More Defence news: 12 October 2009 - 18 October 2009

HMAS Kanimbla prepares for Padang beach landing | Padang assist primary health care facility | Special Forces Mentoring in Orunzgan Bears Fruit | Operational Success in Southern Afghanistan | Australia-China Defence Strategic Dialogue | Padang Assist air lift operation | ADF engineers assess structural damage in Padang | Special Forces continue to work with Afghan communities | Afghan soldier and two Australian soldiers wounded by IED | HMAS Kanimbla on route to Padang | Australian soldier wounded in engagement with Taliban

HMAS Kanimbla prepares for Padang beach landing

16 October - HMAS Kanimbla is steaming towards the Indonesian city of Padang, set to deliver personnel, stores and equipment. 
The ADF’s Joint Task Force Operations Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Gavin Keating, has briefed senior officers from the Indonesian Military (TNI) on Kanimbla’s arrival and its role in the ADF’s earthquake relief effort.

Lieutenant Colonel Keating said the TNI had agreed to the Australian concept of support and on how TNI activities will be coordinated and integrated with the Australians.

“We see that close collaboration with the TNI throughout all phases is essential and we are looking forward to working closely with TNI,” Lieutenant Colonel Keating said.

“There are four major projects. The first is the construction of a temporary medical clinic and the other three projects consist of clearing a landslide on one of the major roads; clearing two schools which have been damaged by the earthquake; and then finally repairing a bridge in the local area.”

Commander of the Australian Joint Task Force, Colonel Mark Brewer, said both parties were pleased with the outcomes of the meeting.

“We’ve had close liaison for several days in the lead up to what was a formal brief this morning for the TNI General in Padang,” Colonel Brewer said.

“That went very well and we’re now confirming the details on the ground.

“We’ll be working with TNI, local police, and local Indonesian authorities to complete the projects identified by AusAID and the Indonesian Government.”

More: Media Release | Image Gallery

Padang assist primary health care facility

16 October - Medical treatment is being given to the residents of a remote Indonesian village by an Australian Army Primary Health Care Facility (PHCF) in the wake of the devastating earthquake which rocked the region two weeks ago.

Members of the 1st Health Support Battalion (1HSB) from Sydney, have been providing basic medical aid to the villagers of SeiGerringing, 70km north of the city of Padang for over a week and have treated more than 400 patients.

Working closely with the World Health Organisation, the facility is providing medical support in the place of a local medical clinic which was damaged in the 30th September earthquake.
Patients have been travelling up to four hours just to attend the military health clinic and are presenting with a wide range of illnesses and conditions. The clinic is treating up to 70 patients each day.

Captain (CAPT) Bradley Holls is a Nursing Officer from 1HSB and is currently providing medical treatment in the village and the local people are seeking help for very serious medical conditions.

“Most of the injuries from the earthquake have been presented to us and now people are arriving with more chronic illnesses,” Captain Bradley said.
The centre is also providing treatment for emergency cases, as required.

“Last night we had a young man carried in after he fell off his motorbike. He had suffered some serious head lacerations and we were able to stabilise him and get him transferred to a larger hospital with a surgical capability,” Captain Bradley said.

Providing primary care is only one function of the facility. The commanding officer of the clinic Lieutenant Colonel Lachlan Sinclair, has been involved in community engagement programs with a local school and other community groups. They will soon send out small teams to provide aid to settlements within a ten kilometre radius of SeiGerringing.

“We have been working with the local mayor and police to help integrate ourselves into the community,” Lieutenant Colonel Lachlan Sinclair said.

“We were also invited to speak with the children from the local junior high school about what we are doing. It was a privilege to talk with them.

“What we are doing here is very important to the local population; every time we come somewhere like this, a little piece of it stays with our hearts forever.”

More: Media Release | Image Gallery

Special Forces Mentoring in Orunzgan Bears Fruit

16 October - The partnership between Afghan National Security Force and the Australian Special Operations Task Group has resulted in the graduation of the first class of Afghan policemen who will work alongside the Australian forces.

The graduates form the basis of the newly-established Uruzgan Provincial Police Reserve Company and have recently completed three months of mentoring by Australian Special Operations Task Group soldiers.

At a ceremony held in stifling heat on a sandy parade ground near the Australian base at Tarin Kowt, the SOTG Commanding Officer, who cannot be named for security reasons, told the new policemen they could be justifiably proud of their achievements.

“Your effort, hard work and dedication is recognised today as you graduate as Afghan policemen. It is a solemn responsibility that you have chosen to accept and one that you must faithfully undertake to discharge fairly, honestly and with courage. You owe this to your people and they should expect nothing less.”  

Provincial Police Reserve units have recently been formed in all provinces across Afghanistan and draw their members from local towns and villages rather than a national recruiting base.

