Help is at hand
Volume 11, No. 44, June 01, 2006
By Cpl Andrew Hetherington

AUSTRALIAN troops are again restoring peace and stability on the streets of Dili six years after the ADF’s initial peacekeeping mission to East Timor.

Under Operation Astute, about 1800 ADF personnel were involved in an air and sea insertion of troops and support elements, the largest commitment to our near neighbour since Op Stabilise commenced in September 1999.

More than 1300 soldiers landed in Dili from May 26 to calm escalating violence and civil unrest.
Initial insertions included a commando company from Sydney-based 4RAR which secured Comoro Airport as a point of entry for follow-on elements.

A battalion group based on Sydney’s 3RAR was fully established on the ground within 48 hours. Navy and RAAF assets as well as Army Black Hawks facilitated the insertion.

Commander 3 Bde Brig Michael Slater was appointed to command the force.

VCDF Lt-Gen Ken Gillespie headed a delegation of Australian officials who negotiated terms and conditions for the operation with the East Timor government.

Speaking in Townsville before deploying, CO of the 900-strong 3RAR Bn Gp Lt-Col Mick Mumford said the Australian force’s role and initial focus was to bring calm to the nation’s capital, Dili, before moving on to other tasks.

“We will need to establish a secure environment initially in Dili, to enable the East Timorese to work out their differences, to provide a means so that the people in Dili can go back to their daily lives,” Lt-Col Mumford said.

“What has impressed me with [our build-up] is that everyone is very motivated and focused.
“The Royal Australian Regiment is creating history – this is one of the largest deployments since the first East Timor operation, and I think the speed that we have mounted this operation certainly surpasses Interfet.”

The battalion group had two weeks to train and prepare for the deployment from Townsville and Lt-Col Mumford said it was fortunate that most of the personnel were already in place, training in location for other tasks.

“Fortuitously, units were in Townsville preparing for a brigade combined-arms training activity and practising for various future deployments,” he said.

“So, when we were warned out about this possible activity, we spent the last two weeks doing mission-specific training.

“At an individual level, soldiers have been rehearsing for urban operations, working with armoured vehicles and, more recently, at a collective level, practising cordon and building searches.”

Lt-Col Mumford’s advice to his soldiers was to “look after their mates, to follow the training they had been given, to have confidence in that training, have confidence in their equipment, to follow the instructions of their officers and SNCOs and to have confidence in them”.

“They need to be confident of their capabilities, be focused on the fact that we are going there to do this task for the East Timorese people,” he said.

“If we keep that focus in everything we do while we are there, then I have no doubt that we will be very successful.”

He believed that the vast majority of the East Timorese people were very grateful for what Australia has done in the past and, consequently, the current deployment had a real contribution to make.

“I hope that this deployment will enable the country to move forward,” he said.