by Corporal Matthew Bickerton.

Opposite Page: Australian Army soldiers from 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, conduct a live-fire training drill on the flight deck of HMAS Canberra en route to Exercise RIMPAC. ADF photo by Leading Seaman Helen Frank.

Below: Australian Army soldier Private Braden Howard from 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, takes part in a live-fire training drill on the flight deck of HMAS Canberra. ADF photo by Leading Seaman Helen Frank.

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nd 3rd Marines, Australian soldiers attached to Golf Company, 2 Battalion, assault. urban wait for the signal to begin securing a building during an .

Sweet t US Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Rober

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Clockwise from above: An Aussie soldier attached to Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, establishes comms after disembarking a CH53E Super Stallion. US Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Robert Sweet.

Australian and New Zealand soldiers with US Marines hitch a ride in an MV-22 Osprey. ADF photo by Corporal Matthew Bickerton.

Australian Army soldiers from 2nd Cavalry Regiment during a live-fire shoot. ADF photo by Corporal Matthew Bickerton.

Aussie soldiers attached to Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, prepare to breach a door during an urban assault. US Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Robert Sweet.

An Australian soldier runs for cover during an assault. US Marine Corps Photo by Corporal Natalie A. Dillon.

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Clockwise from above: Australian sailors act as safety observers as a Japan Maritime Self Defense Force sailor jumps from an MH-53E Sea Dragon during an aerial mine-disposal serial off southern California. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Curtis D. Spencer.

Military divers with the Royal Australian Navy and the US Army, Coast Guard and Navy, scrape marine growth from pilons during a pier-maintenance mission. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Charles E. White.

Australian clearance divers from the Underwater Battle Damage Repair (UBDR) element preparare for a dive in Pearl Harbor.

ADF photo by Leading Seaman Lee-Anne Mack.

A US Marine Corps Amphibious Assault Vehicle approaches the well dock of HMAS Canberra off the coast of Hawaii.

ADF photo by Able Seaman Steven Thomson.

A US Marine Corps Amphibious Assault Vehicle in the well dock of HMAS Canberra. ADF photo by Leading Seaman Helen Frank.

Private Bryce Ernst guides a US Marine Corps Amphibious Assault Vehicle through the heavy vehicle deck of HMAS Canberra.

ADF photo by Leading Seaman Helen Frank.

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and receiving an LCAC (Landing Craft Air Cushion) and several Amphibious Assault Vehicles in her well deck below.

Commander Air on HMAS Canberra, Commander Adrian Capner said landing the big American aircraft on Canberra’s flight deck was very rewarding.

“It demonstrates that we are capable of interacting with our coalition partners, in particular the United States,” he said.

“It also shows that we can adapt and remain agile to operate a whole range of international aircraft, not just the aircraft in the Australian fleet.”

USMC liaison officer Major Brandon Woods was

pre-positioned in Canberra’s Flight Command for the Osprey arrival.

“In the future, when the United States and Australian navies are operating together, we can fluidly land on our respective ships and conduct missions, whatever that tasking may be,” Major Woods said.

“After today’s success, we are well on our way to doing this organically.”

Canberra crewmember Leading Seaman Aviation Support Michael Wenzell said the Osprey’s size was impressive.

“Directing such a large aircraft to land and take off was daunting at first,” he said.

“But, once we got it on board and sized it up, it was excellent. We treated it just like any other aircraft.”

Amphibious Assault Vehicle crewman Lance Corporal Ryley Sweet said it was exciting to swim into HMAS Canberra.

“When we go into USS San Diego our tracks hit the deck and we start to drive like we’re already on land,” he said.

“But when we enter Canberra we’re still in deep water, so we’re using our marine propulsion system instead of tracks. But I feel as if I did pretty well, since no one has done it before.”

Amphibious Advisor Gunnery Sergeant Chad Solomon said it was a big win.

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Clockwise from above: HMNZS Te Kaha at sea in the live firing range off Hawaii. Royal New Zealand Navy photo by Petty Officer Chris Weissenborn.

HMAS Warramunga and HMAS Ballarat conduct Officer of the Watch manoeuvres during passage to Pearl Harbour.

ADF photo by Lieutenant Commander Darren Mallett.

A Seasprite helicopter from HMNZS Te Kaha drops a MK46 torpedo. Royal New Zealand Navy photo.

HMAS Ballarat launches her MH-60R Seahawk helicopter. ADF photo by Petty Officer Yuri Ramsey.

An RNZAF Orion P-3K2 on a torpedo run during RIMPAC 2016. Royal New Zealand Navy photo by Petty Officer Chris Weissenborn.

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“It means in future we’ll be able to use a combined Australian/American landing force and share a stronger relationship between the two navies.”

Standing on the ‘island’ that divides Canberra’s long well dock to guide the LCAC on board was Royal Australian Navy Petty Officer Bosun Michael Hammond, who said the task was a bit intimidating at first because of the size, noise and spray.

“It’s a really tight fit in the well dock and there’s a lot of wind and spray. I got drenched,” he said.

“It was a big highlight for me to be the first person to ever do that in this class of ship.

“But, now we’ve proved we can operate with the LCACs and other nation’s landing craft – so that

gives us a lot more versatility and enhances our capability.”

Canberra also had embarked Australia’s Amphibious Ready Element, based on Townsville’s 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment – the construct and MO of which was discussed in detail in CONTACT 48 (in our web-site Archives page).

Section 2IC, 1 Platoon, A Company, 2RAR, Lance Corporal Joel Baron said motivation didn’t come hard while deployed on Exercise RIMPAC. “We are working with the US Marines and other nations conducting some really great training,” Lance Corporal Baron said.

“The training we’ve been doing includes surf

negotiation on small boats, training with the Amphibious Assault Vehicles, conducting urban clearance operations and helicopter underwater escape training.

“It’s been really professional and has provided a great opportunity for us all to learn from each other and better understand how each operates.

“I’m really grateful for this experience.”

Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2016 – RIMPAC – the world’s largest maritime exercise – wrapped up on 4 August and will be held again around the islands of Hawaii and in southern California in 2018.

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Exercise Pitch Black 2016 was the RAAF’s largest training activity this year, conducted in the Northern Territory from 29 July to 19 August.

The exercise included up to 115 aircraft operating primarily from RAAF Darwin and RAAF Tindal and up to 2500 personnel from 10 countries:

Australia, Canada, Indonesia, France (New Caledonia), Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand and the US. Pitch Black Commander Air Commodore Vincent Iervasi said the exercise recognised Australia’s strong relationship with the participating

nations and the high value it placed on regional stability and fostering closer ties throughout the Asia Pacific region.

“The training and integration of forces that occurs at exercises such as this directly supports our ability to conduct operations, such as current missions in the Middle East against Daesh,” he said.

“Exercise Pitch Black gives the Royal Australian Air Force a valuable opportunity to exercise our high-end warfighting capabilities, including new platforms and systems.”

Several high-end technologies were exercised at Pitch Black for the first time this year, including Heron UAV.

PITC H BLAC K

Story by Corporal Nicole Zurbrugg

For two and a half years, US Marine Corps Major Alexander Goodno has flown F/A -18 Hornets for No. 75 Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force through the Marine Corps Foreign Personnel Exchange Program.

This program enhances worldwide security cooperation by continuing long-term presence and association among military counterparts.

Every two years, the Marine Corps accepts applications for the exchange program, offering qualified pilots the opportunity to serve in Australia, Canada, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Among the qualifications for an Australian spot, F/A18 pilots must be a fighter-attack instructor and division lead. Pilots who have completed Top Gun or Weapons and Tactic Instructor course are looked upon as more desirable.

Exceeding these requirements, Major Goodno jumped at the chance when he realised there was an opening for Australia, and within a month of completing the package, he was selected.

“The exchange program provides a unique opportunity to experience how another force operates both tactically and within a squadron in similar platforms,” Major Goodno said.

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“That’s what is really cool about serving with 75 Squadron – the airframe itself is very similar to the Marine F/A-18.”

Over his three-year tour, Major Goodno gained ample experience, absorbing all the differences while expanding his wealth of knowledge.

While the Marine Corps’ focus is aircraft support to Marines on the ground and amphibious assaults, RAAF’s goals are to gain control of the air, so there was some adjustment for Major Goodno when he first arrived.

“It’s important for me as an exchange pilot to remember that while the Marine Corps does operations differently than the RAAF, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right versus wrong.

“Over time, you build a rapport where you feel comfortable interjecting to suggest a different strategy, but I’ve also had quite a few Wow!-that’s-a-really-goodway-of-doing-business moments.”

Major Goodno also said a bonus of the exchange was that he could take his newfound knowledge back to the Marine Corps.

Flight Leutenant Tobias Liddy-Puccini, a 75 Squadron pilot who has worked with Major Goodno throughout his exchange, said it was amazing to work with a pilot with such aircraft experience.

US Marine Corps Major Alexander Goodno

“Being fellow Hornet dudes, we’re basically the same breed, so it’s easy to integrate, especially when Exercise Pitch Black rolled around.”

Exercise Pitch Black 2016 is one of Australia’s biggest exercises providing a large-force exercise to multiple nations.

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Flight Lieutenant Liddy-Puccini said the first thing he noticed about Major Goodno was the militant and professional way he carried himself and organised his work.

Still carrying himself as a Marine, Major Goodno sports a RAAF flight suit and No. 75 Squadron patches.

His regimented style and focus on physical fitness has been a great example for the young pilots according to Liddy-Puccini who, said he was inspired to also apply for the exchange program.

“I think there is a significant responsibility that comes with being an exchange pilot,” Major Goodno said.

“I am certainly here to have a great time and do everything I can to help out, but at the same time, I am a foreigner representing not just the Marine Corps, but the United States.”

Reflecting on his time at RAAF Base Tindal, Major Goodno said socialising outside work was also a big thing for him.

“The tactics and training are a big piece, but the alliances and friendships acquired here are what bring the nations together to develop strong bonds.”

During Exercise Pitch Black 2016, Major Goodno served as a liaison officer to participating US units, explaining ‘foreign’ jargon and procedures to bemused visitors.

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THE

DEFENDING NORTH Exercise Northern Shield

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H -WEST 2016

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Words Samuel Vinicombe – Photos ADF

The normally idyllic streets of Broome in Western Australia’s Kimberly Region were transformed recently as more than 1000 Australian Defence Force personnel descended on the town and hinterland in response to a fictional terrorist threat

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Previous page: Soldiers from 1 Brigade, usually based in Darwin, work with Western Australia Police in the Broome hinterland.

Photos by Corporals Steve Duncan and David Said.

This page: Soldiers from the 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, participate in a platoon attack at Ellendale Diamond Mine near Derby, Western Australia.

Photos by Corporals Kyle Genner, Dan Pinhorn and Steve Duncan.

Developed in response to industry and local concerns about the ADF’s ability to protect assets and resources in the region, Northern Shield 16 is the second in a series of exercises in Australia’s north-west.

According to Brigadier David Smith, Director General of the Australian Defence Simulation and Training Centre (ADSTC), “The aim of Exercise Northern Shield, is to allow [the ADF] to practice our short-notice deployment capabilities into remote areas of Australia”.

Exercise Director Colonel Brett Chaloner said the primary purpose of the exercise was to practice the Australian Defence Force in the conduct of rapid response to a contingency threat against Australia,

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the mainland, its territories or its vital strategic interests.

The execution of the rapid-response capability incorporated elements of Army, Navy and Air Force.

Army’s contribution consisted mainly of a Combat Ready Team made up of 250 troops from the 1st Brigade, based in Darwin.

Major Joel Waterhouse, the commanding officer of the CRT, explained that his team was made up of elements from across the wider brigade, including infantry, transport, signalers, logisticians, engineers and artillery.

“They deployed in Bushmaster PMV convoys from Darwin or were flown in as a rapid-response

capability from RAAF Base Tindal,” Major Waterhouse said.

“Attached to the RCT were elements of the 1st Military Police Battalion, using military working dogs to maximise the team’s effectiveness.

“These units were supported by ARH Tiger helicopters, deployed from Darwin on C-17 Globemasters, working in conjunction with S-70 Black Hawks.”

Major fleet units from the Royal Australian Navy included the Anzac-class frigates HMAS Ballarat, normally based out of Fleet Base West and HMAS Newcastle homeported at Fleet Base East. The Navy contingent operated with the support of the

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18,000-tonne auxiliary oiler replenishment vessel HMAS Success.

The Royal Australlian Air Force focused on rapid response and operations out of the strategic ‘bare base’ RAAF Base Curtin, 40km south of Derby, with support from RAAF Base Tindal in the Northern Territory.

Other key capabilities deployed included a rapidresponse field hospital and deployable air-traffic control tower.

Air-force platforms deployed included an E-7A Wedgetail based, for the exercise, at RAAF Base Tindal, a KA350 Kingair, C-17A Globemaster, C-130J Hercules, KC-30A multi-role tanker transport, an AP-

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3C Orion and four F/A-18A Hornets operating out of RAAF Bases Curtin and Tindal.

These platforms were aided by elements of the No 2 Security Forces Squadron on location at RAAF Base Curtin.

Key to the exercise was the strategic nature of the north-west region to Australia’s national defence.

Broome is the largest town in Western Australia’s Kimberly Region and is a hub for resource and energy projects in the area.

As the nearest regional center and port to the INPEX ($25 billion) and Browse Basin ($30 billion) LNG projects – both expected to begin production in 2017 – Broome, as the strategic centre in the

region was identified in the 2012 ADF Posture Review as a suitable location for improved ADF access arrangements and as a forward staging and operating base.

It was, however, also noted that significant weaknesses and risks had been identified in the force posture in the region. Shortcomings in the ADF’s ability to project capability into the north-west at an adequate level have been reiterated by former WA senator Alan Eggleston, a strong proponent for an increased ADF capability in the region.

It is notable then that a number of the operations in Exercise Northern Shield were focused on protecting the resource and energy sectors.

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Clockwise from left: Private Alex Coles from the 1st Military Police Battalion discusses cordon-and-search activities at a caravan park in Broome with a Western Australia Police officer.

Sergeant Daniel Treveton, 5RAR, removes an ‘enemy suspect’ from a cabin during the cordon-and-search operation at the Broome caravan park.

Western Australia Police officers take the ‘suspect’ into custody.

Australian Army military police dog ‘Jax’ from the 1st Military Police Battalion on alert.

Soldiers from the 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, move to secure the caravan park during the cordon-andsearch operation.

Private Josh McDonald from 5RAR conducts a room clearance.

Soldiers from 5RAR provide cover for Western Australian Police officers as they prepare to enter a cabin.

Sergeant Edouard Falkenmire and ‘Jax’,1st Military Police Battalion, keep watch during the cordon-and-search.

Photos by Able Seaman Chris Beerens.

Troops from the 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, Ready Combat Team, conducted exercises around the Ellendale Diamond Mine (renowned as the world’s leading source of rare yellow diamonds), 140km inland from Derby, while HMA Ships Newcastle, Ballarat and Success patrolled offshore oil and gas facilities.

Brigadier David Smith emphasised the importance of employing the use of the full range of Australian Defence Force capabilities.

“It speaks volumes, not only for our capacity to be able to deploy these joint forces rapidly in a coordinated manner, but also our capacity to operate across agencies very successfully,” he said.