The SOTG Commanding Officer said the men come from the same communities that they will now serve and protect.

“They understand the local issues, and the bond with their local communities is very important,” he said. “Being a policeman in Afghanistan is not easy.  They risk their lives everyday to serve their people. ”

Australian Special Forces have been closely involved at every stage in the evolution of the Uruzgan force, with Special Forces mentors working alongside Afghan trainers and interpreters in order to raise the unit.

The mentoring and training included classroom lessons and joint operations with the Special Operations Task Group out amongst the local population.

 “Training them to be Afghan police officers is only part of the work. The key is in training them so they, in time, can assume the responsibility for training later courses.” the Commanding Officer said.

“The objective is a self-sustaining unit, one that’s able to recruit, train and operate without the need for outside support. With the commitment these officers have demonstrated, we’ll achieve it.”

The last few weeks of the course provided a special challenge for the new graduates, taking place over the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which forbids eating and drinking during daylight hours.

“These men continued training throughout Ramadan, going without food and drink during some extremely hot days for over twenty days now. It’s been a fantastic effort” the Commanding Officer said.

The new policemen are under no illusions about the difficult, and dangerous, job ahead now that graduation day is behind them.

While their work at the grass-roots village level keeps them close to the communities they need to protect, it inevitably increases their exposure to insurgents attempting to dominate these same communities through threats, intimidation and violence.

In the words of one Australian Special Forces mentor, “You don’t need to look any further than that risk to understand the strength of their desire to see Afghanistan become, once again, stable and secure.”

Operational Success in Southern Afghanistan

15 October - Afghan and Australian Forces are currently conducting Operation Baz Panje in the Mirabad Valley in Southern Afghanistan creating stronger relationships between Afghan locals and the Afghan and coalition forces.

Soldiers from the Afghan National Security Force (ANSF), Afghan National Army (ANA), the 2nd Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force (MRTF – 2), Special Operations Task Group (SOTG) and coalition partners have commenced a series of operations as part of Baz Panje, steadily advancing counterinsurgency strategies in line with ISAF Commander General McChrystal’s guidance.

Operation ‘Baz Panje’, meaning ‘Falcon’s Talon’, is a critical step in spreading the coalition’s influence into the Mirabad area by building a new patrol base, conducting shuras and providing basic medical support to the local communities.

The overriding objective of Baz Panje is to gain and maintain the support of the local Afghan population by demonstrating coalition and ANSF ability to protect them, and offering an achievable, positive alternative to continued Taliban domination.

As one of the largest air mobile operations in recent times into Uruzgan Province, this event has been hailed a huge success. Upon arrival of the forces a series of meetings with key local leaders were held to understand local issues and help build strong relationships.

These village meetings, or shuras, are a vital means of reassuring the community of the Afghan and Australian soldiers’ determination to prevent a resurgence of Taliban influence, intimidation and violence in the area. The shuras also paved the way for direct community assistance in the form of basic medical clinics.

Though only small steps, these clinics have made a real difference to the wellbeing of many in these communities, and have provided tangible evidence that the health issues of women and children were also recognised as important by coalition forces.

Months of intense and carefully applied pressure on insurgent sanctuary areas by the ANSF, SOTG and their partners in Uruzgan province have helped pave the way for a permanent ANSF Coalition and presence in the province’s Mirabad region.

Australia-China Defence Strategic Dialogue

15 October - The 12th Defence Strategic Dialogue between Australia and China has occurred in Canberra. The Chief of the Defence Force and the Secretary of Defence met with the People’s Liberation Army Chief of General Staff, General Chen Bingde.

This is the second time the talks have been held at this level. The talks were upgraded to the Chief of Defence/Secretary level last year in recognition of the developing ties between the two militaries.

The Secretary of Defence, Dr Watt, said that the Dialogue was an opportunity to exchange views on emerging strategic trends and establish a new series of engagement initiatives in education and areas of shared interest such as disaster relief and maritime security.

“I am pleased to welcome General Chen to Australia and look forward to us consolidating and building our bilateral defence relationship,” Dr Watt said.

“Our discussions today have been frank and productive and reaffirm that we both view our defence engagement as an important part of the broader bilateral relationship.”

Air Chief Marshal Houston noted that the Strategic Dialogue enabled the senior leadership of the Australian and Chinese defence organisations to hold regular discussions on common security challenges, improve our understanding of each other's approaches and advance bilateral defence cooperation. 

"This type of dialogue is a major strategic asset for both countries. Our discussions today and those at the working‑level reflect a mutual commitment to addressing challenges that face our region,” Air Chief Marshal Houston said.

More: Media release | Image gallery

Padang Assist air lift operation

14 October - Royal Australian Air Force personnel are undertaking a massive air lift operation to ensure essential relief workers and supplies reach the earthquake affected region of West Sumatra.

