Jumping into Jervis Bay

HOW many units do you know that can provide pilots, lawyers, doctors or an HR consultant within their military ranks, as well as meeting their ADF roles and tasks? Well, 1 Cdo Regt can.

Split between RHQ, 1 Coy and 2 Coy in Sydney and Melbourne, the regiment provides Australia with a unique part-time Special Forces capability. It has a mixture of regular and reserve soldiers with a wealth of experience and history dating back to the independent Coys of M and Z Special Units.

And because it's part-time, its members have a broad array of additional skills they bring with them from their day jobs.

Its wider skill base and diversification aside, 1 Cdo Regt provides the ADF not only with a traditional commando amphibious raiding capability but also, more recently, a handy pool of capable reinforcements for other operational deployments, including East Timor.

Members of 1 Cdo Regt concentrated at Jervis Bay Range Facility not long ago to practice one of their specialist capabilities - parachuting and parachute load follow (PLF).

Exercise Strike Anchor saw the commandos practice static-line parachuting into the ocean, the procedure for retrieval by boat once in the water, and techniques for deploying their zodiacs at sea, after inserting with them on a PLF.

But as military parachutists know too well, the weather presented some additional challenges and curtailed the final activity - an intended over the horizon PLF and a long sea transit of 26 nautical miles

Instead the commandos conducted their boat-deployment drills using the vessel Red Viper Jervis Bay, giving newer members of the unit a look at how it should all be done.

CO 1 Cdo Regt Lt-Col John Davidson said the conduct of Exercise Strike Anchor was a critical activity for the unit to revise its specialist parachute and boating skills.

"It's not often we have the opportunity to get the whole regiment together and the RAAF have provided us with great support to allow this to take place.

"Parachuting and boating are potentially dangerous skills especially when you are planning to conduct both well offshore.

"I am happy to say that whilst we didn't have the time, due to bad weather, to do the final jump, the soldiers and officers got a great deal out of the activity," he said.

By Cpl Wade Laube