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Essential to the success of the exercise was interagency cooperation between, particularly, the ADF’s ground elements and local officers of the Western Australian Police (WAPol).

Combining urban patrols, room-clearance drills and cordon-and-search drills, the Ready Combat Team troops, with elements of the military police dog-handling units, combined with WAPOL to maximise capability.

This combined capability was used to neutralise a fictional terrorist cell in an urban setting.

WAPol’s Sergeant Paul World said such interagency training opportunities were extremely important.

“Unless we run these exercises, we don’t know where the gaps are, or where mistakes can be made,” Sergeant World said.

In keeping with the ADF Posture Review’s recommendation, the exercise also contributed significantly to the Australian Defence Force’s visibility in the region and was warmly welcomed by the wider community.

Colonel Chaloner made specific mention of the importance of community engagement.

“The response from the local people has been very positive, with many offering to take part.

“The support of the local community and shire councils is very important for this exercise to work.”

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As part of the ADF’s wider strategic capabilities, Northern Shield provided an opportunity for elements of the force to practice a rapid-response deployment that could be replicated anywhere in the world.

Colonel Chaloner said that Northern Shield was designed to make sure that all authorities could together – state authorities, industry and the ADF – to be ready to respond to any contingency in the region and provide an agile, decisive and effective deterrent to any future challenges.

“And, while the ADF’s priority on Northern Shield was to practice its response capacity inside Australia and to threats directly against Australia, the mechanics could be replicated anywhere,” he said.

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Exercise Northern Shield 2016 culminated with a community-engagement and demonstration day, at both Broome and Derby.

The day included flyovers, military working dog handling demonstrations, examples of section-level attacks conducted by soldiers of the 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, and hands-on equipment displays.

“It’s been an exceptional opportunity to train in Western Australia and to showcase the ADF’s response capabilities,” Colonel Chaloner said, emphasising the importance of the focus on remote locations and the key infrastructure and resources in Australia’s north-west.

Samuel Vinicombe is a security analyst and defence correspondent based in Perth, WA

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BY SAMUEL VINICOMBE For two weeks in September, unbeknownst to most Western Australians, a life-and-death drama was playing out off their shores. As the people of Perth carried out their day-to-day business, 60 lives were at stake – HMAS Dechaineaux, a Collins-class submarine based out of Fleet Base West, had run aground, deep below the waves. Immobilised on the seabed, it was only a matter of time before their oxygen ran out. As time ticked, a glimmer of hope appeared on the horizon – Marine Vessels Besant and Stoker, resplendent in red and white, were bearing down, full steam ahead. Rescue was imminent.

Fortunately for all involved, the grounding and rescue mission were all part of Exercise Black Carillon 16 – an annual shakeout designed to test the Royal Australian Navy’s submarine escape and rescue capability to the limits.

Exercise Black Carillon is an invaluable opportunity for the crews of the submarine and rescue vessels to put their training to the test.

This year’s exercise coincided with the Asia-Pacific Submarine Conference and, for the first time, used both rescue vessels working in concert.

I first set eyes on the pride of the Navy’s submarine rescue capability on a chilly, windswept evening at the Fremantle wharf. Larger than life, high bowed and with a paint scheme reminiscent of the Polish flag, Besant and Stoker were hard to miss.

They had just recently returned from Exercise Black Carillon, their inaugural training exercise together.

As we toured Stoker, the ingenuity, technological advancement and practicality of the ships became apparent. World-class escape and rescue platforms, they are the only paired ships of their kind in existence, and are unique in their separate but complementary roles and abilities.

MV Besant, at 83 metres, is the initial response-intervention or escapegear ship (ESG), capable of mobilising and deploying in under 20 hours.

Named after the captain of the ill-fated AE1, the first RAN submarine lost at sea, Besant is just a year old and, together with Stoker, replaced the ageing Seahorse Standard, the previous submarine rescue capability vessel.

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Below: Simulated casualty volunteers enter the LR5 Submarine Rescue Vessel before being transferred to HMAS Dechaineux below the waves, during Exercise Black Carillon 16. Opposite: Diver Brent Dyhrberg unhooks the winch cable to the LR5, releasing it from MV Stoker, before a docking evolution with HMAS Dechaineux. All photos by Leading Seaman Bradley Darvill.

As an ESG, Besant’s primary role is rapid response, capable of embarking a side-scan sonar and the SCORPIO SC45 remotely-operated vehicle to conduct surveys, damage assessment and debris removal from around a disabled submarine.

Besant’s capabilities extend to deploying transponders for the LR5 rescue vehicle tracking system, as well as carrying decompression chambers. These chambers enable Besant to act in a first-respondent-support role if the crew elected to escape rather than be rescued from the stricken submarine.

MV Stoker is the larger of the two vessels at 93 metres and is the primary rescue-gear ship (RGS).

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Named after Lieutenant Henry Stoker, the Commanding Officer of the more successful AE2, Stoker entered into service six months ago. It is differentiated from other submarine rescue vessels in its ability to deploy the LR5 off its stern.

The remainder of the deck is used to facilitate the on-board hyperbaric treatment facilities. These two 36man hyperbaric chambers allow for the decompression and treatment of the rescued submariners.

With a crew of 20 on-board during operations and up to 80 additional naval staff, Stoker can deploy in less than 36 hours and has a range of up to 5000 nautical miles.

The highlight of the system is the futuristic-looking James Fisher Submarine Rescue System submersible, LR5.

The submersible is capable of carrying the payload equivalent of a Ford Falcon, around 1200kg, and can operate hand-like manipulators. It also has a floodlighting capability so that the vessel can operate in the pitch-black depths.

During Exercise Black Carillon 16, LR5 successfully conducted numerous dives to the ‘incapacitated’ Dechaineaux. Each dive took up to two hours and consisted of LR5 locating the disabled submarine, aligning and mating with the sealed pressure locks , 53

Above: Commander Australian Fleet Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer and Director General Naval Health Service Commodore Sarah Starkey tour facilities on MV Stoker. Top: Commander Australian Fleet Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer boards the LR5 Submarine Rescue Vessel for transfer to HMAS Dechaineux in Cockburn Sound, WA. Above right: Clearance Diving Officer Lieutenant Matthew Walker takes reading from the recompression chamber on MV Stoker.

then transferring personnel into the pressurised rescue chamber, before returning to the surface to transfer them to the hyperbaric treatment facilities on-board Stoker.

My tour of Stoker provided a comprehensive explanation of the intricacies of the operations.

Operated and maintained by Serco Defence, the ships are government owned and work closely with the RAN Submarine Service.

One of the standout features is the rescue systems’ flexibility – “It can go anywhere in the world,” the Serco representative said. “We’re a global rescue service.

This [system] is the most portable in the world – 17 54

truckloads, 300 tonnes of gear”.

Exercise Black Carillon 16 recreated a realistic rescue operation, replete with a full medical team of the Navy’s underwater medical specialists performing lifesaving medical techniques designed to mitigate or respond to decompression sickness, commonly known as ‘the bends’.

Commodore Peter Scott, Director General Submarines, emphasised the importance of medical support in rescue operations.

“We wouldn’t rely solely on our own capacity,” Commodore Scott said.

“We’d be drawing on some of the local hospitals, who were also involved in the exercise.”

The importance of inter-operability, not only within the medical field but internationally, was reiterated by Captain Matt Buckley, Commander Submarine Force.

“The lessons of submarine rescue cross international borders, and knowledge shared in this area will only improve capabilities,” Captain Buckley said.

Commodore Scott emphasised the importance of shared knowledge and experience of submarine escape and rescue capabilities between regional partners.

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Above: The LR5 Submarine Rescue Vessel is launched from the work deck of MV Stoker.

Left: HMAS Dechaineux manoeuvres past MV Besant before sinking in Cockburn Sound during Exercise Black Carillon 2016.

Above left: Able Seaman Imogen Clements, a medic, completes her suturing competency while embarked on MV Stoker.

He explained that while “submarines… rely on stealth and protection of capabilities… escape and rescue is a much more humanitarian mission”, and the Royal Australian Navy is “very open and trusting in our region” in this regard.

Coinciding with the end of the exercise, the AsiaPacific Submarine Conference was hosted in Fremantle, bringing together leaders from submarine-operating navies to discuss issues on submarine survivability, escape, and inter-operability of rescue assets.

Representatives attending from our region included China, India, Indonesia and Singapore, as well as from Subscribe free at www.aussiecombat.com

as far afield as France, Germany, Canada and the United States.

Exercise Black Carillon 16 concluded a success, demonstrating the combined effectiveness of the ships in their separate roles.

Operating in an increasingly diverse and complicated environment, this first-class training provided confidence for all involved.

Whether viewed as an expensive insurance policy or as a world-class investment, MVs Besant and Stoker are set to form an integral part of the Royal Australian Navy’s submarine capability for years to come.

The author, Samuel Vinicombe, is a security analyst and defence correspondent based in Perth, WA 55

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An Australian Submarine and a Navy MRH-90 Taipan conducted personnel transfers at sea in october.

These transfers allow RAN submariners to practice transferring personnel to rotary wing assets while underway.

This type of exercise or ‘sortie’ also gives RAN aircrew the opportunity to refine their skills in winching personnel onto a moving and very confined area such as a submarine’s forward casing or bow.

The Multi Role Helicopter (MRH) is the Royal Australian Navy’s Maritime Support Helicopter, which replaced the SK50 Sea King.

The introduction of the MRH90 has greatly increased and improved capability, agility and availability to meet the RAN’s and ADF’s requirements.

Collins-class submarines are dieselelectric boats in the 3000tonne class.

They were built in Australia from a Sweedish design with the first boat commissioning in July 1996.

The subs have been dogged by controversy but are now widely regarded as very capable craft.

Despite the youngest of the six subs being only 13 years old, the project to replace the fleet is well under way, with the French company DCNS recently winning the right to build the replacement fleet, based on its Shortfin Barracuda design, which is predicted to enter service around mid next decade.

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E XERCISES

Di amond Spri nt

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COMBIN

D

&

SOUTHERN JACKAROO Three nations -- one goal Soldiers and officers of Brisbane-based 7th Brigade ‘dug-in’ with members of the US Marine Corps, US Army and the Japanese Ground Self Defence Force during Exercise Southern Jackaroo 16 at Shoalwater Bay from 14 to 30 May. The now-annual Exercise Southern Jackaroo – which happens straight after the Australian Army Skill at Arms Meeting in Puckapunyal – aims to promote mutual understanding and enhance interoperability between the three nations.

This year, the trilateral Exercise Southern Jackaroo was combined with 7th Brigade’s annual combinedarms training activity, Exercise Diamond Sprint, and involved almost 2000 Australians and around 365 international participants.

Over the course of the exercise soldiers and marines lived together out field, conducted urban operations and live-fire activities supported by light armoured vehicles and artillery, all culminating in a brigade-sized defensive battle scenario.

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Lieutenant David Hasler, a platoon commander, said the combined exercises were really good.

“We’ve identified that no matter where you are from in the world, infantry stuff is infantry stuff, and there’s that common bond between us,” he said.

“But, it’s been really good to see different techniques and ways of going about things, and to learn from each other and see how we employ, even the same equipment, in different ways.”

Corporal Jace Burger, US Marine Corps, said that while he had worked with the Japanese before, it was his first time working with Australians.

“The great thing about working with the Australians is we speak the same language and pretty much have the same sense of humour,” Corporal Burger said.

Brigadier Anthony Rawlins, Commander 7 Brigade, said working with the other nations, exchanging information and learning from each other’s tactics, techniques, and procedures was invaluable.

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“But, at the end of the day, when you get people from three different nations digging in to some pretty difficult terrain here, these are the real lessons – this is the confidence – these are the shared memories that will last throughout a career.”

Trooper Shaun Williams, 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment, Queensland Mounted Infantry, said the team focus of his job – especially on a large exercise like this – was very rewarding.

“Depending on what type of vehicle you’re in, there’s always at least a minimum of two people in Subscribe free at www.aussiecombat.com

a vehicle, so you do get to help each other out a fair bit, and the mateship does grow quite quickly in this environment.”

Around 350 New South Wales Army reservists from Battle Group Waratah also supported Exercise Southern Jackaroo.

The battle group established a main defensive position against a fictional enemy, conducted livefire combat-team attacks complete with mortar, machine gun, sniper and light armoured firepower support, and assaulted an urban facility.

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Ssang Yong Exercise

Words Tim Dempsey Photos by US Marine Corps

Under clear blue skies on the morning of March 12, as part of Exercise Ssang Yong 2016, amphibious elements of the United States Marine Corps and Republic of Korea (ROK) Marines landed at Doksukri Beach on South Korea’s south-eastern coastline.

This year’s Ssang Yong – which translates to ‘twin dragons’ – was the third such biennial exercise between US and ROK forces, and the first to incorporate other nations.

Assault Amphibious Vehicles from the Republic of Korea Marine Corps Regimental Landing Team 7 were inserted on the beach in five waves, unloading troops from South Korea, the United States, New Zealand and Australia in an effort to demonstrate co-operative readiness and resolve.

The leading force in the exercise was the Combined Amphibious Task Force 76, comprised of nearly 20,000 sailors and marines from the United States and South Korea. The US contingent featured approximately 9200 marines from the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) and 3100 personnel from Expeditionary Strike

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Group Seven of the US Navy, while 4500 ROK marines of Regimental Landing Team 7 and 3000 personnel from Flotilla 5 of the ROK Navy completed the South Korean contribution.

Following the beach assault, Brigadier General John Jansen, the Commanding General of the 3rd MEB, arrived at the beach for a brief press conference.

“We are here to engage in complex training operations, to build our capabilities and capacity along a range of military operations,” he said.

“We believe by training together we grow stronger, and with strong alliances, we bring peace and stability to this region.”

When pressed for a statement on the corrolation between this exercise and recent tensions in North Korea, Brigadier General Jansen was quick to stress the lengthy preparation invested in executing this exercise.

“We’ve been planning for this exercise for over a year,” Brigadier General Jansen emphasised.

“So we would have had this exercise regardless of what is going on in the news right now.

“But what we do hope is that it offers a good example of our capabilities with our ally, the Republic of Korea.”

A small media contingent was taken on a Marine MV-22 Osprey to the USS Bonhomme Richard, the flagship of Coalition Amphibious Taskforce 76.

It was an impressive sight. MH-60 Seahawk helicopters were continuously landing and taking off – up to 50 times per day for the duration of the exercise – while high-speed Marine landing craft cruised past in the distance.

LHD Bonhomme Richard is the flagship for the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group, which currently includes USS Ashland and USS Germantown, as well as the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU).

Below the LHD’s decks, Rear Admiral John Nowell and Rear Admiral Ji Yung Park gave an insight into the exercise from a Naval perspective. Emphasising the importance of interoperability between US and ROK forces, Nowell was again pressed on the situation in North Korea, but said that proceedings were “not in response to anything that North Korea is doing”.

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Despite assurances, this year’s Ssang Yong differed from previous exercises primarily by its size and scope – a clear signal to the region of the continuing US and ROK determination to illustrate strength and resolve.

This was the first Ssang Yong to incorporate the Navy in such a key role.

It was also the first time Australian and New Zealand troops were invited to take part, as part of the wider effort to demonstrate a regional alliance.

