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The headquarters that never sleeps

By Corporal Cameron Jamieson

The Deputy Commander of CJTF 629 Group Captain John Samulski, right, and the task force's amphibious operations planning officer, Lieutenant Commander Richard Westoby, study charts of Banda Aceh in the operations room in Medan, Sumatra. Photo by Corporal Cameron Jamieson, Army newspaper

The eyes of the world have seen the lifesaving work of the Australian troops in Banda Aceh.

What has gone largely unnoticed is the work of the Task Force Headquarters in Medan, in the province of Northern Sumatra.

Located in the conference rooms of a large hotel, the operation room is effectively a command bunker, with no windows and an air of determination that underlines their unofficial motto - "we will not let you down".

From behind his desk in the corner of the partitioned room, the Task Force Commander Brigadier Dave Chalmers reflects on the location of his headquarters and the importance of the relationships that have made Operation Sumatra Assist a success.

"The headquarters is working extremely well," he says. "This hotel was selected because the communications facilities can be best set up here for the fairly large group of personnel here in Northern Sumatra.

"The focus of our headquarters is to facilitate the way the troops in Banda Aceh are doing their work - to make sure they have the things they need to provide aid and do disaster relief work."

Life inside the operations centre does have its downside though. "The conference facilities we are working in have no windows and, as most of the personnel here work 12-hour shifts, they don't see a lot of daylight. So it's a bit like being in a bunker," he says.

"People can work like that for a short period, but over a longer period it becomes difficult to manage and we have to give people respite from this environment in the same way as we give respite from the more physically and environmentally demanding conditions in Banda Aceh."

Another problem for the staff is the disconnection from the troops in Banda Aceh.

"While nobody wants to be confronted by the sights people saw in Banda Aceh, people need to have some connection with what we are doing and what's happening in Banda Aceh in order to gain the best understanding of why we are supporting this operation," he says.

"So, we try to rotate people forward on staff visits so they get some idea of the work being down there - it makes it much easier for them to provide staff support."

Brigadier Chalmers knows that the key to the success of Operation Sumatra Assist is the relationship with the Indonesians.

"The first thing we always make sure of is the good linkage and relationship with the Indonesians - we know what they want of us and we deliver what they need," he says.

"... We've also been very well supported by the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, who have provided me with attachés who speak Indonesian, have facilitated meetings, developed their own relationships with the Indonesians and have helped to explain what we can do for the Indonesian Government and how we can best deliver it for them.

"That's enabled the Indonesians to give us very clear guidance on what they'd like us to do."

Besides the Indonesian-Australian relationship, there is a range of other foreign relationships that must be addressed.

"Primarily our focus is on working for and helping the Indonesian Government," he says.

"But we have to do that in an environment where there are many people coming here to help - some have been invited by the Indonesian Government, some have just arrived.

"We need to coordinate and synchronise our efforts with all of them so there is no arguing or duplication of effort so that we can do the best we can to provide for the people of Indonesia.

"For example, in the Zainal Abidin General Hospital, in Banda Aceh, we have been working cooperatively with the German field hospital that arrived there shortly after the Anzac Field Hospital did.

"The Australian, New Zealand and German effort to support the Zainal Abidin Hospital has resulted in a combined government partnership, and in the longer-term there will be ongoing financial and staff support after our military staff have departed."

Time is a luxury that the Brigadier does not have and he is called away to deal with the complexities of a visit by Prime Minister John Howard.

In the background you can hear the sound of phones ringing and the movement of feet - sounds heard around the clock in the headquarters that never sleeps.

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