Keeping the faith
The soldiers of the Australian battlegroup continue to provide security and confidence to the people of East Timor.
Cpl Andrew Hetherington reports on the progress of the troops holding the line in the troubled country.
Volume 11, No. 47, July 13, 2006

That’s entertainment: Pte Neil Geddes reports in while local children watch him intently at a small village near Gleno. Photo by LAC Rodney Welch

Ready: Private Chris Finn stands guard while his mates set up a vehicle checkpoint in Gleno. Photo by LAC Rodney Welch

To the point: Private Scott Wellings confers with an AFP Operations Response Team officer during crowd control duties outside Dili Port. Photo by Sgt John Carroll

Bashing track: Tech Spt Tp soldiers conduct a major service on a Fitters’ variant APC at their base in Dili. Photo by Sgt John Carroll.

Digger speak: Battlegroup Faithful CO Lt-Col Mick Mumford (left) stops to talk to soldiers during a patrol through the Comoro Markets in Dili. Photo by LAC Rodney Welch

AUSTRALIAN soldiers of the Timor-deployed 3RAR Bn Gp are keeping the faith as they patrol Dili and outlying areas.

While there has been recent unrest in East Timor, the soldiers of Battlegroup Faithful are providing a consistent and calming presence within the troubled nation. Battlegroup Faithful consists of 24 different units and 930 people, and is led by Lt-Col Mick Mumford, who is impressed with the battlegroup’s cohesiveness since its inception.

“We had expected to be on an exercise in Townsville and we are now on an overseas operation, which has been pretty arduous and complicated and has required soldiers to make a lot of decisions,” he said.

“To get the group together in two weeks and then to take it on operations and to perform so well, is really a tribute to the individual soldiers.

“If I were to give the battlegroup’s performance a rating, I would certainly give it 11 out of 10 for the effort the blokes are putting in.”

Lt-Col Mumford said the soldiers were making a huge effort every day to ensure the operation and their work continued to be a success.

“They are flogging themselves on these patrols and when I go and talk to them, some of them are so tired they are falling asleep on their feet,” he said.

“They are pulling a lot of long hours. Rest for these guys are quick reaction force tasks and pickets.

“You can see the results of their work, it is a much quieter Dili now compared to what it was when we first arrived.”

Daily tasking for the Battlegroup Faithful soldiers does not vary often and Lt-Col Mumford said most units were working within their own small assigned areas of Dili.

“Some of them are securing key locations in the city such as Government buildings . They are getting out there in vehicles and APCs, talking to people in the streets during the day, and by night they conduct dismounted patrols and use night vision goggles to catch any gang members,” he said.

Lt-Col Mumford said the battlegroup’s soldiers had a strong grasp of the patterns of daily life in Dili.

“What we are finding is the soldiers are very quickly starting to learn what is normal and what is not,” he said.

“When people come up to them now in the street, if they cannot identify that person or have not seen them before the soldiers will most likely know or think they are from somewhere else.
“The soldiers then question the person and if needed they search them to find out what they are doing there.”

He said he was proud of the many achievements of the battlegroup in its short time in East Timor, but the crucial accomplishment had been taking weapons off the streets.

“I understand the figure is over 1000 firearms and we have not yet even bothered counting the number of bladed weapons. They would be in the thousands,” he said.

“Some of them have been confiscated off the streets, some have been recovered out of abandoned armouries, and some recovered voluntarily.

“Slingshots are our biggest concern at the moment. They look like they are a children’s toy, but they can propel a four-inch nail at great speed. They are very accurate, powerful and easy to conceal.”

Lt-Col Mumford said he had been surprised at how soon the group had achieved another important goal; the securing and stabilisation of the streets of Dili.

“I thought we would be at this stage at some point but I didn’t think we would be here this fast,” he said. “This is due to the efforts of the soldiers who have gone out, mobilised and have expended a huge amount of energy in the last five weeks. It has been lightning fast,” he said.

“In the order of the day that I released to the soldiers, I told them we are now in a position with the security situation in Dili where we can now afford to move out of Dili and offer security to some of the dissention groups.

“We are still very much in a stabilisation phase, but we are taking it beyond the outskirts of Dili to encourage the dissenters to disarm and become a part of the negotiation process. They are not likely to disarm unless they are assured that we can keep them and their families safe.”

The length of time the battlegroup will continue to serve in East Timor and whether it will be scaled back remains to be determined, but Lt-Col Mumford said no one wanted to leave the country before the job had been completed.

“What all the soldiers say to me is they want to stay here to see the job done,” Lt-Col Mumford said. “No one wants to bail out, because if we were to leave today there’s a possibility Dili could go back to what it was like when we arrived. Everyone here is pretty focused on getting the job done.”

Lt-Col Mumford was pleased to see the soldiers conducting joint patrols with the Australian Federal Police.

“What we are all hoping for as police numbers increase from incoming international forces and from Australia, is the police, at least in Dili, will take a more active role in deciding the direction of the security,” he said.

“Unless if we see these gangs start to rearm and come back on to the streets again, I think this will become a police mission.

“I think if the police have the numbers, we will take less of a leadership role and move into more of a supporting role.”