Around 111 RAAF personnel are involved in the operation. This includes air load teams, pilots and loadmasters, as well as two C-130 aircraft based in Jakarta and one in Darwin. The C-130s have flown more than 50 sorties between Jakarta and Padang, carrying more than 230 tonnes of cargo.

Additionally, the RAAF air load team has assisted unloading nearly all foreign military and chartered civilian aircraft that have flown emergency aid to the earthquake affected area. Initially the air load team had the only heavy forklift in Padang.

Flight Lieutenant Paul Kretschmann, Officer in Charge of one of the air load teams, said it had been hard work but they had achieved a lot.

“In the first week, we’ve unloaded in the vicinity of 250 tonnes of cargo from over 100 ADF, foreign military and charter aircraft,” Flight Lieutenant Kretschmann said.

“The team has supported RAAF operations plus aircraft from Indonesia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, and Singapore.”

Sergeant Mathew Warnock, a Loadmaster from one of the RAAF C-130 Hercules involved in the airlift operation, said everything from vehicles and equipment through to basic essentials such as food, water and blankets have been flown in by the aircrew and unloaded by the teams.

“We’ve been flying two sorties a day into the airfields at max capacity, so the aircraft have pretty much been max weight or bulked out with the pallets,” he said.

“We’ve been taking about twenty five thousand pounds (11,300kg) a trip into the Padang.”

Commander of the Australian Joint Task Force, Colonel (COL) Mark Brewer, said the team had provided a mission critical role at the airport.

More: Media release

ADF engineers assess structural damage in Padang

14 October - Army civil engineers and construction specialists are using their skills to assess buildings that can be salvaged after the Padang earthquake two weeks ago.

ADF teams, in co-ordination with AusAID, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Indonesian government, are providing structural assessments to determine what is repairable.

Army Engineer Sergeant Chris Jones says the assessment process has posed challenges for the team.

“Looking from a builder’s perspective, construction methods are very similar around the world, the difference is the quality of the materials,” Sergeant Jones said.

“We are looking at a lot of superficial damage to partition walls that don’t carry any of the structural weight. These walls can be replaced or repaired without affecting the ability of the building to remain standing.”

Many buildings only reveal the extent of damage on closer inspection.

Adding to the danger of collapse, many disaster victims are seeking refuge in buildings, but have no idea of the danger they are in.

Civil engineer Captain Peter Cronkhorn says with so few buildings left standing for shelter, assessing the city’s main hospital unsafe has been a difficult decision.

“The ground floor is still being used in a limited capacity but there is damage to the columns and you can see where parts of the building have shifted,” Captain Cronkhorn said.

“In this case, we are recommending the staff move people and equipment to buildings at the back of the hospital grounds until the main building can be rebuilt.

More: Media release

Special Forces continue to work with Afghan communities

14 October - Australian Special Forces soldiers in conjunction with the Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) have applied months of intense pressure on insurgents in Uruzgan province, making their presence felt in the province’s Mirabad region.

A series of operations in the area since July have seen the Australian Special Operations Task Group (SOTG) and ANSF steadily advance a counterinsurgency strategy.

The strategy aims to gain and maintain the support of the local Afghan population by demonstrating ANSF and coalition ability to protect them, and by offering them an achievable, positive alternative to continued Taliban domination.

Operations designed to paralyse or disrupt insurgent leadership networks were a key first step.

The main outcome of these operations was to damage the control that local insurgent leaders and improvised explosive device facilitators have over local fighters, reducing their ability to intimidate and threaten the local population.

Building rapidly on these successes against insurgent leaders, ANSF and their Australian Special Forces partners met with key community leaders in follow-on missions across the Mirabad region to hear and better understand the fears, hopes and expectations of their people.

These village meetings, or shuras, were a vital means of reassuring the community of the Afghan and Australian soldiers’ determination to prevent a resurgence of Taliban influence, intimidation and violence in the area.

The shuras also paved the way for direct community assistance in the form of basic medical clinics.

The health issues of women and children have been recognized as important by coalition forces and many of the clinics were comprised of female medics and interpreters.

Basic life support infrastructure needs were also identified through the shuras with the set up of a water pump in a village by the SOTG, assisting in crop irrigation for a community of several hundred people.

Improved levels of trust and support between the local population, coalition and ANSF has been a positive outcome from the Mirabad operation and the ADF expects that this will continue into the future.

More: Operation Slipper | Image Gallery

Afghan soldier and two Australian soldiers wounded by IED

14 October - An Afghan National Army soldier has been badly wounded and two Australian soldiers suffered non life threatening wounds, when an IED detonated close to their partnered patrol in southern Afghanistan.