Around 100 Australian troops from 6RAR were attached to the 4th Marine Regiment, while 60 New Zealand troops were attached to the ROK Marines.

Significantly, unlike previous Ssang Yongs, the exercise did not conclude after the beach landing.

Exercise Ssang Yong is part of wider US/ROK military drills on the Korean Peninsula, involving more than 15,000 US and 300,000 ROK troops, which continued into early April.

Tim Dempsey is a security analyst and defence writer, embedded with US and allied forces during Ssang Yong 2016.

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Private Zachary Dean, Bravo Company, 6RAR, fires an M40 sniper rifle during exercise Ssang Yong 16 in South Korea.

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EARTHQU AKE Little more than 24 hours after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake rocked northern parts of the New Zealand South Island on 14 November, the New Zealand Defence Force had deployed hundreds of personnel, eight aircraft and two ships in support of the whole-of-government response to the natural disaster that killed two people.

An RNZAF P-3K2 Orion surveillance aircraft left Whenuapai within hours of the initial quake to conduct a seven-hour aerial survey of main transport routes and towns from Picton to Christchurch, including inland routes.

Photos taken during the survey showed massive rockfalls in several areas in the upper South Island, with as many as 100,000 land slips eventually estimated.

Acting Commander Joint Forces New Zealand Air Commodore Darryn Webb said it was clear from the photos that the major route from Christchurch to Kaikoura was impassable, as was the road from Kaikoura to Hanmer Springs and from Blenheim to Kaikoura – in other words, access by land to the popular tourist township was completely cut off, with as many as 1000 tourists in the town.

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Four Air Force NH90 helicopters were initially assigned to evacuating the tourists and any residents who wanted to leave, but initial progress was slow on the mammoth task.

Air Commodore Webb said the NZDF had mobilised numerous assets to support the government’s response to the earthquake, and had been working with the Ministry of Civil Defence to ensure the lifelines and basic needs, especially to the Kaikoura community, were met.

“Our priority was to evacuate the tourists and residents of Kaikoura who have been displaced by the earthquake and are now being accommodated at a local marae and various community buildings,” Air Commodore Webb said.

“About 5000kg of aid supplies including food, water and hygiene products, as well as jerrycans of diesel, were also flown into the community.”

The multi-role vessel HMNZS Canterbury was also dispatched from Auckland to help with the evacuation.

A C-130 Hercules was also tasked.

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NZ FAST FACTS: Evacuations: 700 people, four dogs, 7000kg baggage Deliveries by RNZAF NH90s: About 20,000kg Deliveries by HMNZS Canterbury: 13,000kg food, 2780kg fruits and veg, 200kg potatoes, 350kg bread, 6000kg rice, pasta and flour, 300kg blankets, 500kg telecom equipment, 4000kg medical supplies, 10,000kg pet food, 80 portable toilets, 500kg toilet paper, 30 10-litre cans of fuel, two portable pumps and four generators.

Eventually, three foreign ships and several aircraft that were in Auckland for the Royal New Zealand Navy’s 75th Anniversary International Naval Review, joined the rescue and eventual resupply of the town.

Australian frigate HMAS Darwin, with her S70B Seahawk, Canadian frigate HMCS Vancouver, with her CH-124 Sea King and American destroyer USS Sampson, with two MH60 Seahawk helicopters joined the mission.

A US Navy P-3 aerial surveillance aircraft and a Japan Maritime SelfDefense Force P-1 aerial surveillance aircraft also pitched in.

Eventually, a convoy of 27 NZDF trucks braved bad weather and risks of further landslides to bring much-needed fuel and supplies to the town four days after the initial seismic event, which was followed by more than 500 aftershocks, many greater than 5 on the Richter Scale.

While the death toll from this disaster was mercifully low, the event proved yet again the tremendious ability of the New Zealand Defence Force – and its friends and allies – to apply mighty military machines to humanitarian intervention.

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65

Winter became summer. Bondage became freedom and this we left to you as your inheritance.

O generations of freedom remember us, the generations of the vision.

These lines, etched in stone in The Garden of Remembrance in Dublin, reflect Ireland’s revolutionary past and the responsibility following generations are charged to uphold – the liberty that was so highly valued, and so costly won.

On Easter Sunday 2016, 3700 men and women of Óglaigh na hÉireann (Defence Forces of Ireland), honoured the memory of their forebears, the men and women of the Easter Rising 1916, by participating in the largest ceremonial parade in the history of the State on behalf of the people of Ireland.

Dublin was resplendent in sunshine – save for a brief shower that failed to wet 66

either the powder or the spirits of the ceremonial artillerymen at Kilmainham – for the landmark event, just one of many parades, reenactments and ceremonies across the country and across this centenary year.

As the world watched awestruck, listened attentively and applauded loudly, Ireland as a country, and the Irish as a people stood tall, proud and free.

“Proud of you all, not just for yesterday, but for

the honour you display every day in the service of the Irish people and for peace, justice and human rights across the world”, one commenter on Facebook said.

“The performance of ceremonial duties carried out by each and every member of the Irish Defence Forces has been, as always, world

IRELAND 2016 67

class. The nation is fiercely proud of you all, for all that you do at home and overseas. Thank you!” another said.

Though I am long removed from Ireland and have served in Australia’s Defence Forces, I cannot help but share Ireland’s pride – it’s in my blood.

While my paternal grandfather, John Hartigan, and his future wife Mary O’Meara were probably a bit young to participate in the Easter Rising on 23 April 1916, they were both involved in many actions that followed.

By 1918, my Granddad is listed as an IRA company commander in Limerick and is mentioned in several historical documents – and in local folklore in the area to this day.

Family folklore, I only learned relatively recently, which was corroborated by many cousins, says he was very close to General Michael Collins, possibly eventually becoming one of his infamous “Twelve Apostles”.

This is impossible to verify, however, because he is not officially listed or ‘credited’ as such in any history and because his service record, in Dublin Castle, where his son and my Uncle Sean worked for many years as a detective, is reportedly sealed and marked “Never to be opened” by Countess Markievicz.

I knew my grandfather when I was young, but he never spoke to me of his service to his country.

Older cousins did, apparently, get confirmation of certain facts from him, but many blanks will probably never be filled in.

Unfortunately, the man I knew and loved was broken, confined to bed – possibly suffering mental rather than physical afflictions.

But, what he and thousands of other Irishmen and Irishwomen did 100 years ago was of such immensity that it is very hard to contemplate – and live up to.

But we, the generations of freedom will remember them, the generations of the vision.

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Above: Captain Peter Kelleher, 27th Infantry Battalion, reads the Proclaimation of Independance at the GPO, Dublin, during centenary commemoration of the 1916 Easter Rising.

Right: Officer Cadet Kelly Smyth on guard at Kilmainham Gaol.

Lest we forget

My Grandfather’s medals:

Detective Garda John Hartigan at Tipperary Station, 1931 (left) and on duty in uniform at the official opening of the Christian Brothers Primary School in Wexford, 1939 (below).

Among the few pieces of my grandfather’s memorabilia that have ended up in my care are four medals, two of which I feel are significant.

The Service Medal (1917-1921) – is awarded in two classes – Medal with bar to persons with entitlement to a pension under the Military Service Pensions Acts in respect of active service from 1916 to 11 July 1921 (the bar is inscribed Cómrac, translated ‘Combat’) – and, Medal without bar to persons who were members of Óglaigh na hÉireann (Irish Republican Army), Fianna Éireann (an Irish nationalist youth organisation), Cumann na mBan (women’s auxiliary force) or the Irish Citizen Army.

Grandad’s little collection contains both medals – which leads me to believe that the one without bar belongs, in fact, to my Granny.

Either way they are treasured family heirlooms.

My Grandad died on 23 May 1974, aged 75, when I was 11 and Granny preceded him on 29 January 1973, aged 73.

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A ‘Terrible Beauty’

The 1916 Rising Centennial Parade, through the eyes of Private Eoin O’Shea, D Coy, 7th Infantry Battalion

The centennial commemoration of what was, arguably, the most defining single event in the creation of an independent Ireland took place on Easter Sunday, 27 March, 2016. Having served in the RDF for almost a year, I – along with many of my 7th Infantry Battalion colleagues – had the privilege of being included in the Dublin parade. A section of us ‘patrolled’ as part of a re-enactment of troops of 73 Inf Bn serving in Lebanon in 1993.

As the parade drew near, I found myself considering the significance and the modern relevance of the sacrifices made some 100 years ago. While no historian, I have been struck by the scale of tragedy, 70

pride, divisiveness, sacrifice, and eventual national independence that were the legacy of Easter 1916.

What resonated even more were the subsequent living, breathing, rich narratives of many Irish families, including my own.

My grandfather, Andrew Fitzsimons, born in Dublin on 23 June 1916 to a very nationalist family, recalled standing outside Mountjoy Prison at four years of age with his parents as Kevin Barry, a young medical student and Irish Volunteer, was hanged for his part in an attack that left three British soldiers dead. The outrage following this execution seemed to remain with my grandfather; he chose ‘Kevin’ as his confirmation

name and used the name throughout his adult life. He went on to serve as a captain in the Defence Forces during The Emergency.

My uncle, Sean Fizsimons, also served in the PDF, as an enlisted man. He served overseas in the Congo and Cyprus and was proud to be included in the guard of honour during President Kennedy’s visit to Ireland in 1963.

By sheer coincidence, our place in Easter Sunday’s parade was directly behind the ‘1963 Congo group’; I was figuratively walking in the footsteps of my uncle and his comrades! Further ahead still, those men and women soon bound for the Golan Heights were a reminder of Ireland’s continuing contribution to UN peacekeeping.

Two of my father’s brothers served in the Irish Army and Naval Service whereas two of his uncles previously served with the British Royal Navy during WWII. The complex subject of Irishmen fighting under both flags during 1916 is examined in scenes detailed in Brendan Kelly’s book, ‘He Lost Himself Completely’ (2014), in which Kelly details the poetic tragedy of shots being fired between Volunteers and British soldiers through the gates of Richmond War Hospital, a location in which many Irishmen were recuperating from psychological trauma (or ‘shell shock’ as it was then called) suffered while serving in the trenches of the Western Front.

The parade took place less than two weeks after I had accepted a job as a psychologist with Combat Stress, a charity supporting British armed forces personnel similarly affected by recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even amidst the joy of the day, I tried not to lose sight of the wounds – both physical and psychological – surely suffered by many of those who fought and survived.

The crowds who came out to watch the parade were 10-deep at some points and they applauded and cheered loudly. It was a day for the Irish people and one of relatively few on which they could gain a clear sense of the discipline, pride, and capacity of their own Defence Forces, permanent and reserve.

No fewer than 50 RDF members from 7 Inf Bn participated – a clear testament to the emerging success of the single-force concept of today’s Defence Forces – and perhaps a fitting tribute to the Volunteers of 1916.

But my experiences of the day, as well as the rich tapestry of the Rising’s meaning and effects within generations of my family, are only part of the story.

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Remembered Many serving today have ancestors to whom, likewise, the Rising was significant in shaping the paths of their lives. For example CQMS Noel Montgomery (7 Inf Bn), when issuing us with our ’93 Lebanon uniforms, informed us that two of his uncles had fought in the Rising; one of whom, Tom Crimmins, is credited as being the last man to leave the GPO. After the parade, I asked some of my D Coy colleagues about their reflections: “It was a memorable experience to be part of a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity [to commemorate an event] that my two great grandfathers fought in 100 years ago. It was an honour to walk the streets that my great grandfathers once walked.” – Private Craig Lawlor “The parade allowed me to pay tribute to my great grandfather who fought in the War of Independence and was a member of the Free State Army.” – Private Liam Lundon “The priceless privilege to be able to honour those who paid the ultimate price for this country is something that cannot be compared. I will always cherish my involvement in these commemorations.

That feeling of walking down O’Connell Street is something that I will hold onto forever.” – Private Thomas O’Mahony “Taking part in the Centennial Parade was important to me as my great grandfather, Tobias Breslin, fought in the 1916 Rising. Fortunately, he survived and went on to be a 2nd lieutenant during ‘The Emergency’ in the 1940’s, based in Boland`s Mill. It was a great privilege to march down O’Connell Street representing my unit and my family.” – Private Laura Hayden “As a volunteer soldier myself, to march down O’Connell Street under the eyes of the President and the relatives of people who fought during Easter Week was a huge honour. To represent the organisation and the nation in this historical event was an unforgettable experience.” – Private Simon Fitzhugh “As an Irishman and a soldier, it was an honour to be able to commemorate, and pay respects to, the men and women who not only fought and died in 1916, but who sowed the seeds for what would become the Ireland we know today and also the Irish Defence Forces.” – Private Steve Burke “Throughout the lead up to Easter Sunday for the past few months has been a very positive Subscribe free at www.aussiecombat.com

We know their dream; enough to know they dreamed and are dead; WB Yeats, ‘ Easter 1916’

The author’s uncle Sean Fitzsimons in the Congo in 1961 or ’62, top; and, his grandfather Captain Andrew ‘Kevin’ Fitzsimons, who served during ‘The Emergency’ (WWII).

Members of the 7th Infantry Battalion, Irish Defence Forces, parade in the period dress and equipment of Irish peacekeepers from 1993.

experience for me and one that I had been looking forward to within the past year. Although not ethnically Irish but born here, I have never felt as proud or connected to Ireland as I did marching down O’Connell Street representing the country that has adopted my spirit.” – Corporal Anthony Cheung “Níl focail agam chun ceartais a dhéanamh don mothú ollmhór bróid a bhraith mé fhéin agus mo theaghlach de bharr mo rannpháirtíocht i gComórtha na Cásca agus chuile a léiríonn sé . Bhí mothúchán bróid agus meas d’Óglaigh na hÉireann le brath ón lucht féachana ar feadh iomlan an bhealaigh. Bhí éifeacht an tionscnamh Bratacha sna Scoileanna le feiceáil gosoiléir ar Sráid an Dáma nuair a thánamar ar grúpa páistí óga ag canadh Amhrán na bhFiann dúinn agus ag croitheadh a gcuid Bratacha Náisiúnta. Fíor am le thocht a mhothú id’ scórnach.”

“Words do not do justice to the immense sense of pride that both I and my family felt from my participation in the Easter Commemoration celebrations and all it represents. There was a palpable sense of pride and respect for Óglaigh na hÉireann from the spectators all along the route. The effect of the ‘Flags for Schools’ initiative was particularly evident on Dame St when we passed a group of young children singing Amhrán na bhFiann [National Anthem] to us and waving their National Flags. A real lump-in-your-throat moment.” – Lieutenant Antóine O’Beoláin Yeats’ own poignant words remind us of the tragedy and sacrifice of so many that fateful week 100 years ago. Having witnessed, however, the pride and love expressed by the Irish people on Easter Sunday 2016, I cannot help but believe that the dreams of those who died have since been realised by the living.

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‘UP NORTH’

You may have noticed that the CONTACT web site and Facebook pages were relatively quiet through August and September this year. That was because I was on holidays in Ireland with my wife Rosie. We had a fabulous time, visiting family and celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary.

As an Irishman, a soldier and a reporter, I was facinated and moved, in a surreal kind of way, to visit Northern Ireland and particularly Belfast for the very first time, on this holiday.

