Coordinated approach

Finding a way: WO2 Les Tobin scans a colour satellite image of Banda Aceh to check for roads that are still usable. Photo by Cpl Cameron Jamieson, Army newspaper.

By Cpl Cameron Jamieson

THE rush to help the people of Aceh has been incredible.

But without coordination the relief operation could easily turn into chaos. The military responses of the Indonesian and international forces brought transport and engineering resources into the region that government, nongovernment and international agencies desperately needed to access.

This is why Australia and the UK deployed a combined Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC) group, divided between the headquarters and a CIMIC team in Medan and another team at Banda Aceh Airport.

Capt Bill Boyd-Law said CIMIC was the conduit for civil agencies and government organisations to access military resources in Sumatra.

“Initially there were a lot of requests for air assets to do food and water drops,

but as that side of the operation has settled down there has been a shift in focus to reconstruction and the sighting and building of internally displaced persons camps,” he said. There is also the ongoing job of providing more water sterilisation facilities and sanitation work across Banda Aceh.”

WO2 Les Tobin said the early days of the operation involved making contact with the various agencies in Banda Aceh to let them know of the CIMIC presence. With the support of the Indonesian military, the CIMIC team then began meetings at the Banda Aceh Airport to help allocate resources among the relief organisations.

“The Indonesian military representatives then take the requests away for discussion at the headquarters, and usually the next day, or even earlier, they will get back to us with their approval or suggestions to better integrate the relief request,” he said.