Defence News
Gift from sky a welcome drop
01 July 2011
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For the children from the East Timor village of Zumalai it was a day of excitement and one the local community will long remember.
On a cloudy Sunday morning the thumping sound of an Australian Army Black Hawk helicopter brought just what the doctor ordered for the remote community, located in the deep south-west of the country.
The Black Hawk was carrying a slung load of donated medical supplies that were carefully lowered amid a tiny dust storm that sent scores of laughing children scurrying for shelter.
The palleted supplies had earlier been airlifted from the United States amphibious transport-dock vessel, USS Cleveland, which was in East Timor as part of Exercise Pacific Partnership 2011.
Pacific Partnership, the annual Humanitarian Civic Assistance program sponsored by the Commander US Pacific Fleet, was assisted on its visit to East Timor by the Australian-led International Stabilisation Force on Operation ASTUTE.
The Australian Black Hawk, which is deployed as part of Operation ASTUTE, flew across the mountainous centre of East Timor to Zumalai, where it was welcomed by US Navy and Australian Defence Force personnel from Exercise Pacific Partnership 2011 already in the village conducting medical clinics.
“You could say it was a gift from the heavens,” said US Navy chaplain Lieutenant Phillip Ridley, who was on-site to help unpack the supplies.
“These (supply) drops are a big help to us,” he said. “It would have taken a hazardous trip of many hours by road to get here.”
The medical and other supplies, including children’s clothes, will be stored at the local clinic for times of urgent need, including natural disasters.