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Marriage, snow and sand: deploying with DIO

The life of Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO) staff overseas isn't always easy, especially if they are faced with harsh conditions in remote areas. Tony Pollock explains.

Director DIO, Major General Maurie McNarn, with DIO staff, Captain Jeremy Ross and Ms Peta Tarlinton.
Photo provided by Public Affairs

The hardest thing about Captain Jeremy Ross's overseas deployment as a Liaison Officer (LO) for the DIO was not the blinding snow, -15°C temperatures, long work hours or inhospitable locations.

It was telling his fiancée, Meg, across a small table in a Russell café in Canberra one blustery day in August 2005 that there would have to be a change of plans again. It was the second time he had postponed their wedding, and she was 'suitably unimpressed'. 'You can imagine her reaction. I was proposing to disappear for four months, leaving her and her mother with the wedding preparations,' he said. But luckily for Jeremy, his fiancée eventually came around. 'I was skating on thin ice, but Meg's a realistic girl and knew where I was coming from.'

She had to be. With Jeremy thousands of kilometres away, wedding preparations were made more interesting, especially when marriage officials insisted on having both signatures on the 'Intention to Marry' form. 'We had to convey this piece of paper across several continents, using any means possible. It finally reached me in the middle of nowhere, where I signed it and got it back Meg—just in the nick of time. The wedding couldn't go ahead without that form.'

And he had to be back in time for the wedding in early 2006. Simple enough most of the time, but when you're so far away, in a location serviced by irregular air routes completely at the vagaries of the weather, getting out can prove difficult. 'But fortunately, the weather was kind and I made it out in time. I'd hate to think what would have happened otherwise .' So would have DIO, whose staff had promised to get him back on time!

Jeremy was one of two DIO LOs posted overseas in September 2005 to support Australian Defence Force (ADF) deployments. Their job was to help get the intelligence to the people that needed it on the ground. In return, they provided that all-important ingredient of 'ground truth' for DIO assessments being crafted in Canberra.

'Being on the ground with the troops gave DIO an even better understanding of the technical and operational needs of the troops being supported. It helped with the passage of information and intelligence both ways,' he said.

But deployment also gave the DIO LOs the time to experience the sights and sounds of new cultures, people and places—so different from those of Canberra. One sight that will always stay with Jeremy is driving to work in two feet of snow and subzero temperatures, watching the locals riding on their bikes without gloves, and regularly falling over in the slippery conditions, picking the bike up, dusting themselves off and going on their way. For Jeremy, it was a powerful reminder that life goes on, despite the worst of conditions.

For many DIO LOs like Jeremy, it is not their first time in a foreign country. But for others, the hustle and bustle of preparing for an operational deployment is tinged with the excitement of the unknown—like civilian analyst Peta Tarlinton. For her, the unknown is all part of the experience.

Peta is part of a DIO team of six military and civilian analysts deploying shortly to support the ADF. 'In this particular case, I'm not sure what area I'll be working on when I get there. But that doesn't matter. What matters is the professional and personal experience I will gain through this deployment. It is a unique opportunity, and one of the reasons I joined DIO in the first place,' she explained.

'It is one thing to be here in Canberra writing reports. But to actually be in an operational environment will give me a real dose of "ground truth". And I'll be able to bring that "ground truth" back with me to DIO to inform my assessments.'

For Peta, the six-month deployment means putting her life in Australia on hold—something she is prepared to do in order to gain the experience. 'There are a whole swag of things that need to be done before I go, and so little time to do them: living arrangements, family arrangements, injections, salary . the list goes on and on. But it is worth it.'

Add to her own preparations the compulsory pre-deployment training in Sydney, and it means Peta will be very busy for the next couple of weeks. But the force preparation training will have special meaning for her. 'The trainers are using material and fact books for their theatre briefings that I and my colleagues contributed to! So it will be interesting to see how that comes across,' she said.

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