Spr Paul Darnley, 1CER, Tpr A. J. Hovey, 2 Cav Regt, Capt Greg McKinley, Norforce, WO2 Greg Hains, 161 Recce Sqn, and LCpl D. Hughes, Norforce.

Lt Dan Turner, 36 Water Tpt Tp, Lt Jacek Olchowik, Norforce, and Flt-Lt Gerry McMillan, 322 Health Services Flight.

A humpy constructed as part of the course.

Tools manufactured on the course rest on a bench.

Far-north survival
Norforce develops courses in the Top End

By Maj Len Tracy
SURVIVAL training is becoming increasingly important as the Australian Army continues to meet the requirements of the current high operational tempo.

During October and November, Norforce conducted an Environmental Survival Course on Litchfield Station with 15 students and three assistant instructors, who were being evaluated as qualified assessors.

The high temperatures and humidity at this time added to the demanding nature of the course and ensured maximum use of the cool of the day.

The student camps echoed throughout the night with the hammering and banging of various tools as assessment tasks were completed to a tight schedule.

Later in the field phase a torrential down pour tested the integrity of their shelters, resulting in a number of refinements.

Throughout this phase students had to contend with low energy levels as the effects of heat and limited food took their toll.

Nevertheless all struggled through and maintained a positive mental outlook.

This type of course has developed over the past 13 years, when Land Headquarters identified the need for Land Command soldiers to undergo formal training in survival techniques for operating in the remote regions of northern Australia.

As a result the Survival Training Wing was established at 7 Trg Gp in 1990 and conducted two pilot courses during the same year. The wing went on to conduct a series of courses each year, producing unit survival instructors until it was disbanded in 1996.

By this time the wing had trained about 250 instructors. In 2001, the Special Forces Training Centre (SFTC) responded to requests from the RFSUs, 1 Bde and RTC-NT, and re-raised the TMP for the Unit Survival Instructor Course.

Since then, Norforce has conducted two environmental survival courses, qualifying instructors for a number of Darwin-based units. It was during these courses that the draft of the new Army survival pamphlet commenced.

The Environmental Survival Course aims to produce individual survivalists and soldiers capable of passing on survival skills to other soldiers. The three-week course comprises of the following phases:

• A teaching phase where the required theoretical knowledge and practical skills are taught.
• An instructional assessment phase where the students are assessed on their ability to pass on what they have learnt.
• A field phase where the students are assessed on their ability to complete survival-related tasks in a simulated emergency environment.

Extended survival in the top end of Australia requires a diverse number of skills. It also requires the ability to adapt and improvise to a far greater degree than is common in everyday life. The soldier must learn to work with the environment and use it to his or her advantage. To achieve this, the course covers such subjects as:

• The rules, priorities and psychological stresses involved with survival situations.
• Shelter construction techniques, including string making.
• Water conservation and procurement.
• Fire making techniques.
• Bush tucker and food gathering, including hunting and trapping skills as well as field butchering and food preservation techniques.
• Emergency signaling techniques, both active and passive.
• The construction of improvised tools and equipment.
• Navigation by day and night using the stars and the sun.

Survival training is not just a discrete set of skills limited to use in an emergency situation. Many of the skills directly improve the soldiers’ field craft, making them much more effective operationally. The nature of the training also means that soldiers begin to understand the environment in which they operate to a much greater degree and so are better able to adapt to this environment.

Through learning to cope without the normal logistic support, soldiers develop a greater sense of confidence, resulting in increased resilience, adaptability and initiative. The self-discipline and teamwork required to successfully complete such training also transfers across to other aspects of soldiering.

Norforce will continue to conduct environmental survival courses as part of its training program.

These courses will be open to other units in order to spread the skill and allow the development of an instructor base for the Army.

• Units or personnel interested in this type of training should contact the Training Cell at Norforce on (08) 8935 5325.

Borroloola to gain new training depot

THE security of northern Australia is one of the ADF’s prime focal points so it seems fitting that soldiers from Norforce will benefit from a new training depot in Borroloola, the building of which began recently.

The Minister for Defence Robert Hill said Norforce soldiers did an excellent job of protecting Australia’s borders through their surveillance and reconnaissance of northern Australia.

“With a core of 60 ARA soldiers, most of the unit’s 600 members are reserve soldiers recruited from Aboriginal communities throughout the region,” he said.

“Aboriginal soldiers have a major part to play in teaching survival skills and in gathering information from the many remote communities.

“The commencement of building the Borroloola depot is a further demonstration of the Army’s commitment to enhancing Norforce’s capabilities and recognising the unit’s good work.

“The new training depot will house equipment used by Norforce soldiers, including the state-of-the-art surveillance and communications equipment, Land Rovers and boats for inshore patrolling and will provide better access to training, equipment and support for soldiers in the region.”

Norforce traces its history to the formation of the 2/1 North Australia Observer Unit in 1942 as a response to the threat to Australia’s north posed by Japan during WW2.

The soldiers worked in small teams in harsh and isolated areas to observe and report on enemy movements on land, sea and in the air.

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