Into the Deep South

The long haul: A Mac truck convoy leaves Robertson Barracks for Exercise Southern Reach in South Australia.

Head first: An M113A, right, goes into a ditch at Cultana training area during an APC driver training course conducted by 5/7RAR.

Making tracks: M113As patrol the desolate and parched landscape of the Cultana Training Range. Photos by LS Kaye Adams

Not the Kingswood: Crane training conducted during Exercise Southern Reach at Cultana using an abandoned car.

Greeting the dawn: 1CSSB soldiers out on their early morning training run at Cultana.

1 Bde units crossed the continent from north to south in a move aimed at making a big start to the training year, Cpl Damian Shovell reports.

Listen closely: instruction during the crane training course.

During Exercise Southern Reach at South Australia’s Cultana Training Range, a host of 1 Bde units conducted their first major exercise of 2005 and, in an unexpected twist, for many it became the first phase of lead-up training for deployment to Iraq.

Intended as an exercise to get 1 Bde working at full-pace early in the training year, the start of Southern Reach coincided with the announcement of the Al Muthanna Task Group (AMTG) deployment.

This meant 8/12 Mdm Regt’s 101 Mdm Bty and elements from ERS, MPs, 1CSR, 1 Bde HQ, 5/7 RAR and 1CSSB conducted a curtailed training program, with some focused squarely on AMTG preparation.

OC 101 Bty Maj Steven Mott took command of the exercise as Director of Practice after 2 Cav Regt withdrew to conduct AMTG preparations in Darwin.

Maj Mott said Southern Reach provided the opportunity to practise offensive support techniques to prepare their Joint Offensive Support Coordination Centre and Joint Offensive Support Team for deployment.

“We received a warning order that there was going to be an element requested from 101 Mdm Bty, so I used that as the basis of our training for the AMTG build-up,” he said.

He said with only a few positions available to deploy in their war-fighting role of providing indirect fire support and JOST, the operational focus of training heightened and increased competitiveness within the battery.

“At that stage I hadn’t firmed up who was to go and said positions could be determined on performance here, and it really did motivate the guys,” he said.

“What I really needed to do was to get the base standard of my forward observers up, so I concentrated on the basic technical shooting for the observers and that is what we achieved.”

The exercise was also a success for other units, with 5/7 RAR conducting M113A1 driver courses and 1CSSB conducing Mack and trailer courses while providing support to the exercise alongside 1CSR.

“Everyone achieved their own aims, but also did a lot of things together. For instance, the ERS troop practised decontamination on the reconnaissance party of 101 Bty, and the MPs conducted checkpoints ... there was cooperation at the higher levels to try and follow each others activities,” Maj Mott said.

Additionally, CO 1CSSB Lt-Col Michael Batiste said transporting the personnel and equipment across the continent early in the raining year provided an excellent challenge and set the benchmark high.

“I think the training benefit was equally shared among all of the units,” Lt-Col Batiste said.

He said in the wet season A and B vehicles were not usually able to use Mount Bundy range until early May, a problem alleviated by exercising in South Australia.

“It gave us the ability to get on to the range early in the year to maximise the training year rather than just be confined to the dry season,” he said.

Unfortunately the exercise was marred by tragedy, with the death of a 1CSSB corporal cook who was killed en route to the exercise in a Unimog rollover.

“The accident was a sad but timely reminder to everyone that military activity on operations or exercise is inherently dangerous,” Lt-Col Batiste said.

“It had an impact on the morale of the unit – but the soldiers continued on and did the exercise to the best of their ability.”

Maj Steven Mott praised the conduct of 1CSSB’s catering troop in continuing to provide support to the exercise despite the loss of their colleague.

“It was handled very well by the soldiers and by HQ 1 Bde’s WO Caterer, WO Dave Hutton, who also managed to ensure the corporal’s mates were able to get to the funeral,” he said.