As a young man, when I was still living in Ireland, I never visited ‘The North’ – not because of ‘The Troubles’ or anything like that – more because when my family did go on holidays, we rarely toured our own back yard. I remember visiting The Somme and Ypres when I was a young teen and, while my Dad’s stories of the slaughter that happened there are still in my head, they didn’t have as much meaning for me then as they surely do today.

As I got older and became an Australian, ‘going home’ to Ireland was a family duty, with very little time for any more than just local tourism (of which there is plenty anyway). And with two families to visit (and dividing our time very diplomatically between them, unless we went separately, which Rosie and I have done several times), there was no time or excuse to go ‘all the way up North’.

Of course, as a soldier in the Australian Army, I wasn’t allowed north of the border anyway, for security reasons – because of ‘The Troubles’.

But this year I’m older, wiser and had a significant anniversary to celebrate with her who is a big fan of Game of Thrones – so I go wherever she wants to go, and she wants to go north to tick a couple of places off her bucket list.

I can now sincerely attest that The Giants Causeway, The Dark Hedges, Ballintoy Harbour (the latter two featured in Game of Thrones), Dunluce Castle and the Antrim coast generally are very worthy bucket-listers.

Semi-retired from the Army now, I didn’t ask for permission to travel to ‘The North’ this year. There are no ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland now, so going there is no different to visiting England or France or Fiji or Bali.

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However, there’s no border when you drive from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland – not even a marker. But there was no doubt we had entered a ‘foreign country’.

Speed limits were suddenly posted in miles-per-hour instead of kilometres – and Union Jacks, Red Hand of Ulster and Tri-Colour flags competed for prominance/dominance in a very surreal/curious way.

So much the tourists, we even did an open-topped hop-on-hop-off bus tour of Belfast, which was fascinating – not just to vist the placenames I had heard of and seen on the telly for most of my younger years – The Falls Rd, The Shankill, The Bogside, Stormont – but to listen to the tour guide point out this and that item of significance without emotion or bias, in language you’d expect to hear on any other ‘battlefield tour’ – combatants, noncombatants, fell in conflict, memorial to the fallen and so on. Except, on this ‘battlefield’ there are memorials of equal stature and reverance to both sides.

And, quintessentially Irish, the tour ended with the pronouncement, “there’s no tips required or expected, but if you would like to show your appreciation, all donations will go towards the greater advancement of Mr Arthur Guinness, after 6pm this evening”.

Sincerely,

Brian Hartigan Managing Editor

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Opposite: Stormont – seat of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

This page: Iconic murals of Belfast.

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73

THE INNER SANCTUM AN AUSTRALIAN POLICE SNIPER

BY JASON SEMPLE

The Surgeon Rifles PSR (Precision Sniper Rifle) in .338 above, and CSR (Concealable Sniper Rifle) in .308 below.

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It’s that time of the year again, waiting in the airport lounge for my flight to Las Vegas. Another year and another opportunity to catch up with mates from all across our industry.

It’s held in Las Vegas, Nevada – and it’s BIG! It’s the Annual SHOT Show!

And it’s hard not to get a little Bit excited. After all, it’s guns guns guns – and it’’s VEGAS!

I

n truth, it’s not just about guns. The Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show – SHOT Show – is the largest trade show of its kind in the world and the fifth largest trade show in Las Vegas, featuring more than 1600 exhibitors filling booth space covering 640,000 square feet. A trade-only event, it attracts more than 68,000 industry professionals from all 50 states and 100 countries, and generates around $90 million in non-gaming revenue in the Las Vegas economy over the week.

Hosted by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), attendance is restricted to the shooting, hunting and outdoor trade and commercial buyers and sellers of military, law enforcement and tactical products and services only. And, while it is not ‘open to the public’ (and no one under age 16 shall be admitted, including infants) all you have to do is purchase your ticket online and supply photo ID and personal details. Realistically it’s open to anyone who buys any kind of weapon or outdoor equipment – it’s just not a walk-in-off-the-street kind of show.

I have attended SHOT Show on a number of occasions to look at particular weapon systems and kit, and also on behalf of our company Advanced Accuracy Solutions LLC. I’m sure my wife thinks we are all over there having beers and catching up with buddies rather than working.

SHOT Show starts officially on the Tuesday at the Sands Convention Center, but there are live-fire range shoots set up for the Monday all around vegas. Some are strict invite only, but others you can attend by registering online with the company running the range. Sig Sauer runs a huge range day every year and is definitely worth a look. I went to four range shoots this year and this burnt the entire day quite easily.

The 2016 show was every bit as spectacular as previous years.

The reality is I probably saw about 30% of the show content this year – and that’s good going. It is so immense that you really need to know what you want to look at and have a plan.

Browsing all the booths and actually looking at kit properly is almost impossible due to time, space and the fact that you will inevitably get stuck at a booth when you find something you really like or have an interest in.

Things don’t stop once the convention center closes at 5.30pm either. This is when the real schmoozing and industry meetings begin. There are hotel room meetings (parties), venue parties and dinners and drinks with those in your network.

The CRYE Precision party is well known to be the biggest party related to the show. This year was a ‘Jungle Theme’ and partygoers were required to swing via a rope over a river of mud to get in. It is Vegas where anything is possible.

P.S. This might be where my wife doubts my work ethic or motivations.

I was also happy to see some excellent Australian companies represented at the show again this year. Companies such as Australian Defence Apparel (ADA), Australian Munitions (Thales/ ADI) and Marathon Targets.

ADA and Australian Munitions shared booth space and were super busy. I spent some time at ADA with CEO Matt Graham, Alvaro Carvajal, Chris Dixon, Darren Swindells and Victoria Cross recipient Daniel Keighran. ADA is an outstanding Australian Find, like and share CONTACT Air Land & Sea on

Shooting the MCX at the Sig Sauer range day

The author, Jason Semple

CONTACT is delighted to have Jason Semple on board for this continuing series of enlightening and inspiring insights into the rarely seen inner sanctum of the sniper.

company with more than 100 years of experience in their field. Matt and his team are some of the nicest and most professional people in the industry, and true innovators.

The volume of interest in ADA from various military and police units reflects their strong presence in a tough market. Keep an eye on ADA’s numerous systems, especially the adjustable pack rack they have developed. I was impressed by the adjustable pack rack, which allows you to set the rack length for your body size and the load you are carrying. ADA have also created the SKD covert body armor that will stop a .357 round – and it weighs only 900 or so grams! I know there was a tonne of interest in this product.

I caught up with Stuart Norman from Marathon Targets too. Stuart and his crew were set up at Nellis Airforce Base for a live-fire shoot at roving robot targets 30-40m away and a few at 300m. These target systems are seriously the best training tool in the world at the moment – a man-like target on a wheeled armored chassis with artificial-intelligence-reaction to gunfire.

These targets are being requested by many tier-1 military and special-operations units around the globe.

The uses for these superb targets are virtually unlimited, from basic range drills through to complex attacks by targets that operate in sync.

I have spent time shooting these targets previously Subscribe free at www.aussiecombat.com

and I am not one to waste an opportunity to shoot them any chance I get. So, my business partner (former US special-forces operator) Andy Butler and I shot them relentlessly until we thought it decent to hand over the carbines to some eager spectators waiting patiently behind us. Besides, shooting next to another 15 shooters under a tin roof was starting to defeat my disposable hearing protection.

Time to drive to the next venue.

Andy and I attended the Surgeon Rifles live-fire range shoot to check out two of their outstanding rifles that we have been interested in for a while – the CSR (Concealable Sniper Rifle) in .308 and the PSR (Precision Sniper Rifle) in .338.

I got behind the PSR and asked the Surgeon rep to give me the furthest target – which turned out was only 725m away in the mountain range – head-sized rock painted with a red circle.

I was the first shooter for the day and the rep gave me half a mil for wind adjust, and the round missed by .2mils (14cm) to the left. We washed this correction off the next shot and got a direct hit.

I shot another dozen or so rounds through the PSR and was super impressed with the rifle’s smooth action and supreme accuracy. A pleasure to shoot.

This PSR was fitted with an AWC PSR THOR suppressor which was designed by AWC with Surgeon. This

suppressor also ended up as one of my favorite items at the show. Not that being suppressed helped when there were guys 15m away firing RPGs! The Surgeon CSR looks great with a rugged and hightech austere finish. The appearance made me want to grab hold and start shooting on sight. The rifle is simple to adjust for cheek weld and eye relief with its patented stock, and I was comfortable with its ergonomics in minutes.

I got the same 725m target with a first-round hit now that we were dialed in to the atmospherics. I could happily have shot the CSR all day. In fact, I have to say I fell in love with this gun 100%. It shoots with excellent accuracy even with a 16inch barrel. Thanks to the folding stock and weapon length, you can easily transport this beast in a regular pack or case for covert sniper work. The CSR was also fitted with an AWC suppressor.

The Surgeon guys asked to shoot The Reaper Weapon Support System that our company, AAS, has developed.

I gave a demo with The Reaper and the .338, hitting the same 725m target standing. The Surgeon reps were blown away – especially after they too got first-round hits at 725m standing. Our system was very popular at the show with numerous special forces and tactical groups wanting demos. Should be a busy year ahead.

The SHOT Show is also about meeting up with training 75

LEFT: Greg Lapin left and Destin Mounts right, from VATA Group, pose with good buddy Max Michel – the current IPSC World Champion and the only shooter in history to hold five World speed-shooting championships.

ABOVE LEFT: Andy Butler demonstrates The Reaper with a suppressed Barrett .50 cal – heavy beast!

providers and groups providing cutting-edge techniques that obviously change with time. I caught up with some of my American mates from VATA Group who love having their customary 110kg Aussie floating around with them to amuse people with the accent.

VATA group provides specialist combat shooting and LE/Mil tactics training in the States and around the globe. The guys who run it – owners Greg Lapin and Destin Mounts – are very close friends and it’s awesome being associated with them. They are true superstars behind a pistol or assault rifle, and are very well known in the industry. Greg and Destin have a wealth of operational experience in military and special operations.

Destin and Greg have shown me the levels to which you can take your combat shooting. I would like to think I was very competent before, but the exposure to their drills and how far you can push shooting skills has been amazing over the past few years. I’d like to see some Australian law-enforcement groups and military reach out to groups like VATA to update training and 76

skills transfer. My old team always looked outside to find the guys who were the best in any skill we wanted to update.

Greg’s take on shot show – “If you want to rub elbows with the who’s who of the gun, shooting and everything tactical world you have to go to shot show. We go every year to foster relationships with our trusted firearm and related companies and partnerships as well as make new ones and meet new folks”.

“It also serves as an amazing networking opportunity for administrators and trainers from every lawenforcement agency and military unit in the world.

“If you’re in the industry it’s a must.”

There were way too many weapons and various kit options at SHOT Show to ever cover in a single article – or even 100 articles for that matter. I’ve only glossed over it here, and picked a few of my favorite items from this year’s show.

I was super impressed with the following; • The CSR and PSR rifles with AWC suppressors from Surgeon Rifles,

ABOVE LEFT: The author checks out ADA gear assisted by Dan Keighran VC. ABOVE RIGHT: The author demos The Reaper to a Japanese special-forces soldier.

• The MCX assault rifle system from Sig Sauer, • The Schmidt & Bender 3-27x 56 PM2 High Power Digital BT Scope, • The new belt-fed machine gun in .338 from General Dynamics; and, • The OSS suppressors for automatic machine guns (M249 & M240) Do yourself a favour and check these items out on line – it’s well worth your time.

And it’s definitely worth the trip to SHOT Show if you’re in the industry and you’re thinking of purchasing kit for your unit.

I saw a number of Australian military and a few police-tactical guys floating around at the show this year, including two top blokes from Victoria special operations groups, Sergeant Peter Wickham and the SOG Commander Simon Johnston.

We’re already booked in for the 2017 show – from 1720 January.

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THE INNER SANCTUM

BY JASON SEMPLE

Warriors through the ages have always faced the same challenge: - armour and weapons are heavy, place a burden on the soldier and reduce operational effectiveness. Even modern armour and weapons, with all the advantages of lightweight materials, present the same challenges. The solution is to be found in leveraging the load-bearing capabilities of the human body with the aid of science to develop a functional solution. Emphasis for future war fighting is on cutting-edge equipment that assists the user for functionality while reducing weight and effort.

Advanced Accuracy Solutions have developed a support system to integrate with this ethos and to enhance the modern combative.

Advanced Accuracy Solutions LLC was formed by three former military and law-enforcement special operations operators/snipers. Tim Russell and myself came from working in multiple Australian police tactical units both state and federal. Our third owner is Andy Butler who has more than 20 years of US SOF experience.

The three of us know from our own experience that organisations cannot afford to miss any opportunity to enhance the combat effectiveness of their personnel.

AAS, through our own needs, developed The Reaper™ Weapons Support System (TRWSS).

The Reaper was designed to increase operational endurance, assist with load bearing and greatly enhance shooter accuracy – all of which are intrinsically linked.

The catalyst for the development of new equipment

nearly always relates to a need, and our needs were stability, endurance and accurate shooting from aircraft.

While deployed overseas, the sniper team Tim and I were spending a significant amount of time shooting from rotarywinged aircraft both in training and on operations. Like any skill, tactic or environment we work in, once guys have mastered it they start looking at ways to make things work better, easier, more efficiently. This was the case for weapon choice, ammunition and the tactics involved with aerial fire support.

One thing that we were never 100% happy with was the constraints of physically supporting the weapon for long periods in a relatively static position out the side of a helicopter. We tried purpose-built sniper bars, weapon sling arrangements and all manner of ideas in-between.

I even tried a gyro-stabilised system that cost US$60,000 – and found it to be bulky and tactically limited in its application.

Jason Semple is a former police sniper of many years’ experience. He is also co-owner of Advanced Accuracy Solutions LLC and co-inventor of The Reaper™ Weapons Support System, which copped a lot of flack when the Australlian Army said it would trial the system. So we invited Jason to lay out some facts about The Reaper.

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All of these systems transferred vibration from the airframe to the weapon system to varying degrees and required the shooter to engage from set depths within the airframe.

Sniper bars and strap arrangements also heavily impinged on freedom of movement in and out of the airframe and required airworthiness certificates if bolted to the bird. The gyro system literally took up the entire central area of a UH-60 Black Hawk thanks to its setup and power requirements.

Being deep in the airframe also limits arcs of fire dramatically and affects engagement distances. It was far from ideal, that’s for sure.

But, of all those solutions, I’d use a bar or a strap over the gyro any day.

Tim Russell had the idea of using a concept where the weapon system could be supported off the actual shooter, much like that used by roving cameramen. But those specific systems were unsuitable for our purposes, which led us to design our own-patented support, and thus The Reaper™ was born.

My years studying mechanical engineering back in Newcastle before I joined the police provided us the 77

expertise to transfer concepts into actionable designs.

The system needed to be simple to operate, have the ability to attach to current body-armor and plate-carrier systems, and the movement action of the support cord needed to be smooth and effortless in application.

The actual system is a fully enclosed adjustable unit that transfers the weapon weight through a person-mounted overhead support boom and cord, and easily folds away when not in use.

An internal shock-absorbing system allows for effortless vertical and horizontal weapon tracking via a nonstretch cord attached to the weapon itself. The system incorporates two shock absorbers for smooth operation and as a redundancy for shock failure. The system removes operational equipment weight forward of the user (weapon carriage) and transfers the load-bearing to the torso. The weapon is supported to the point where it exhibits a neutral weight value.

