OPERATION PADANG ASSIST

Padang Assist Primary Health Care Facility

An ADF medical facility has been established in Sungai Geringging village, 75 kilometres northwest of Padang, on request of the Indonesian authorities, to provide health support in the outlying region. The facility can provide general and emergency health care and environmental health support from a team consisting of doctors, nurses and environmental health officers from the 1st Health Support Battalion.Operation Padang Assist commenced on 02 Oct 09 after the Indonesian Government accepted an offer of emergency assistance from Australia following two large earthquakes near the Indonesian Island of Sumatra. The ADF Joint Task Force 629 (JTF629) was established, and is working closely with Indonesian authorities, the Department of Foreign Affairs, AusAID and other agencies, to ensure the emergency relief support is delivered to where it is needed most. Picture shows an Australian Army medic removes the dressing from a young girl's arm for follow up treatment in the Australian Defence Force Primary Health Care Facility in Sungai Gerringging.

Operational Mentor and Liaison Teams (OMLTs) are situated in bases around Oruzgan Province in Southern Afghanistan. The mission of the OMLTs is to assist in the development of the 4th Afghan National Army Brigade.

Narrow Crossing - Medic, Corporal Shannon Harrison, negiotiates a narrow log foot bridge during a pa
Corporal Shannon Harrison

Working together - Medic, Corporal Shannon Harrison, patrols past an Afghan National Army soldier during a mission in Chora, Southern Afghanistan.

Corporal Shannon Harrison

Narrow Crossing - Medic, Corporal Shannon Harrison, negiotiates a narrow log foot bridge during a patrol in Chora, Southern Afghanistan.

1st Health Support Battalion Deployed Exercise TALSIMAN SABER

Photo above shows 1 HSB deployed on Exercise TALISMAN SABER

Exercise TALISMAN SABER 2009

SHOAL WATER BAY TRAINING AREA, QUEENSLAND, Australia. (July 15, 2009) - Australian Defence Force Private Zabrina Budworth, Sydney, and US Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Charlie Javier examine an x-ray photo during Exercise Talisman Saber 2009."Both United States and Australian forces work together just outside Camp Growl in the Shoal Water Bay Training Area. The personnel provide support through communications, logistics, and medical aid within the training area during the exercise. 1 Hospital Support Battalion, located near Camp Growl, provides first class medical capacity to personnel operating in the exercise area.

Medic in the Solomons
Photo:Private George Sukiyasyan at the remote village of Gifu.
MEDICAL help provided by Australian Soldiers to remote villages in the Solomon Islands is saving the lives of young children on a weekly basis.Left untreated in the tropical climate of Solomon Islands, minor infections can sometimes have life threatening complications. The Australian Army reservist medics that assist in local clinics are helping to dramatically improve the quality of – and in some cases even save – the lives of young people living in isolated jungle villages.Organising these local clinics is the Australian Army's Civil Military Liaison (CML) team, which forms an important part of Operation ANODE.

Operation ANODE is the name of the ADF contribution to the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI). RAMSI's assistance is known as Operation HELPEM FREN (Pidgin English for 'Helping Friend'). RAMSI's mission is to assist the Solomon Islands Government in restoring law and order, economic governance, and improving the machinery of government.CML tasks are vital to RAMSI's mission, and typically involve ADF personnel dealing directly with members of the local population to find ways to assist them through various community projects.Rotation 18 of Operation ANODE is mainly drawn from 4 Brigade in Victoria. They arrived in Solomon Islands in March 2009 shortly after assisting in Operation Vic Fires Assist.The military component of RAMSI is comprised of personnel from four troop-contributing nations - Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga. The main task for the military component is to provide security for RAMSI's multinational Participating Police Force (PPF) who work alongside the Royal Solomon Islands Police in maintaining law and order.Photo:Private George Sukiyasyan cleans the wound on a child during a medical clinic at the remote village of Gifu.