Media Release

In their latest training exercise Australian Defence Force Academy Cadets have been deployed to Tallaganda State Forest to provide UN humanitarian aid relief and act as a stabilisation force to the troubled province.

Although the circumstances surrounding the "crisis" are fictitious, the eight day practical field exercise is currently being tackled by third year Academy officer cadets and midshipmen as part of their military leadership development.

Exercise Co-ordinator, Major Paul Petersen, said Exercise Leadership Challenge III would
require cadets to demonstrate their junior officer qualities and ability to lead small teams in a challenging military environment.

"What we have done is reconstruct a realistic scenario based on a UN humanitarian type mission so that although there will be major physical tasks to complete, cadets will also be confronted with ethical and moral dilemmas that these situations can throw at them," he said.

Like any military training Exercise, cadets will be sleeping rough, living on 'hard' rations and covering significant distances on foot each day, but they will also be setting up facilities such as an aid centre for refugees and a childrens' playground.

Major Petersen added, " This is the first time the Academy has run an Exercise in this format and we have ensured that it incorporates dilemmas and situations that would have faced Australian troops deployed overseas to places like Bougainville and Papua New Guinea".

To add to the reality of the situation, Academy staff and advanced students will be role playing hungry villagers and other UN forces, a signals detachment has been brought in and Academy chaplains and psychologists will be on hand to play their parts in the scenarios.

Major Petersen said as the Exercise progresses, cadets will be put under physical and mental demands, but still required to make sound command decisions.

"The cadets are certainly physically and mentally ready for the challenge. At the end of the day it is easy to display leadership in a safe, warm office but this Exercise will be a real, practical demonstration of their skills in front of peers in Tallaganda."

CHIEFS OF STAFF/NEWS DIRECTORS:
Media are invited to attend day five of the exercise on Wednesday 12 May 1999.

By this stage, cadets will be involved in the planning and construction of various structures, using existing and improvised materials, in preparation for fictitious elections to be held as part of a UN brokered peace deal. Such structures should include a refugee aid centre, a children's playground, a kitchen, a polling booth and a traffic control point. Air support will also be part of the operation on this day.

MEDIA ASSEMBLY POINT:

Issued by the Defence Public Affairs Organisation, Department of Defence, Canberra, ACT, 2600

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