Army - The Soldiers' Newspaper

Cpl Chad Tuivaga, C Coy 3RAR, leads his section through the smoke during a platoon attack demonstration, as part of Ex Southern Tiger held at Singleton recently.

A soldier changes magazines while on the move.

Maj Nasha Ludda, 9 Battalion Royal Malaysian Regiment, Malaysian Army at Singleton during Exercise Southern Tiger.

View video of Australian & Malaysian troops (MPEG video, 4.45MB)

'Soldiers are soldiers are soldiers ... it's just blokes getting to know each other'

Selatan Harimau
When 3RAR and 9RMR shared not only mornos but tips, techniques and training of their core business, it was a meeting of soldiers on common ground. Pte John Wellfare reports

Regardless of the nation they serve, soldiers throughout the world are generally very similar individuals - they share a lot of personal characteristics and come from similar backgrounds.

Perhaps that's why, on Christmas Day in 1914, many British and German troops facing each other in France laid down their weapons and met in no-man's land.

And it must be the same sense of commonality that allowed Australian and Malaysian soldiers to form such a close bond when B Coy 9 Bn, Royal Malaysian Regiment (Airborne) (9RMR) visited Australia recently to conduct Ex Southern Tiger with C Coy 3RAR.

Although Australia and Malaysia are not at war our two countries do not always share the same political view, these differences have had little or no impact on a history of military cooperation that spans more than 50 years.

"We in the military, we don't bother about politics - theirs' [the politicians] is politics, ours' is military," he says after participating in Southern Tiger on his third visit to Australia with the Malaysian Army.

"Our camp [in Malaysia] we call Canberra lines. I've seen a photo in the 3RAR museum taken when 3RAR visited in 1954.

"I think it's good for our soldiers and our officers to come here to get training together with Australian soldiers - very good exposure for our military."

2IC C Coy 3RAR Capt Travis Gordon believes the link is right down at grassroots level.

"Soldiers are soldiers are soldiers and this goes beyond the political boundaries - it's just blokes getting to know each other," he says of the connection that developed between the troops during the two-week exercise.

"I think a close rapport has been gained between both the Australians and the Malays.

"By the end of the exercise Australian soldiers were going up to the mess where the Malays were eating and eating with them ... we had guys going up after work and spending time with the Malays."

The two companies spent a week in Singleton, where they trained together and learnt from each other's methods.

"We went into a couple of days where we went through our basics - the way we do things in the field - and they showed us their methods.

"We used TESS to run a pairs fire and movement and also a section attack range for the Malays, where the enemy and the Malays were wearing TESS and it was good, it showed them that their choice of fire positions was crucial.

"The language barrier, obviously was a problem, but it was overcome - we had a number of linguists here in the battalion who were able to pass on information that we weren't able to, but also the Malays, some of their soldiers speak very good English."

Later this year, B Coy 3RAR heads to Malaysia as Rifle Company Butterworth, which has seen Australian and Malaysian soldiers working together for decades and will surely continue the close bond between our soldiers for decades to come.