“There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea”

Joseph Conrad (English Novelist, 1857 – 1924)

On the 9th of January 2006, three members of 1 MP Coy and one member of 3 MP Coy reported to Enoggera Barracks in Brisbane to commence pre deployment training in order to perform the duties of the MP Detachment for OP RELEX II, Transit Security Element (TSE) 40. From there we travelled to Darwin and waited for our ship to come in.

The first ship we deployed in departed Darwin late January with two MPs attached to a Transit Security Section (TSS) on board. The other two MPs would fly to Christmas Island and await our arrival in two weeks time. Little did the two of us on board the ship know that while we were floating around the middle of the ocean, those on the Island were enjoying fun in the sun, scuba diving courses and exploring the local drinking holes.

Meanwhile, the MPs on the ship were busy learning the Navy Use of Force Continuum and methods of restraint. We also attended language lessons to learn various useful phrases in Indonesian and spent many hours in the ship's gym.

Life at sea can be rather tedious for Army personnel, but it all depends on how much you decide to contribute. We had rosters assigning Army personnel to Gally (kitchen) duties as well as inserting them into the Watch Bill, which had them keeping lookout and if they were really keen, they could have a go at the helm of the ship, rack up the appropriate hours and become a qualified helmsman.

We soon became accustomed to the various ‘pipes' or loud speaker announcements on board a sea going vessel; the first of the day being ‘wakey, wakey', which is effectively the ship's alarm clock. Without a doubt, our favourite pipes would have been ‘hands to swimming stations', giving us the all clear to put on our bathers and jump off the side of the ship, and ‘hands to fishing stations', which of course meant getting your lines out and having a crack at the local catch.

Unfortunately, the pipe we all wanted to hear to get us into action was the ‘Hands to Boarding Stations', but it never came. The upside of this revelation being that the Navy presence in the area is clearly an effective deterring device.

After a few weeks at sea, we were ready for a bit of R & R on Christmas Island where we were able to enjoy the stunning snorkelling and the amazing rugged landscape as we trudged along with the local Hash House Harrier running club, dodging red crabs at every turn and often getting stuck in their holes.

Whilst the experience may sound romantic, it's as the quote above ? the sea may seem enticing, it calls to you, but once aboard a sea going vessel, experiencing sea sickness and times of boredom, you soon feel trapped on a very small lump of steel and separated from the world as you know it.

However, everyone's experience of OP RELEX is different. Some people spend much more time on the Island than on the ship and vice versa. Many people are based out of Darwin on patrol boats instead of frigates. So, I am confident that if you were to ask each individual of their experience on OP RELEX, you would get many varying degrees of answer, which in itself defines the OP. It is an ever-changing environment with varying demands and requirements and certainly not an experience anyone should shy away from