The Reaper weapon support system was designed to give the shooter superior accuracy and physical support for the weapon platform being employed. The system is attached to the individual via a mounting system on the rear of the shooters body. Individual mounting can be achieved via specialised Molle attachment pieces or via specific backpack configurations that are all Mil spec.

The bulk of the system is made from high-grade aluminium, using cutting-edge processes. The pulley system uses industrial-strength stainless-steel shock absorbers at various compression strengths.The remaining parts are made from high-strength durable plastics and stainless-steel components designed for minimal maintenance.

The Reaper system allows the aerial shooter unparalleled flexibility and a distinct separation from the airframe in terms of vibration and firing positions.

The shooter can attach to the airframe with personal safety strap and shoot from any position within the aircraft with complete support and accuracy. The Reaper allows the shooter to quickly traverse from either side of the airframe, and to disembark if needed while picking up or dropping off troops.

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The transition from aerial application to ground operations eventuated after we were showing the system to some United States SOF personnel. They were really impressed with how effective the system was and spoke to us about potential ground-based applications. We had already been using the system for ground-based counter sniping roles and we readily saw the potential as well.

The Reaper is designed to meet the muscular limitations that affect even the strongest personnel. There is a limited period of time that personnel can support a weapon in front of their body, exponentially-so when the weight of the weapon platform increases from carbine to MG. Muscular endurance is literally as short as a few minutes for even the lightest rifle when aiming.

One of the key issues with marksmanship is muscular engagement and fatigue. Once fatigue of a muscle group occurs, so does the steady control of the weapon system, which affects accuracy drastically, especially when you increase the range to target.

The Reaper system removes the requirement for constant and prolonged muscle inputs from the shooters forearms, biceps and shoulders, allowing for unlimited cover time on target and enhanced accuracy. The Reaper is particularly valuable when clearing threat areas over long periods.

The ability to patrol with light and medium machine guns at a ready position is a force multiplier option with minimal cost outlay.

Personnel patrolling for long periods can become combat ineffective or, at the very least, have a diminished response to a threat. The last hour of a patrol is just as important as the first and removing fatigue greatly enhances combat effectiveness, which is of immeasurable value to the soldier and his commander.

The Reaper allows its operator to patrol with LMG’s at the ready position and use the extra fire support in the same dynamic way one might use a carbine. The LMG operator can then cover target areas for extended periods from positions other than prone with a high level of accuracy.

The Reaper Weapon Support System has applications across the entire spectrum of small-arms. The ability to

attach a variety of small-arms (carbines, sniper rifles, crew served weapons etc) means it has a place in all units at the section level, to extend operator effectiveness, accuracy and endurance.

There is also a ballistic-shield Reaper system available as a separate design.

Aerial fire-support/sniping • Designed to enhance accuracy from rotary-winged aircraft for both aerial sniping and fire support.

• Suitable for special-forces and battalion use.System supports weapons systems from AR-style weapons to MG. • Requires no engineering or airworthiness certificates on aircraft.

• Allows high degree of flexibility to operator shooting positions.

• Allows operator to easily exit aircraft to support troops on the ground.

• Improves operational endurance of shooter.

• Enhances accuracy.

• Reduces load-bearing and shooter fatigue.

Unstable Platform Shooting • Enhances accuracy off unstable platforms such as marine craft (RHIB, larger marine vessels).

• System integrates well with armored vehicles allowing the gunner to traverse 360 degrees and cover areas close to vehicle (e.g. Bushmaster).

• Increases shooter endurance and flexibility.

Counter Sniping/DDM • Continuous control of weapon in unsupported positions.

• Provides instant stable and accurate shooting position.

• Allows for greater flexibility and reaction to attack.

• Allows for greater coverage of threat area.

• Reduces load bearing and shooter fatigue.

Approach shooting/over-watch • Provides enhanced accuracy to over-watch activities.

• Gives operator greater flexibility in choosing over-watch

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• • • • •

position while maintaining accuracy (not limited to prone).

Allows for greater speed of action and mobility with instant access to support.

Provides extended endurance on target.

Suitable for carbine, sniper weapons and MGs. Highly suitable for rolling operations and extended durations.

Reduces load bearing and shooter fatigue.

Machine gun support • M249/Minimi/M240/Maximi/Mag 58 support for dismounted, over-watch and static operations.

• Provides significant increase to endurance.

• Provides the ability to shoot accurately from non-prone and mobile positions.

• Allows for more aggressive/accurate and mobile MG support.

As the readers of CONTACT magazine may know, the Australian Army holds an Army Innovation Day (AID) once a year in Canberra. Its purpose is innovative in itself as the goal is to identify new technologies and products for evaluation and potential use in the military.

With big organisations, sometimes innovations take a while to see the light of day, thanks to bureaucracy, so the aim of AID is to try and streamline access. It is a very professional process and was impressive to those companies invited to attend, after preselection.

After presenting at AID 2015, AAS was further selected to provide The Reaper systems for a 6-month testing and evaluation period to explore potential uses in the ADF. We are fortunate to have such a robust testing and evaluation process conducted by a premier military organisation, with comprehensive evaluation standards that we can rely on for professional outcomes.

The testing and evaluation period will determine any progression or possible adoption by the ADF. AAS is cognisant of the skepticism that surrounds a product like The Reaper, which is unusual, definitely new

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and outside usual thinking. We do however have a 100% track record of transforming the opinions of those who were initially skeptical.

There was a massive social-media reaction when the ADF released footage of initial trials. A lot of the commentary was negative and very much related to people not understanding the system or its use.

Most comments related to the following points; The potential to get ‘hung up’ Our system, like many other pieces of kit, is not designed for use in every situation. Cutting your way through thick bush or jungle is obviously a time when you would not have the system in use.

Reaper is designed to be used when the soldier deems it appropriate – the same as with all kit. If it is likely to cause an issue you can easily fold it away in seconds.

I am 6 foot 4 inches and I can freely walk in and out of regular doorways wearing The Reaper. Once again though, it is user choice as to whether this would be necessary, tactically. I have also spent significant time walking in bush and have had absolutely no issues with getting hung up.

We have hundreds of hours using the system in rotarywinged airframes and, once again, the system has no issues with getting hung up.

What happens when you go to ground with it?

The Reaper is obviously not needed when you hit the prone position, as the weight of the weapon rests directly on the ground. You can however shoot from the prone if you are still attached to The Reaper if you went down in a contact.

Importantly, modern battle spaces are increasingly urban and do not always support going prone in response to attack. Using cover or a hardpoint is more often the preferred option.

If you aren’t strong enough to carry your weapon, you shouldn’t be in the Infantry in the first place.

Years ago I heard an old-school instructor say, “Those new sights are rubbish – you can always rely on your iron sights.

Those things will break and how can you rely on them”.

While he was correct in saying that iron sights are reliable, but, to call new optics rubbish is ridiculous.

I’d rather be able to deliver accurate fire faster and to extended ranges any day, and new sights give us that ability.

As for strength – at 6-foot-4 and 110kg, I can and do hold a heavy rifle longer than most people, but, like anyone, my muscles fatigue, and muscular fatigue affects accuracy when you can’t keep your sights steady or control recoil as efficiently.

Accurate and fast delivery of fire is the best way to counter any threat – that is fact. MGs have been used as an area weapon for more than 100 years. But, a lot of machine-gun-employment theory and tactical use relates to volume of fire. With improved ammunition, sights and advanced new weapons, machine guns are increasingly used with much greater precision.

At the end of the day, tactics, methodology and SOPs are developed over time by the military organisation employing them. And smart organisations such as the Australian Army, which are open to innovation, evolution and change, are at least open minded enough to trial new products, whether they eventually adopt them or not.

AAS has been requested to present at a number of SF units around the world. We have systems being evaluated in the USA and a number of Asian, European and Coalition countries, with a number of SF units having made initial purchases of the system for specialised tasks, such as aerial fire support and helo-sniping, with some larger orders for ground troops.

We have also sold systems to specialist CT and SWAT teams as well.

When all is said and done, by developing The Reaper, our aim is merely to assist service men and women by offering them one new, practical and proven tool they can choose to employ or not depending on the tactical scenario they are about to embark on.

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THE INNER SANCTUM

Jungle Therapy

BY JASON SEMPLE

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I woke from sleep, if you want to call it sleep. I’m not sure how long it was since I had drifted off but rest assured there were no deep REM levels reached. Mosquitos were in the process of running their own AC/DC concert equivalent in and around my ears – the noise only abating when they stopped to suck blood. A few fire ants have taken the opportunity to bite me around my neck and near my armpit. Those little bastards can find their way through any clothing and they are potent with their stings, which stay with you long after you are back at base.

Its 1300 and the air is so dense with humidity that you feel like you’re slowly drowning in it. The heat is relentless and your body in a constant flux trying to moderate your core temperature.

It had rained heavily a few hours before and, because of the jungle canopy where we had set up our LUP (lie-up point), I did not feel the potential relief of a single drop of H20. There was no direct sun in our position of course.

I think this was the only positive that could be extracted from where the four of us lay.

I had a trusted stinky mini bed roll that I used to create a minute level of comfort for about 10% of my 112kg. The rest of me lay in direct contact with the jungle floor.

The area we were laying up in was very close to our target observation location and there were intermittent human movements near us. We chose our LUP wisely to ensure our position was avoided by all but the insects.

There is only so much you can do to create personal comfort in a tactical situation and unfortunately there were very limited opportunities to get a brew on, if at all.

At any one time, two of us would monitor our communications and the immediate area, and the other two would attempt sleep.

On this job, this was our daytime activity, for the entire day! We only moved out and operated at night under NVG in this area or you would certainly be compromised.

AN-PVS14’s allowed total domination of the night.

That operation saw us spend five days laying up in this position during daylight and stalking around the villages after dark, all to gather info on the location and movements of the family of one of our top 10 most wanted.

The author, Jason Semple (left) and a colleague in the J

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The author, Jason Semple (second from right) with colleagues in the Solomon Islands

That was the nature of the work – it was not always kinetic.

Guys had to exercise extreme patience during these ops. We would try to sleep and fight the boredom during the day, and at night we could be in a hut to see who was sleeping there, all the while making sure noone ever knew we had been.

The targets we were trying to arrest were all over the island chain. This presented us with significant planning considerations. Operational orders were complex, even for simple tasks.

One operation that myself and a close buddy organised required significant tactical planning, logistical requirements and human organisation outside of our unit – all so that things might go smoothly in a country where things rarely did.

On this particular job we had met up with a ‘gig’ or informant in town for the fourth time where we finally

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confirmed some intelligence relating to the whereabouts of an important target. It had been a frustrating and arduous process to this point.

We met the gig and gave him comprehensive instructions and timings we required of him for us to run the operation successfully. He was tasked with returning to the target location, which was a few hours boat ride away. Once there he would confirm the target was in the area of operations. Then he was required to send a runner back down the coast in order to get cell coverage and let us know. We were less than hopeful as usual.

Once the confirmation was complete we had also tasked him to set up some IR Cyalumes 3m off the ground and 20m apart in trees at the shoreline where we would rendezvous. We had an accurate GPS reference for this position. The Cyalumes would give our guys a good visual with NVGs.

We had conducted coastal appreciations to ensure we could get boats ashore in that area. Many times we could not.

We then got the green light for the assembled team of guys who were already briefed on the task, and at 2200 we left base covertly and set off on a 150ft vessel for the five-hour trip. We positioned the vessel 2km offshore from the target location where we embarked two RHIBs and moved the teams onto the beach.

The gig had set-up the Cyalumes perfectly within feet of our intended GPS location.

Once we were on land, we got some last-minute information from our gig and tabbed into the jungle for 5km, and set up a loose perimeter around our target’s village. The gig knew where the target was sleeping, which allowed us to efficiently arrest the offender and make our way out of the location. We often had to do this quickly due to the hostile area we were in.

Once back at the shoreline we put the target on a RHIB and out to a waiting police vessel that took him back to base for processing.

For once, it had worked like clockwork. We had done many arduous tasks where nothing eventuated – except us gaining experience, losing weight and maybe contracting some nasty disease.

We variously suffered from malaria, aggressive rashes, allergic reactions to poisonous plants, bouts of giardia and prickly heat, bites from fire ants, mosquitos, sandflies, mite infestations, flesh eating spider bites. We also had guys step very close to large crocodiles while patrolling in thick jungle spots near creek-lines.

And then there were the unknown illnesses that could not be explained by doctors.

But, I liked this style of job where we got a result, and it did not entail waiting around in the jungle for days on end.

I also liked using multiple insertion methods on a single mission. We also got to go in pretty light – no body armour or heavy packs required on this job. Light jungle kit, tactical comm’s, personal weapons, NVG’s, 3 or 4 litres of water and you were good to go. We really got to cut our teeth on jobs like this.

The nature of my profession in tactical operations and sniping has required me to work in many different environments over the years, and all of these environments present challenges that need to be overcome to see successful outcomes in operations. Some environmental challenges are easily overcome, and others literally dictate the terms of your deployment.

Urban operations are obviously the 5-star environments to work in, having access to all modern conveniences.

How hard can a sniper observation task be if it’s in a

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Gear ready, on a RAN landing craft.

Jungle camoflage.

temperate environment with access to toilets, food, comfortable sleeping arrangements – and coffee.

Not all urban scenarios are comfortable mind you, rooftops and abandoned building sites present some very uncomfortable positions. But still, you are never far from resupply or the ability to withdraw without issue.

I have set-up positions in $2500-per-day penthouses all the way down to covertly constructed hides in partially completed building sites. Much depended on the overt or covert nature of the task.

If the urban environment is seen as the 5-star experience, then the opposite end of the environmental spectrum would definitely be the jungle, or the ‘J’ as it is commonly referred to. I’m not talking bush here either – I’m 100% talking JUNGLE. I know that many of you reading CONTACT magazine have had a good dose of jungle therapy, whether at Tully, at Cannungra or over in Malaysia. Some more experienced readers will also remember their time in PNG and Timor. Those readers will readily understand much of the detail I’m talking about and are all-too-well acquainted with what ‘jungle therapy’ entails.

My sniper team and I were lucky enough to run tasks in the Solomon Islands. I say ‘lucky’ as the jungle there is easily the worst I have been exposed to anywhere in the world. In an international competition for putrid jungle environments, the Solomons easily outshines Australia,

Timor and the Philippines. I am definitely not saying these other jungle environments are easy either, just that Mother Nature in the Solomons seems to have perfected her human-torture program.

During Solomons deployments, my sniper team spent considerable time running CTRs (close target reconnaissance) and observation posts in some horrendous jungle positions. Some of the tasks we undertook would vary from three or four hours to 10 days as proscribed by the operation’s requirements.

Some were deep-canopy positions, some the side of mountains and, on a number of occasions, we lived at the edge of swamps and creek beds.

The longer observation tasks meant making sure, through systematic examination of your kit, that all was where it should be, and that various operational gear was distributed amongst team members for weight distribution. One operator is often unlucky enough to be stuck with the Barrett if a job requires it, so various water and food from his kit is distributed among the others.

These tasks required varied insertion methods ranging from helo insertion (fast rope or rappel), covert vehicle drop-offs, maritime approach (RHIB or vessel), Klepper folding kayak insertions, swim-up assaults and the ageold foot stomp.

