Image Gallery: October 2008
03 October 2008
Explosive Ordnance Disposal
Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) experts and assets from 15 Combat Engineer Troop (15 CE Tp), 3 Combat Engineer Regiment (3 CER) have been attached to the ANZAC Battle Group as part of Cooperative Spirit 08. Responsible for Counter-IED (Improvised Explosive Device) tasks throughout the ANZAC Battle Group Area of Operations, they have been called into the town of Nurgal to render safe a suspicious package and vehicle. Local residents want their community to be free from the threat posed by IEDs, which indiscriminately endangers the safety of their people and have requested ANZAC Battle Group assistance. Local residents have been moved to safe distance and infantry soldiers have set up a cordon while EOD experts and assets conduct the delicate task to remove the threat posed to the townspeople.
Approximately 180 personnel drawn mostly from the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1 RAR) in Townsville have deployed to Germany on Cooperative Spirit 2008 (CS08). CS08 is a multinational exercise intended to test interoperability among the American, British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand Armies (ABCA).
The 1 RAR contingent comprises of a Battle Group HQ and Combat Team Force Element and will be combined with a company from the 2nd/1st Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (2/1 RNZIR) to create the ‘ANZAC Battle Group’ during the exercise. They will conduct operations in the field, under stressful battlefield conditions, complete with a sophisticated opposing force and realistic training scenarios in a world-class training facility.
CS08 is being conducted by the United States at the Joint Multinational Readiness Centre (JMRC), located in Hohenfels, Germany, between 11 Sep and 10 Oct 08. Around 1800 troops from ABCA Armies are taking part in the activity. The month-long exercise aims to develop skills common to ABCA armies and increase interoperability for combined operations, offering significant opportunities to train soldiers in a combined (multinational) environment.
| 20080929cs08_001 Photo by Ms Nicole Munro-Johnson (NZDF) (Front left to right) SGT Terry James and LT Travis Day from 3 CER, attached with the ANZAC Battle Group operate a remote-control EOD robot in a Counter-IED tasking in Nurgal as other soldiers provide overwatch during Cooperative Spirit 08. (Date taken: 29 September 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080929cs08_002 Photo by Ms Nicole Munro-Johnson (NZDF) PTE Kynan Hunt and other members of 8 Platoon, Combat Team Charlie provide overwatch during a Counter-IED tasking at Cooperative Spirit 08. (Date taken: 29 September 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080929cs08_003 Photo by Ms Nicole Munro-Johnson (NZDF) Having checked out a suspicious vehicle and package via a remote control EOD robot, SGT Terry James from 3 CER and attached to the ANZAC Battle Group, further investigates during a Counter-IED tasking in Nurgal at Cooperative Spirit 08. (Date taken: 29 September 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080929cs08_004 Photo by Ms Nicole Munro-Johnson (NZDF) Under the watchful eyes of other soldiers, SGT Terry James from 3 CER and attached to the ANZAC Battle Group, moves toward a suspicious package for further exploitation during a Counter-IED tasking in Nurgal at Cooperative Spirit 08. (Date taken: 29 September 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080929cs08_005 Photo by Ms Nicole Munro-Johnson (NZDF) (Front left to right) SPR Marc Plant and SPR Tom Meyer from 3 CER and attached to the ANZAC Battle Group, conduct site exploitation on a suspect IED site during a Counter-IED tasking in Nurgal at Cooperative Spirit 08. (Date taken: 29 September 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080929cs08_007 Photo by Ms Nicole Munro-Johnson (NZDF) Local ‘villagers’ in Nurgal watch from a safe distance as ANZAC Battle Group staff conduct Counter-IED tasking in their town as an Australian soldier looks on during Cooperative Spirit 08. (Date taken: 29 September 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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