An SASR trooper scales a ladder to board HMAS Kanimbla during Exercise Mercury. SASR troopers conduct fast-roping exercises from a 5 Avn Regt Blackhawk aboard HMAS Kanimbla during Exercise Mercury 04. Photos by Cpl Darren Hilder, 1JPAU(P)

Quicksilver response

Ex Mercury tests national security




By Capt Phil Pyke

Exercise Mercury
(MPEG video 4.78 MB)

AN ARMED group took over a floating oil platform on the North West Shelf, near Ashmore Reef. A large explosion occurred in Port Melbourne, destroying a bus, and South Australian Police foiled the kidnapping of a foreign delegate.

Thus set the scene for Exercise Mercury 04 - Australia's largest and most ambitious counter-terrorism exercise across three States, the ACT and the NT.

It tested Australia's planned and co-ordinated approach to national security as part of the National Counter-Terrorism Committee's four year $15.7 million expansion of the exercise program.

It was also the first major test of the new counter-terrorism arrangements since extensive preparations were made for the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Based around attacks, bombings and kidnappings by a fictitious terrorist group called the United Independence Front, the exercise scenario saw the Prime Minister of Tarajara kidnapped from Victoria and flown to Tasmania.

The Woodside Petroleum platform was under the control of terrorists, who boarded the rig from a small fishing vessel. Vehicle bombs exploded in the Northern Territory and Tasmania, and with the rising number of incidents it became apparent the resources of the ADF would be required.

With the oil platform some distance from the coast, HMAS Kanimbla was deployed to the region along with two Black hawks from 5AVN and TAG(W).

A RAAF P3C carried out surveillance over the Timor Sea and the oil platform.

In Tasmania, the terrorists occupied a fortified position around several buildings. The involvement of an internationally protected person, the Tarajaran PM, and the defences around the stronghold, saw the resources of TAG(E) deployed to the Buckland region.

As the exercise progressed, each State and Territory stood up their respective police forward command posts, police operations centres and State (or Territory) Crisis Centres - where senior government members liaised with the Attorney General's Department in Canberra.

Premiers, the NT Chief Minister and senior members of the Federal Government were also involved as role players as the national counter-terrorism alert was notionally raised from medium to extreme.

The exercise progressed with a formal handover by the police forward commanders in the NT and Tasmania to their ADF counterparts.

Assaults by both TAGs in the Timor Sea and Buckland were planned and rehearsed before being executed at the same time on the final night of the exercise.

In southern Tasmania, the Special Operations Group also seized a suspect vessel at Port Huon with several terrorists on board.

The co-ordinated assaults bought Ex Mercury 04 to a successful conclusion.

Many months of planning went into making the exercise as realistic as possible, with dozens of exercise writers, umpires, and observers involved behind the scenes.

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