The insertion method was dictated by the environment and the tactical situation. Unfortunately, I cannot go into

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Dusk extraction.

much detail on these methods as we still employ them today.

Our SF brother’s have been very helpful over the years, sharing kit and tactics.

A lot of our covert drop-offs have morphed from police CT and covert surveillance work back in Australia. We got so many opportunities overseas to trial and perfect our tactics.

Food and water are obviously important logistical aspects of operations and require some expert planning when trying to remain covert. Water is the biggest issue, with guys requiring large amounts to stay healthy and hydrated. Any physical activity in the jungle ensures you sweat more and thus you need to drink more. If you listen to medical opinion, guys need at least 8-10 litres a day in those conditions, even if doing minor movements.

This means you’re humping 8-10kg of water alone for each day of your operation. Water drops are not always an option, and so water considerations always played into the duration of an operation.

We stopped using ration-pack mentality for our food supply. We instead invested in both home-made and commercial jerky, dried fruit and assorted nuts. We could carry far more nutritious items to eat, with far less weight. We could easily work out what each guy required for a day and then shrink-wrap it into portions.

We had this down to a science and guys functioned

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Below and left: Author Jason Semple in the Solomon Islands

better and we required very little kit to maintain eating.

We developed an awesome understanding of what clothing worked best. To date, nothing works better than real-tree cammo gear designed for outdoor hunters in the United States. The clothing is of high standard, is constructed from porous materials that dry in minutes, comes in every color and is light to wear. My team always went in with different combinations of similar wooded cammo and we would literally disappear. Needless to say, we spent lots of money at Cabela’s in the States.

One skill we became highly proficient at was conducting close target reconnaissance tasks. At one point on a deployment, my sniper teammate and I went out every second night on tasks and did this over a few months. This repetition gave us an incredible insight on what kit worked, what tactics worked best, and we also got to know the area intrinsically.

And we always had a QRF team in a vehicle not

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more than a few kilometres from where we were working.

We learnt that sniping also requires a high level of boldness at times, and that a keyhole observation point does not always cut it in the real world – we needed to be much more flexible than we had been taught on our initial sniper programs.

Operations and targets were mobile and fluid, and this meant we had to be much more mobile and fluid as well.

This pushed us to totally revamp our sniper programs to suit modern operations. I will explain this in depth in a future article on modern scenariobased sniper training.

I miss the jungle. I miss how you can disappear the minute you walk into it. I miss how you feel safe, hidden (your quarry can be 3 feet from you and not know it). I miss the jungle – right up until I’ve been back in it for an hour.

Then I wish I was back in the real world.

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BY LIEUTENANT COLONEL BENJAMIN MCLENNAN

SOLDIER COMBAT ENSEMBLE

“180-degree pivot in approach to design

Early in 2015, the Australian Army initiated a 180-degree pivot in its approach to the design, development and provisioning of Soldier Combat Ensemble (SCE) to land combatants. Gone were the bad ole days of a ‘one size fits all’ approach to SCE design and provision. In its place, the Army rolled out a world-leading SCE tailored to meet the universal and unique protection and mobility needs of land combatants from Army, Navy and Air Force – be they mounted, dismounted, close or general combatants, male or female.

The Result ?

Well, the overwhelming feedback from recipients is that the SCE issued by Army meets their common and bespoke requirements; it is truly scalable – both in protection and load carriage; it allows one to truly ‘train as one fights’; it is superior to any SCE they have been issued in their careers to date; it is better than the pouches and packs they have purchased privately; and, as a consequence of annual, spiral development initiatives, it keeps getting better and better.

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The Elements of SCE The SCE being delivered by Army comprises five elements, as follows: • Ballistic Laser Ocular Protection System (BLOPS) comprising spectacles, with interchangeable lenses and prescription inserts, and goggles.

• Tiered Combat Helmet (TCH), which affords protection against bumps to the head and projectiles/shrapnel.

• Combat Hearing Protection (CHP), which provides active hearing protection and the ability to communicate with up to three radios simultaneously.

• Load Carriage Elements (LCE) comprising Tiered Body Armour System (TBAS), belt webbing, a range of pouches and no less than four packs of different sizes.

• Protective Elements (PE), which includes soft armour for low-velocity projectiles, hard armour for both high-velocity and armour-piercing projectiles and edged-blade/spike armour to protect

combatants against knife attack in crowd-control environments. While only a few units are issued live PE, all recipients receive training PE of the same size and weight as live PE, to allow combatants to ’train as they fight’.

The Logic of SCE Design The objective of the SCE delivered to ADF land combatants since mid 2015 is to optimise the performance of the Soldier Combat System (SCS) – and namely its survivability (force protection) and mobility sub-systems.

“This is a constant challenge”, Colonel Scotty Palmer, Director Military Systems Development Army said.

“If we want to increase protection, we invariably increase the weight combatants have to wear/ carry. In turn, this can compromise their mobility and sustainability.

“Achieving the balance involves a nuanced approach to design and configuration.”

Nuanced, or tailored, SCE is at the heart of Project LAND125-3B.

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Wiley X vapour

Main elements of SCE Tiered Combat Helmet (TCH): The acquisition of the Tiered Combat Helmet has included the following enhancements – common helmet type with NVG shroud and accessory rails as standard for both tiers; weight reduction from existing tier 2 and tier 3 helmets; high-cut design with improved integration for equipment such as hearing protection and CBRN respirators; boltless retention system for stability and improved fit; additional equipment options such as Peltors adapters and oxygen-mask adapters; design and development provisions to allow modifications to helmets in response to changes in user needs.

Combat Hearing Protection (CHP): The new CHP solution is the INVISIO – X5 (similar X50 model shown for illustrative purposes) in-ear headset with S10 and V60 configuration options supplied by the Canberra-based Defcon Technologies Group. The X5 is an in-ear system that is characterised by small size, weight and power usage; and, worldleading bone-conduction microphone that removes the requirement for a traditional boom microphone that can interfere with Helmet straps. The set offers superior noise attenuation and situational awareness.

Ballistic Laser Ocular Protection System (BLOPS): The new Spectacles – Wiley-X VAPOR – are more robust and less prone to fogging than predecessors. The new Goggles – Wiley-X Spear – better integrate with combat helmets and are more comfortable to wear.

Load Carriage Elements (LCE) comprising Tiered Body Armour System (TBAS), belt webbing, a range of pouches and no less than four packs of different sizes and adjustable pack-carriage frame.

Protective Elements (PE), which includes soft armour for low-velocity projectiles, hard armour for both highvelocity and armour-piercing projectiles and edgedblade/spike armour to protect combatants against knife attack in crowd-control environments.

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Wiley X Spear

SC E ADJUSTIBLE PACK FRAMES

envisio X50

(Defence acquiring X5 model)

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Brigadier Chis Mills, Director General Modernisation Army, said that, for the first time, Army was scrutinising the specific needs of combatants via a tiered classification system.

“This has been, and continues to be, a significant driver in the design and configuration of the SCE.” Brigadier Mills said.

Indeed, the ADF’s new SCE is not merely a mobility and force-protection platform based on an infantryonly design delivered to everyone. It is far more nuanced than that.

When evolving the design of the SCE, Army continually scrutinises what dismounted, mounted and combat support/combat service support combatants, both male and female, from Army, Navy and Air Force, require.

By example, the new Large Assault Pack (LAP) and adjustable frame will meet 100% of the ADF’s male and 95% of its female size requirement. By comparison, the field pack issued since the 1990s meets 0% of the female population requirements.

Moreover, capability deep-dives are regularly conducted into the specific needs of select dismounted, mounted and general PMV combatants to better tailor the SCE to their unique requirements.

SCE evolution It is a worthwhile exercise to take a trip down memory lane and review the evolution of SCE since the mid 1990s. In summary, SCE has undergone a radical, continuous process of evolution over the past 20 years.

During the mid 1990s, there was no need for significant protective elements. It would be fair to say the design had not evolved substantially since the Vietnam era. From INTERNET in 1999, the need for protective elements became more prominent.

Chest webbing, of sorts, emerged in the mid-2000s with the introduction of the Enhanced Combat Body Armour System and the Modular Combat Body Armour System (MCBAS).

MCBAS, in particular, was developed to meet the additional force protection requirements for battlegroups deploying to war-torn Iraq.

Recognising the requirement for greater mobility, the Tiered Body Armour System (TBAS) was introduced into use in 2011 for those deploying to the Middle East.

Finally, 2015 saw the advent of SCE provided by Project LAND 125 Phase 3B. This SCE is sustained and issued to force generation units and formations.

While the new SCE is leading edge, it is subject to constant scrutiny to ensure it rapidly evolves in response to emerging threats, coalition modernisation programs and commercial developments.

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Adaptive Acquisition circa 2016 One of the most encouraging aspects of the first 12 months of L125-3B SCE is the scale and speed of evolution. In short, every aspect of the SCE has been scrutinised for iterative improvements by soldiers, sailors, airmen and women. Indeed, many of these enhancements have been driven by user feedback or rigorous trial.

BLOPS has been improved to resolve issues for improvement with the 2015 issue identified on operations and by 1st Brigade.

TCH has been replaced with one helmet for all combatants that is lighter than both the Tier 2 and Tier 3 helmets delivered during 2015.

CHP transitions from an over-ear system to a state-ofthe-art in-ear active system.

The weight and ergonomics of the LCE have been improved. Specifically, the version 4.4 TBAS is a significant enhancement on that delivered during 2015 – as is the LAP and a number of pouches.

Army is already progressing adaptive acquisition priorities for 2017. Headlining this effort is the development of the next evolution of a scalable TBAS system, version 5, and the ongoing development of pouches.

What’s Coming?

A new Large Assault Pack (LAP) has been designed by Diggerworks to improve comfort and sizing and provide detachable storage pouches.

A new adjustable pack frame, the ONE299, has been custom designed by Australian Defence Apparel (ADA) for manufacture in Australia and delivery in 2016, replacing the Downeast and Alice frames, providing a one frame fits all solution.

A new TBAS version 4.4 designed by Diggerworks will provide incremental improvements to version 4.3 and will be delivered with enhancements such as adjusted shoulder strap angle and padding for increased comfort, adjusted plate pocket sizing, and revised cummerbund designs upgraded for improved stability and soft-amour insert integration.

The Tier Zero Heavy and Light, the basic belt webbing systems have been upgraded for improved stability, comfort and integration with TBAS and the new field pack.

The pouch remediation has yielded improvements to the Minimi pouch, medium dump pouch and medic pouch, and a multi-purpose/water-bottle pouch has been added to contain a standard water bottle and cups canteen, or to carry miscellaneous items.

S C E

THE EF88 SYSTEM “when The whole” is greater than the sum of its Ancillary parts

Nine months ago, in CONTACT issue 47, I heralded the arrival of the Australian Army’s new assault rifle, the Enhanced F88 (EF88). At the time, I noted the EF88 only constituted part of the total EF88 system. Indeed, the whole of the EF88 system would not be realised until its remaining parts, state-of-the-art surveillance target acquisition (STA) ancillaries, were introduced in 2016.

Well, here they are. This article completes the story commenced in September last year. It describes the comprehensive EF88 system that will be issued to Australian Army soldiers, Air Force security forces and Navy boarding parties from mid 2016. In other words, for the first time, this article presents the whole of the EF88 system’s parts.

And, without doubt, the whole of the EF88 system will drive an extraordinary enhancement to the lethality of the Australian Defence Force’s close combatants.

EF88 is a watershed system Watershed events rarely occur in armies. Once in a generation? Perhaps even less frequent than that.

Well, from mid 2016, the ADF’s close combatants will experience a watershed enhancement to their lethality.

The catalyst for this watershed enhancement is the introduction EF88 system, which includes the leading Subscribe free at www.aussiecombat.com

EF88 weapon in standard and carbine variants, plus a range of state-of-the-art STA ancillaries.

From mid 2016, the Australian Army will introduce the EF88 system to the 3rd Brigade and other Townsvillebased Army and Air Force units.

The 7th Brigade and other south-east Queensland Army and AF units will follow in 2017, followed by 1st Brigade and others from 2018 to 2021.

In the words of one senior Army officer, “A combination of robust testing, trials and the introduction into service of the EF88 to the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, in 2015, have confirmed the EF88 system is second-to-none as an assault rifle in terms of its lethality, robustness, reliability, ergonomics and light weight”.

EF88: a brief recap While I provided a comprehensive history of the F88 in the September 2015 issue of CONTACT, it is worthwhile recapping how we arrived at this point.

The F88 has proven to be a functional, reliable, accurate and lethal rifle for the Australian soldier since its inception 25 years ago.

However, this is not to say the F88 did not have areas for improvement – both perceived and actual. After all,

there is no such thing as a ‘perfect weapon’.

Many of the F88’s perceived and actual areas for improvement emerged in the ‘noughties’ when operational realities and evolutions in weapon and STA ancillary design made the F88 feel heavier, less balanced and, by virtue of its fixed 1.5-power telescopic sight, less lethal.

Arguably, the same trend affected all assault rifles.

In response, Army pursued options to fix these areas for improvement. Furthermore, Army sought a fix that would future-proof the weapon against emerging requirements and technologies throughout its life span.

The solution is the EF88.

Based on the outcomes of extensive trials supported by soldiers from numerous brigades, integration activities involving Diggerworks, and the introduction of the EF88 into 1RAR in 2015, the weapon has proven itself to be lightweight, ergonomic, modular, balanced, exceedingly lethal, exceptionally reliable and truly leading.

The EF88 also offers an exciting development path to ensure it remains a leading, if not superior assault rifle during its life of type. This growth path will allow the weapon to accommodate future weapon, ammunition and STA ancillary developments over the coming 15 years.

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The anci l l ari e s Without doubt, the STA ancillaries being introduced with the EF88 system will enhance, if not optimise, the lethality and situational awareness of Australian Army combatants.

They include: 1. The side-opening Steyr Manlicher SL40, 40mm grenade launcher attachment (GLA).

This will be issued to tier 2 and 3 grenadiers 2. The Elcan Spectre DR 1-4x enhanced day sight (EDS). This will be issued to all combatants, irrespective of tier.

3. The Qioptiq Kite in-line image intensification (II) device, which will be provided to T2D riflemen and grenadiers.

4. The Elbit Systems TH65 in-line, roll-on/roll-off thermal imaging system (TIS). This will be issued to T2D commanders and marksmen.

5. The INFORCE WMLx multi-function weaponmounted light (WML) with the Daniel Defense off-set rail for integration on the 6 o’clock or 12 o’clock NATO STANAG rails. This will be issued to all T2D combatants.

6. The Grip-Pod detachable foregrip bipod (DFB), with integrated bipod and dual light rail as the standard EF88 forward grip for T2D and T3 combatants, except grenadiers.

7. The Harris bipod with A.R.M.S. clamp lever mount for specialist marksman applications.

8. The Knights Armament detachable foregrip (DF) as a backup grip for grenadiers, armoured fighting vehicle crews and helicopter crew.

9. Grenade launcher sight, designed by Thales Australia.

Photos not to scale

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Tier 2 dismounted grenadier

Tailored lethality not‘one size fits all A long-standing criticism of the Australian Army has been that it adopts a one-size-fits-all approach to equipping its soldiers.

