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LEUT
Mark Rowell
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By
LCDR Antony Underwood
Navy Reserve psychologist LEUT Mark Rowell currently embarked
on HMAS Tobruk, is one of six ADF psychologists who supported
Defence people involved in Operation Sumatra Assist.
He and his colleagues screened Navy, Army and Air Force people
forced to come to terms with the personal and material loss of
virtually every Acehnese. For the psychology fraternity, Sumatra
Assist was probably one of the most demanding operations to date.
LEUT Rowell, with 23 years in the ADF, served initially as a psychology
examiner in the Army Reserve and then as an officer/psychologist
who changed over to the Navy in search of new challenges in 2003.
When Kanimbla sailed for Banda Aceh for Operation Sumatra Assist
I last New Year’s Eve, there was one psychologist on board.
A team of three was sent to provide support at the end of this
phase. LEUT Rowell joined ship in Singapore for Sumatra Assist
II for work at Nias after the ship was directed to help in the
wake of the earthquake late in March.
“Really I was only there for the aftermath,” he said, “however
I felt proud to have been a small part of a very large effort
to provide aid and assistance to the Indonesians caught up in
the twin disasters.
“Naturally people were greatly shocked by the scenes they were
confronted with. However , the response was primarily one of compassion
and great professionalism. The feeling of being there to get a
job done and to reach out and help people who had been affected.”
LEUT Rowell stressed the screening/ counselling work in all phases
of the operation was “a collaborative effort”. A team of staff
was required to conduct the immediate critical incident intervention
after the crash of the Navy Sea King, Shark 02.
LEUT Rowell said conducting interviews was a time consuming and
demanding process.
“Each person on the ship needed to be seen and, although each
interview needed to be scheduled, we also had to be sensitive
and responsive to the needs of individuals,” he said.
“Based on the screens some people were provided immediate assistance,
some were given some education about their situation and some
were ultimately referred on for further assistance on return to
Sydney.”
