RSM-A WO Brian Boughton checks out the handiwork of children from Holy Spirit School at Nicholls – ACT. This picture hangs in the corridor of ASNCE HQ – Qatar CA and RSM-A chat with an SF member with a view over Al-Asad. Photo by LS Rachel irving, Service newspapers CA talks with soldiers in Camp Doha, cleaning gear for return to Australia. Photos by LS Rachel Irving, Service Newspapers

CA and RSM-A visit troops in MEAO

By LS Rachel Irving
CA, Lt-Gen Peter Leahy has completed a visit to the Middle East Area of Operations (MEAO), visiting troops before they return to Australia.

Lt-Gen Leahy was accompanied on his trip by RSM-A WO Brian Boughton and Princ Chap Army, Brig Len Eacott.

The visit began with an Anzac Day ceremony and celebrations at Lone Pine, Gallipoli.

From there the group toured ASNCE HQ Qatar, had 24 hours with the Special Forces Task Group at Al-Asad air base in north-western Iraq and a visit to troops at Camp Doha in Kuwait.

They then strapped on their sea legs to go onboard HMAS Kanimbla in the KAA waterways.

Both CA and RSM-A stressed the value of being able to say ‘thanks’ to our troops while they were still in theatre.

Lt-Gen Leahy said of our troops’ performance, “Bloody good job. I’m proud of them.”

“It’s as simple as that. I think they’ve done an outstanding job and I’m really proud of them. Well done,” he said.

WO Boughton added, “For every one of them that we’ve visited, we’ve seen the conditions they are working in and none of them are easy.”

“Some are harder than others but wherever they are, they’re positive, they’re focused.

“They’re getting on with the job and they’re not worried about nitty-gritty stuff.

“The job is their priority, they know that and they’re getting on with it. I’d like to say, from me to them, they’ve done a fantastic job.”

He added, “The buzz I got out of the trip was from being able to go out and meet our people in the field in the current operation and see them do their job in a coalition environment and in an operational environment where there was a threat.

“Each of the groups we visited was providing significant contributions in their own way to the coalition effort.”

In an interview for Army, CA said he believed the current operation had been a model for the future in terms of coalition workings.

“What we see is the coming together of many years of our officers training at coalition staff colleges and their officers training with us.

“With a combination of other programs, we have seen a real effort to ensure we are interoperable.

“This operation has come after a period of time operating with our allies and our own role as the coalition lead in East Timor.

Time was also had in Afghanistan, where we met many of the officers we’ve worked with in the current operation.

“I think this is a real model in our ability to integrate into the coalition HQ and to be able to operate effectively and efficiently very, very quickly.”

CA also stressed the importance of joint operations between the three ADF services for the future.

“The Minister of Defence has talked about globalisation of security. That means we will operate with allies.

“Our recent campaigns, including Somalia and Afghanistan, have been about operating with allies.

The CA believes the air operation shaped this operation’s battlefield, with the land operation supplemented all the way.

And while the naval operation was perhaps not quite as dominant, it too played an important role in securing the Arabian waterways.

“Joint ops are the way of the future and I think we’ve had a very good example of that.”

CA did stress however, that there was still work to be done in terms of joint operability.

When the CA spoke with troops on his visit, one of the things people were most positive about was the value of the pre-deployment phase in allowing them to hit the ground running.

“The soldiers have all mentioned the value of coming early and training with coalition parties – in the old fashioned sense, having a rehearsal.

“They all said by the time it came to operations that they were ready to go.”

He also took feedback from soldiers on their equipment and acquisitions, how they handled in the harsh environment and if there were better solutions.

“Most soldiers were happy with their equipment and felt they were well prepared.

“Things like Javelin and MK19 AGL, acquired under rapid acquisition, have been enormously successful.

“I think the lesson there is that we get the right equipment and give people the time to prepare for it, to go positively into it and make it go well.”

The CA denied suggestions that SF would be the way of the future Australian Army and said people who predicted this were wrong.

“Right now the Army is deployed to East Timor, Bougainville and in UN operations around the world.

“The SF are able to fulfill some very important tasks but that’s because the task suits them.

“In the future I see very clearly that there will be different tasks for different parts of the Army including for phase IV of this current operation where infantry and cavalry elements will be used to secure our embassy in Baghdad.”

The CA and RSM-A were well-pleased by the amount of positive feedback received throughout their trip for our troops.

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