Well, the introduction of the EF88 system debunks this criticism, proving the Australian Army now pursues a tailored, nuanced approach to enhancing the lethality of its soldiers. This tailored, nuanced equipping approach has also been applied to other close-combatant equipment, such as the soldier combat ensemble, which I’ll talk about in a future issue.

Indeed, the EF88 system is characterised by weapon and STA role packs designed to optimise the ability of select soldiers, sailors and airmen and women to achieve the lethality requirements of their specific roles and tiers.

By example, tier 2 dismounted (T2D) combatants will be equipped with ancillaries to enable them to achieve the capabilities required of their specific close-combat roles and tasks.

T2D commanders will be equipped with a standard EF88, enhanced day sight (EDS), thermal imaging system (TIS), weaponmounted torch (WMT) and detachable foregrip/bipod (DFB) to enable them to perform their role within the fire team, patrol, pair, team, section, platoon, troop, company, squadron, battalion and/ or regiment.

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Similarly, T2D marksmen will be equipped with the standard EF88, EDS, TIS, WMT and a robust bipod to enable them to perform their tasks within the fire team.

T2D grenadiers will be endowed with the standard EF88, EDS, image intensification tube (II), WMT, detachable foregrip (DF) and the SL40 grenade launcher attachment (GLA).

Finally, the T2D rifleman will employ the EDS, II, WMT and the DFB. Of course, the specific needs of tier 2 mounted (T2M) have not been neglected. They, like their aviationcrew counterparts, will be equipped with the carbine version of the EF88 with EDS and DF. As for tier 3 combatants, they will be equipped with the EDS, DF and, in the case of T3 grenadiers, the GLA. This configuration has been tailored to their roles and tasks in the field and deployed environments.

Arguably, Aristotle’s most famous saying was that ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’.

This has defined the Australian Army’s approach to designing and equipping ADF close combatants with the EF88 system from mid 2016.

Without question, the whole of the EF88 system, comprising the leading EF88 and tailored state-ofthe-art STA ancillaries, will drive an extraordinary, watershed enhancement in the lethality of ADF close combatants.

Tier 2 mounted standard

Tier 2 dismounted marksman

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WORDS EMILY-JANE MARR MAIN PHOTOS LEADING SEAMAN JAKE BADIOR

Army is rolling out new Combat Uniforms, Jackets, Thermal Undergarments and WetWeather Clothing

Private Hamish Bell

Australian Defence Force members deployed to Iraq have been the first to receive Defence’s two new hightech Australian Multicam Camouflage Uniform (AMCU) uniforms.

AMCU comes in two unique styles: a combat version and a field version. The combat uniform is similar in form, fit and function to the Australian Multicam Pattern Operational Combat Uniform, (AMP OCU) used in Afghanistan for the past five years. The field uniform is similar in form, fit and function to the current Disruptive Pattern Camouflage Uniform (DPCU), with some alterations to enhance a soldier’s mobility, and help them operate across environments.

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This next-generation clothing is the result of continuous operations and observations of Army uniforms in harsh environments both domestically and overseas, as well as a continuous cycle of developing and testing in the field.

A decade or more of lessons learnt on operations in Afghanistan and Iraq have helped in the development of the new uniforms and production is well underway.

AMCU has been well received by deployed troops, who have given Clothing System Program Office very positive feedback.

The uniforms will use the AMCU print pattern – a multicam pattern and print using the DPCU colour scheme.

DPCU has served the ADF well over the past three decades, initially introduced in the mid-1980s and then upgraded in 2005 with Near Infrared (NIR) reflectivity management.

The new uniforms are designed with the needs of the soldier in mind. They are world class and are integrated with new defence technologies, such as body armour and load carriage.

This is a more high-tech camouflage, fit and design.

It will be up there with the very best technologies and be up to date with current designs, fit and function.

The AMCU pattern contains a mixture of six colours, five from DPCU and an extra colour to enhance camouflage properties by day.

The final print pattern and colours were developed by the Defence Science & Technology Group and selected by Army after Digger Works-managed field trials.

Two new uniform designs have been designed to meet the needs of high-intensity combat operations, humanitarian and disaster-relief missions, exercises and for use when in barracks.

The combat uniform shirt is the ideal garment for the combat environment when body armour is required to be worn for extended periods. The combat trousers are very technical with a lot of fabric used for multiple pockets, and come with integrated kneepads.

The field uniform is simplified for those environments where you don’t need as many pockets or the kneepads.

There is also a new AMCU general-purpose jacket, wet-weather clothing and new thermal undergarments.

Clothing Systems Program Office has developed this uniform so it fits a wider range of body shapes – male and female – an aspect not available in the previous uniform.

All of the recommendations received from the female-fit trial in 2013 have been incorporated.

Roll-out of the AMCU, which is manufactured by Australian Defence Apparel in Australia, commenced in earnest from January 2016.

First to receive the uniforms were all members deploying on global operations – Iraq, Afghanistan, Subscribe free at www.aussiecombat.com

South Sudan, Sinai and the Lebanon – and members posted overseas in representational positions.

First units in Australia are Headquarters 1st Division based in Brisbane and their direct command units in Townsville, Sydney and RAAF Base Butterworth.

The rollout continued with all regular and reserve soldiers based in the Darwin region being issued the uniforms in July 2016, with Townsville to follow in July 2017, Brisbane in July 2018, finishing with regional areas and point-of-entry members in 2019.

It is woth noting that there is no discrimination between regular or reserve units in the roll out – all units by region will be issued at the same time.

Army should be fully out of DPCU and into AMCU by 2020.

Private Pat Binyon

COMBAT SHIRT

For use in combat situations when wearing body armour for extended periods on long patrols, the combat shirt has been designed to work in synch with the latest Soldier Combat Ensemble.

It features a high collar in woven fabric with zip closure and a knit-fabric body with no pockets to allow for comfort under body amour.

With an integrated elbow pad and woven-fabric raglan sleeves the shirt is designed to keep soldiers not only comfortable but also cool when worn under body armour.

It also features angled sleeve pockets with Velcro closures, adjustment tabs at the cuffs, which also include a Velcro closure, and a pen pocket on the left sleeve.

A fire-retardant (FR) version is available for Armoured Cavalry crewmen, Army Aviation, petroleum operators and EOD operators.

COMBAT PANTS

Designed for the dismounted close-combatant whose role requires them to go to ground.

The pants feature a stretch woven fabric below the waistband, crotch and around the knee to ensure maximum flexibility.

There is also an adjustable waist and padded waistband, button and zip front fly closure with an integrated saddle seat and cord-lock adjustment at the cuffs.

The pants also provides space for kneepads, which are integrated and held in the correct position by elasticised cord adjustments and Velcro closure tabs at the side of the knee.

The combat pants are also fitted with an abundance of pockets – two side thigh pockets with zip closure, two lower front thigh pockets with Velcro closure, two front pockets below the waistband and two lower-leg pockets with Velcro closures.

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FIELD SHIRT

The field shirt has a five-button closure at the centre front, chest pockets with zip closure and sleeve pockets with button closure.

It also features a shorter coat length and increased width at coat hem compared to the DPCU shirt.

Other features include Velcro adjustment tabs at the cuffs and rank slides at the chest.

FIELD PANTS

The field pants, feature stretch woven fabric below the waistband and crotch and an adjustable waist and padded waistband.

The pants also feature kneepads, which are integrated with Velcro closure tabs, along with two side thigh pockets with zip closure and two internal front pockets below the waistband. Also included is a cord and cord-lock adjustment on the cuffs and a button and zip front fly closure.

A fire retardant version is available for Armoured Cavalry Crewmen, Army Aviation, Petroleum Operators and EOD Operators.

BUSH HAT

The bush hat provides protection from the sun through a one-size brim and a neck flap that can be worn up or down.

It has a draw cord to keep it in place in windy conditions.

GP JACKET

A new general purpose (GP) jacket also comes in the AMCU pattern.

It has been developed to provide warmth and protection against the cold and wind-chill in damp, windy and light-rain conditions.

The GP Jacket features an outer fabric with water-repellent and wind-resistant qualities, with a storable hood and a removable fleece liner to enable the wearer to adapt the jacket’s use in a wide range of climatic conditions.

It is fitted with an abundance of pockets.

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THERMALS

Undergarments consist of six items, all designed in olive green to blend with the AMCU garments.

Members will receive a modacrylic fire-retardant balaclava and neck warmer, medium-weight ‘Norwegian skivvies’, long-sleeve thermal under shirts, and light-weight longjohns, all in Merinoquality wool.

The garments are designed as a layer system to keep members warm down to -5 degrees.

The final item is a new combat high-quality cotton t-shirt that includes raglan sleeves, flat seems, tight-fitting stretch fabric and longer-length body.

WET WEATHER

Wet-weather outer garments – jacket and over trousers – complete the AMCU suite.

Made from a tri-laminate material, it provides protection from rain and wind and is waterproof and breathable for maximum comfort.

The jacket is mid-thigh length and has an integrated peaked hood and collar, which enables the hood to be stowed when not required.

The hood is also designed to fit over the new combat helmet and has adjustments to fit over a bare head.

The jacket also features underarm slide fasteners with welts.

An internal map pocket on the left chest and two front lower patch pockets with flaps and drain holes are also included.

The liner from the GP jacket can be inserted into the wet-weather jacket for additional warmth.

The over trousers have an elasticised waistband with draw cord, action knees which provide extra fabric for when knees are bent, lower leg expanding gussets with Velcro closure tabs for easy use when donning and doffing boots.

Also included are two side openings to access combat or fieldpants pockets underneath.

There will also be a version that is anti-static and fire retardant for specialists.

COMBAT GLOVES

The glove is of a robust construction, dexterous, comfortable and provides reasonable protection from expected hazards. They are also fire retardant.

The gloves can be worn over a wide range of missions and tasks and are compatible for use with platforms, weapon systems and communications equipment.

BOOTS

For the first time, Army will also offer a range of combat boots for soldiers to select from.

The boots are designed to enhance soldier mobility is particular circumstances – general purpose, desert, littoral/tropical and where fire-retardant properties are required.

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Meet the new standard in

Night Vision Goggles Every modern Australian soldier is familiar with night-vision goggles and night-fighting equipment. The technology has come a long way in the relatively few years since soldiers of my vintage (early 1990s) were lucky if they saw a pair of second-hand hand-me-down pilot NVGs to use on gun picket at night.

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By the time INTERFET ramped up in September 1999, Project Ninox had issued the best night fighting equipment then available to almost the entire deploying force, something many allies had not been able to achieve – not to mention the groups who had to face our troops.

Sixteen years later, a major new rollout of the best night-fighting equipment available is again underway.

A very recent government approval of Project LAND 53 Phase 1BR – Night Fighting Equipment Replacement, has enabled the ADF to again take the lead with cutting-edge night-fightingequipment (NFE) technology.

This equipment will enhance the lethality and situational awareness of ADF combatants and give them a considerable advantage during the dark hours on the 24/7 battlefield.

Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne said the first tranche of night-fighting equipment would see our military supplied with new state-of-the-art night-vision goggles, helmet mounts, head harnesses and laser aiming devices.

“Contracts worth $307 million have now been signed with L-3 Oceania, which included the cost of equipment and ongoing support,” Minister Pyne said.

“These night-vision goggles will be provided to Army close combatants, such as special forces and infantry, as well as general combatants, such as drivers and medics, as well as elements of the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force.

“These high-tech goggles are leading-edge and will give our fighting men and women greater capability in the field.”

Minister for Defence Marise Payne said experience over the past decade had highlighted the importance of night-vision technology in modern warfare.

“Deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq have proven the importance of being able to effectively fight at night,” Minister Payne said.

“This new equipment will ensure the ADF retains its nightfighting edge against the enemy ¬– a critical advantage on the battlefield,” she said.

The new suite of night-fighting equipment includes new nightvision goggles, two types of laser devices, a mounting bracket and a head harness.

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RIGHT: A laser aiming, illuminating and ranging device (LAIRD), right, is the L-3 Warrior Systems Squad Rangefinder (SRF) with visible laser, infra-red laser, infra-red illuminator and laser range finder.

This range finder will be able to accurately provide range data to targets at distances exceeding 1000m (ADF figure) or out to 3000m according to L-3 Warrior Systems. This device also offers both low-power (class 1) and high-power (class 3B) laser output to permit employment in training and operational environments. L-3 Warrior Systems says this new device offers significant savings in size, weight and power consumption over previous units.

LEFT: The new night vision goggles (NVGs) manufactured by L-3 Warrior Systems, is the PVS-31A binocular NVG with black-and-white phosphor screen, which offers a significant increase in performance over legacy NVGs (more detail in the story).

The key element of the night-fighting suite of equipment is, of course, the night-vision goggles.

The new system employs the binocular PVS-31A with a black-and-white phosphor image.

It is a compact, lightweight, third-generation binocular that offers superior situational awareness compared to a single-tube monocular.

At just 356g, the new NVG is 35 per cent lighter than legacy binoculars and not a lot more than recent monocular devices.

Binocular systems provide stereoscopic vision, enhancing depth perception for the combatant, and provide significant detection increases under typical conditions.

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However, a unique feature of the PVS-31A is that both tubes are independent and can be used as monoculars on either eye by rotating either the left or right optic into the stowed position as desired. When stowed, the unused optic automatically shuts down.

This offers a level of redundancy in case one optic malfunctions or is damaged.

NVGs are often worn on soldiers’ helmets throughout a mission, even in daylight hours, ready to use in buildings, tunnels and so on, or to eliminate the need for mounting when night comes. As such, however, they can cause a snag hazard. So, having the goggles fold much flatter against the helmet when not in use is another significant advantage.

The PVS-31 family actually comes in the now ‘traditional’ green image or in black and white.

Australia opted for the black and white PVS-31A because the image is more natural, with superior contrast detail in shapes and shadows and has better depth perception.

Gain or brightness of the image can be adjusted by a simple rotation of the on/off switch, which is centrally located and is easy to use, even while wearing gloves.

PVS-31A can run off a single AA battery in the goggles themselves or via a longer-lasting remote battery pack mounted on the back of the helmet. The remote battery not only extends the on-time of the goggles but also serves to counterbalance their weight.

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RIGHT: Laser aiming, illuminating device (LAID), right, is another L-3 Warrior Systems product – the PEQ-16B with visible laser, infra-red laser, infra-red illuminator and visible illuminator/torch.

The laser will enable both low-power (class 1) and high-power (class 3B) laser for training and operational environments.

Delivery of the new equipment will occur in yearly batches, out to 2022 and maintenance support will be provided in Australia by L-3 Warrior Systems subsidiary L-3 Oceania.

1RAR and the School of Infantry will be first to receive the equipment, to round out the LAND 125-3C Night Fighting Equipment previously delivered with the EF88.

Project LAND 53 Phase 1BR – Night Fighting Equipment Replacement is not the end of the road for investment in this field, however. Defence has a $2billion fully funded ‘Night Fighting Equipment Roadmap’ that it says will continue to enhance night-fighting equipment out to 2040, and help ADF combatants maintain a battlefield edge – even in the dark.

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Key features of LAND 53 Phase 1BR: • Lighter, better, night-vision equipment.

• Integration of laser-range-finding capability to individual and crew-served weapons.

• Integrated torch and infra-red illuminator on the laser.