The Afghan soldier was evacuated to a coalition medical facility for further treatment, while the two Australian soldiers who suffered non-penetrating blast wounds were also evacuated to the military hospital at Tarin Kowt for observation.
Chief of Joint Operations, Lieutenant General Mark Evans, says the two Australian soldiers will be monitored to ensure there are no further effects from the blast.

More: Media Release

HMAS Kanimbla on route to Padang

13 October - HMAS Kanimbla is on the way to Padang with a team of approximately 140 engineers and support personnel, as well as their specialist equipment, to contribute to the recovery phase of the Sumatran earthquake relief operation.

Kanimbla, with a combined ship’s company and embarked force of around 320,rounded the top end of Australia this week after departing her home port in Sydney and calling into Townsville to pick up landing craft and two Sea King helicopters.

Commanding Officer, Commander Timothy Byles said that Kanimbla has plenty of experience in humanitarian aid efforts and the ship’s various capabilities will offer more flexibility to the operation.

“When you see the footage on TV of the devastation in the affected area, it does make you feel quite special to be able to offer something,” said Commander Byles.

“With the helicopters embarked we expect to be able to provide the local authorities with further options to reach remote and isolated communities.

“Our Primary Care Reception Facility is also an extremely flexible and capable unit, with 31 highly trained medical staff, it will prove a very valuable asset once we are on location.”

Kanimbla will take around five days to reach Padang, where she will disembark the engineers and equipment and remain on station, assisting the mission.

The engineers will focus on tasks that have been scoped by reconnaissance teams during the past week. Identified tasks include: clearing irrigation channels, repairing a damaged bridge, clearing rubble and debris from two schools, and constructing a semi-permanent medical centre for local health workers.

More: Media Release | Image Gallery

Special Forces Mentoring in Orunzgan Bears Fruit

12 October - The partnership between Afghan National Security Force and the Australian Special Operations Task Group has resulted in the graduation of the first class of Afghan policemen who will work alongside the Australian forces.

The graduates form the basis of the newly-established Uruzgan Provincial Police Reserve Company and have recently completed three months of mentoring by Australian Special Operations Task Group soldiers.

At a ceremony held in stifling heat on a sandy parade ground near the Australian base at Tarin Kowt, the SOTG Commanding Officer, who cannot be named for security reasons, told the new policemen they could be justifiably proud of their achievements.

“Your effort, hard work and dedication is recognised today as you graduate as Afghan policemen. It is a solemn responsibility that you have chosen to accept and one that you must faithfully undertake to discharge fairly, honestly and with courage. You owe this to your people and they should expect nothing less.”  

Provincial Police Reserve units have recently been formed in all provinces across Afghanistan and draw their members from local towns and villages rather than a national recruiting base.

The SOTG Commanding Officer said the men come from the same communities that they will now serve and protect.

“They understand the local issues, and the bond with their local communities is very important,” he said. “Being a policeman in Afghanistan is not easy.  They risk their lives everyday to serve their people. ”

Australian Special Forces have been closely involved at every stage in the evolution of the Uruzgan force, with Special Forces mentors working alongside Afghan trainers and interpreters in order to raise the unit.

The mentoring and training included classroom lessons and joint operations with the Special Operations Task Group out amongst the local population.

 “Training them to be Afghan police officers is only part of the work. The key is in training them so they, in time, can assume the responsibility for training later courses.” the Commanding Officer said.

“The objective is a self-sustaining unit, one that’s able to recruit, train and operate without the need for outside support. With the commitment these officers have demonstrated, we’ll achieve it.”

The last few weeks of the course provided a special challenge for the new graduates, taking place over the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which forbids eating and drinking during daylight hours.

“These men continued training throughout Ramadan, going without food and drink during some extremely hot days for over twenty days now. It’s been a fantastic effort” the Commanding Officer said.

The new policemen are under no illusions about the difficult, and dangerous, job ahead now that graduation day is behind them.

While their work at the grass-roots village level keeps them close to the communities they need to protect, it inevitably increases their exposure to insurgents attempting to dominate these same communities through threats, intimidation and violence.

In the words of one Australian Special Forces mentor, “You don’t need to look any further than that risk to understand the strength of their desire to see Afghanistan become, once again, stable and secure.”

Australian soldier wounded in engagement with Taliban

12 October - Australian soldiers and members of the Afghan National Security Forces were conducting operations in Southern Afghanistan on Saturday 10 October 2009, when they were engaged by violent extremists.

An Australian soldier was wounded during this engagement sustaining non life threatening injuries.

Chief of Joint Operations, Lieutenant General Mark Evans says the soldier is now in a stable condition and his next of kin have been notified.

“The wounded soldier was given immediate first aid by his colleagues and then evacuated by helicopter to an ISAF medical facility at Tarin Kowt,” said Lieutenant General Evans.

More: Media release