• Low- and high-power laser modes to optimise safe training and operational employment.

• Lasers attach to standard weapon rails (NATO 4694 and Picatinny 1913).

• Requires no specific NVG driver kits.

• Interface permits component upgrades without system replacement.

TAB DATA Manufacturer: L-3 Warrior Systems Dimensions: 107mm x 107mm x 86mm Weight: 356g Magnification: 1X Field of view: 40 degrees Focus: 45cm to infinity Power: One AA battery internal or four AAs remote Battery life: Up to 15 hours single battery or up to 50 hours with remote batteries Waterproof: 20m for 2 hours Finish: Matte black, corrosion resistant 97

CADET ER CORN

Further information on Cadets can be found at

www.cadetnet.gov.au

A Discussion of the value, training and future of the Australian Air Force Cadets, and a short history of the broader cadet movement in Australia.

By Gary Martinic – abridged by CONTACT Since 1941, hundreds of thousands of young Australians have undertaken training in an organisation that was originally founded as the Air Training Corps (ATC), later (circa 1976) to become the AIRTC, and which since 2001, has been known as the Australian Air Force Cadets.

AAFC is the air element of the Australian Defence Force Cadets. Operating overwhelmingly as a volunteer organisation, the ADFC today boasts approximately 27,000 young Australians aged between 13 and 20, supervised, trained and mentored by a small, professional force of some 2600 volunteer instructors and officers.

Approximately 6400 cadets and 900 staff comprise the AAFC service, which is administered and actively supported by the Royal Australian Air Force.

Formed with the key aims of providing training in leadership, initiative and self reliance; developing an interest in aviation, history, air-force knowledge and discipline and, in its widest sense, developing Australian youth into responsible young adults of good character.

Many famous Australians, including former Prime Minister John Howard, champion golfer Greg Norman, popular actor Russell Crowe, Chief of the 98

Defence Force Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, the former Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Geoff Brown, and of course a host of famous career army officers of the past including Generals Sir Thomas Blamey and Sir Frank Berryman have been cadets.

In fact, approximately 18% of the lower ranks of the ADF and up to 50% of key senior officers began their military careers serving in a branch of the ADFC. Despite being formed in wartime and from very modest beginnings, the AAFC has evolved to become a highly respected. Despite changing fortunes over 75 years, the AAFC (and the broader ADFC movement) have become important national institutions that have contributed much to the history of our country.

History of the Air Training Corps

Formed with the aim of earmarking and providing pre-entry training for air and ground crews for the RAAF during WWII, the Air Training Corps was officially ‘born’ in February 1941, when the War Cabinet authorised the establishment of this new ‘Cadet Corps’ which was, during the interwar years, a part of the RAAF Reserve.

It formally commenced operating on 11 June of

that year, under the leadership of Group Captain WA Robertson and a small number of staff.

In August of that same year the first Wing was formed. By October, most of the states and territories of Australia had their own Wings, formed by a small group of dedicated volunteers, most of whom were WWI veterans, many of whom were members of the Royal Flying Corps or the Australian Flying Corps and all of whom were now RAAF personnel.

Its aims worked magnificently – so much so that by October 1943, the ATC boasted some 12,000 cadets in training.

A significant number of ATC cadets completed aviation-related training and went off to fight as air or ground crews in the war in Europe. Many did not return.

By the time the war in the Pacific had ended, the number of ATC cadets had dropped to just over 7500 and had dropped to just 3000 by the end of 1949.

In the context of peace it was made clear that cadets were no longer obligated to enlist in the RAAF, but that ‘should they desire to do so, their enlistment would of course be welcomed’.

Up to the early 1970s, a period of mild to moderate growth ensued, despite only moderate support from

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the ADF and little if any from government. This was also a period in which school-based and non-schoolbased cadet units became more distinct.

Disaster was struck for the organization when in 1975, the ATC was officially disbanded by the-then Whitlam Labor Government, heavily influenced by a strong public anti-war sentiment. Despite this, the core of the ATC survived, mostly thanks to a strong base of RAAF reservists, volunteers and parents.

The Fraser Coalition Government, which came into power after the famous ‘dismissal’, completely reinvigorated and reformed the ATC in 1976, though largely as a non-military organization – and renamed AIRTC. A few years later, in 1982, girls were encouraged to join and many were admitted.

Over the next decade or so, the numbers of both cadets and staff dramatically increased.

I the year 2000, the first signs of enhanced government support were initiated with the important Topley Review, which lead to the formation of the Directorate of Defence Force Cadets (DDFC) – a triservice policy-support directive – and a $6m Cadet Enhancement Program.

In 2001, AIRTC changed its name to Australian Air Force Cadets.

Despite the new name change, which seemed to suggest a nationally cohesive organisation, there were actually eight separate entities based on essentially state boundaries, with systems and standards of training across ground and air subjects varying significantly and, while AAFC cadets and staff wore identical uniforms, they still were not fully supported by the RAAF. This all changed in April 2005 when the AAFC was reorganised into operational and functional wings, with a central national policy with command authority.

Early History and Changing Fortunes of the Cadet Movement

The cadet movement has had a profound impact on many generations of Australian men and women.

Many fondly remember the time they spent in uniform learning simple skills such as field craft, navigation, survival and first aid, as part of a popular movement that also developed important life skills such as initiative, confidence, self-discipline, leadership and, of course, a team spirit.

During the years of WWII the instruction to cadets was more of a military nature, in which they were Subscribe free at www.aussiecombat.com

taught tactics such as defence and attack drills using weapons, often in an effort to make the training as ‘realistic’ as possible, and in the hope they would later go on to enlist into regular military service, which many did.

Today, the cornerstone of the training is aimed at character development and adventurous training that fosters qualities of leadership, cooperation and self-reliance.

Originally formed with the intention ‘to train their boys for national defence in a time of national emergency’, which at the time grew out of a fear of war with Napoleon in the late 1850s, the very first cadet corps were formed at many famous English schools such as Eton, Harrow, Shrewsbury and Winchester.

The (army) cadet movement as it was then, specifically focused on strict discipline, particular military skills, and ceremonial drill lessons.

An ever-present fear of war with France, as well as the popularity of rifle-shooting competitions (which were used as an incentive to encourage young cadets to join) actually helped the cadet corps to become very popular.

Of course it wasn’t long before the cadet movement was established in Australia, with the introduction of the Commonwealth Military Cadet Corps, which prospered until the depression years of the 1890s, when a number of schools were forced to close their cadet units.

Earliest records seem to indicate that the honour of being the oldest army cadet unit belongs to St. Mark’s College in Sydney, which was originally established in 1866, although many other units were similarly formed in Australia’s eastern and southern colonies.

In contrast, the naval cadets were not established until the beginning of the 20th century.

Many years later a resurgence returned to the cadet corps. In fact, compulsory cadet service was introduced in 1911, and Australian youth could serve either at school or community-based units, with firststage enrolments peaking at around 100,000 cadets.

Like many large-scale organisations, cadets have suffered from financial ebbs and flows over the years.

The community also became increasingly uneasy about youth undertaking tactics and war-like training, which many considered a form of ‘youth militarism’, especially at the time of the Vietnam War. 99

CADET ER CORN A Strong Program of Formal Training

AAFC cadets undertake formal classroom instruction in a range of subjects during weekly parade nights.

Some of these include military service knowledge, aviation, fieldcraft and survival, drill and ceremonial.

Each of these subjects are taught at four separate levels – recruit, basic, proficiency and advanced.

Once cadets have passed advanced levels of training they are eligible to undertake specialist elective subjects that are normally undertaken as special projects.

Additionally, highest ranking cadets such as cadet under officers and cadet warrant officers are able to accrue 2.0 ATAR points towards their Higher School Certificate, and also towards a Certificate IV in Frontline Management.

Once core subjects are completed, senior cadets are offered specialist elective subjects to study.

These include but are not limited to; air traffic control, fire safety, radio communications, field operations, hovercraft technology, motor vehicle awareness, aircraft engines, meteorology, rocketry, air navigation, basic visual tracking, and aviation weapons.

Types of Activities Offered

AAFC cadets are offered a broad range of activities to undertake, which include remembrance marches and services on Anzac Day, Remembrance Day, Vietnam Veterans Day, and Servicemen’s Day. They are also offered opportunities to undertake weekend field exercises concentrating on survival in the bush, fieldcraft techniques, navigation and leadership.

Of course, cadets can experience gliding and powered flight, as well as exchange opportunities with overseas cadets on the International Air Cadet Exchange program.

From a team-building perspective, they are also regularly offered fun activities such as white-water rafting, rock climbing, I-Fly indoor parachuting, abseiling, caving, and a ropes-over-water course at ADFA. 100

Further information on Cadets can be found at

www.cadetnet.gov.au

Flying - a cornerstone activity

The AAFC has always provided opportunities for flying activities to both its cadets and its staff members, in the form of both powered and glider aircraft.

The purpose of this has been to train and test members in aeronautical skills, and to help expose AAFC cadets to aviation training and flying skills in general.

This was first introduced in the 1950s and was popular from the start.

Approximately 66 gliding scholarships and 20 powered-flying scholarships are awarded every year in the AAFC, which are financed and supported by the RAAF. Many cadets and staff have achieved their training goals and their ‘wings’ in this way, and continue to train and mentor junior members.

Recently, the AAFC has been very fortunate, with the RAAF providing the newest gliders to use in its training program. Eleven ASK-21 Mi self-launching gliders and eleven DG-1001 Club soaring gliders were officially handed over to the AAFC by Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence Darren Chester and Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Geoff Brown in March 2015.

The RAAF has also financed the construction and development of a new National Aviation Centre for the AAFC in Bathurst.

Comments from former cadets

A huge majority of those who have served in any branch of the cadets have only positive things to say about the movement. For example, an oft-quoted remark by ex-members is how serving in the cadets has ‘transformed’ their lives for the better, going on to explain that their cadet experience was extremely valuable because of the military-orientated training to build self-reliance, resourcefulness, endurance and a sense of service to the community.

Many said they felt a part of ‘one country’, as the types of activities that cadets regularly run promote and build a sense of teamwork and togetherness, often achieved not only via military-style bivouacs, but also through teamwork and bonding activities

such as various sports, and even orchestras. These experiences work to set them up for success in later life and also provide many with a sense of patriotism.

Another ex-member of cadets recounted how the organisation didn’t just teach him how to be competent using a rifle, and how to navigate, but it also taught him how to think quickly in challenging situations. Most importantly, he said that it set him on the ‘straight and narrow’, making him understand right from wrong, and thereby instilling a sense of worth and respect for both himself as well as others around him. This same person went on to contribute as an adult staff member for 17 years to ‘give something back’ to the organization that had such a positive affect on his life.

Another ex-army cadet fondly remembers the discipline, training and education he was given, much of which he subsequently used during his 30-year-long career in the regular army, and felt very strongly that similar opportunities should be provided to school-age teenagers today.

Another went on to a long and rewarding career in the RAAF (as did many others). This ex-member recounts that his very positive experience in the AAFC would stay with him for the rest of his life, and concluded by asking, “Which other youth organisation gives you the chance to learn to fly or glide, to compete in target shooting, to navigate in the field – including at night – to learn a musical instrument, or to participate in team sports?”

It was also strongly felt that many of these exmembers of cadets had done more with their lives than had they not been cadets, and that the friendships made during these formative years remained throughout their lives.

Many parents of cadets comment on the high levels of discipline and personal responsibility they see in their kids.

The importance of quality adult staff

The scale and scope of the cadet activities is only as good as the quality and calibre of the staff who plan and implement them. It is no good having myriad interesting subjects to learn, or activities in which to

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participate, unless you have the staff who have the knowledge and experience to teach, train and supervise them adequately.

The cadet movement is fortunate to be run mostly

by RAAF reservists and a number of non-military adult volunteers, some of whom were cadets themselves.

Both groups provide a significant wealth of knowledge and experience that directly contributes to whatever class is being taught, or whatever activity being run.

Also, it is interesting how quality staff can have a positive influence on cadets during their service.

The consensus of many former cadets is how it was the work of adult staff that often set high standards, and inspired them to achieve greater things, and even to bring out very hidden talents, through constant encouragement and mentoring.

Summary

Regardless of the changing fortunes of the AAFC and the broader cadet movement over time, it is clear that ‘cadets’ have been an institution that has touched the lives of a significant proportion of our population over the past nearly 150 years.

It is also clear that throughout the history of the cadet movement there have always been four key pillars that have been vital to operations in the past, and will likely do so in the future.

These have been a combination of factors including important educational and community interests, financial resourcing, the level of government and military support, and the inherent outlook of both on the cadets.

As has been evident in the past, any disproportion between these pillars will likely weaken the future structure of the organisation.

The Brewer study conducted in Australia and two earlier studies from Canada and the UK have all led to the same general conclusion – that ‘governmentsponsored school-aged military cadet schemes are valuable’, in terms of national, military, educational and sociological benefits.

Another substantial Australian study by McAllister assessed all three elements of the Australian cadets Subscribe free at www.aussiecombat.com

also found that, ‘by any standards, the [ADF cadets] is an important recruiting ground for the Australian military’.

And, Huston, in his research into Australian Army Cadets saw the value of the scheme as it gave the cadets a foundation of military knowledge and discipline, developed leadership qualities, selfreliance and initiative, as well as a sense of tradition which encouraged cadets to continue in some form of military service.

While he did feel that training wasn’t sophisticated, it did provide a solid understanding of rank structure, barracks routine, discipline, fieldcraft and military organisation, which placed former cadets at a significant advantage over non-cadets undertaking training at either ADFA or RMC. Huston argued it was not only important to reinvigorate the Cadet Corps, but indeed to regularly maintain their numbers at high levels because of the inherent value they bring to the ADF. In the end, he affirmed that the cadet scheme should be considered an investment rather than an expense.

In the electronic age of video games. sedentary lifestyles, record rates of obesity and other lifestyle influences, it has never been more important to engage Australia’s youth and make them aware of the wide range of healthy activities that the AAFC, and the broader ADFC can offer.

The author

In his civilian role as Laboratory Manager and supervising scientist, Gary Martinic manages the Centre for Infectious Diseases & Microbiology and the Marie Bashir Institute of Biosecurity & Infectious Diseases at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research.

Wearing his ‘other hat’, Flying Officer Martinic works as Training Officer-Operations, Firearms Quality Manager and Unit Safety Coordinator at 307 (City of Bankstown) Squadron, Australian Air Force Cadets, Lidcombe, NSW. 101

CONTACT Air Land & Sea is dedicated to presenting stories, photos and video that capture the essence of serving-members’ lives, as far as possible in their own words.

CONTACT Air Land & Sea blog is our internet-based headquarters where we publish daily news and other interesting, related items. We also use Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and YouTube as ’embassies’ where we engage our audience, inviting them back to our headquarters.

CONTACT Air Land & Sea newsletter is a free fortnightly email-based publication that draws attention to recent news stories. Its intent is to bring readers the best of the previous fortnight in a handy-reference format, linking back to the original story in our headquarters (web site) – and updating subsequent developments to older stories.

CONTACT Air Land & Sea magazine is a high-quality, full-colour, features-based magazine published four times per year. Initially launched in March 2004 as a traditional paper-based magazine, it switched to digital in 2013. It is now only available by (free) subscription.

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