 |
|
| Check in: Newly-arrived 6RAR troops grab their gear and head off to their barracks in Timor-Leste. |
|
| |
 |
| You beauty: Pte Shane Marsh is happily out-flanked by Miss NSW Caroline Penberton and Miss Asia Pacific and Miss World Runner-up Sabrina Houssami during their visit to troops in Timor-Leste. |
| |
 |
| Keeping an eye-out: Privates Tom Lincoln and Craig Aurisch, 6RAR, provide front-gate security in Timor-Leste. |
| |
 |
New troops: About 70 Brisbane-based 6RAR soldiers arrive in Dili to take their place as part of the Anzac Battlegroup on Op Astute. Many had only recently completed their Initial Employment Training.
Photos by Cpl Michael Davis |
New troops put boots on the ground in Timor-Leste as the Anzac Battlegroup prepares to support elections. Sqn-Ldr Ivan Benitez-Aguirre reports.
SOME of 6RAR’s newest soldiers have joined their unit in conducting security operations on Op Astute in Timor-Leste.
About 70 soldiers joined the 800-strong Anzac Battlegroup in January as part of the regiment’s personnel sustainment program, with many of the new arrivals having only recently graduated from their Initial Employment Training.
Commander Joint Task Force 631 Brig Mal Rerden said many of the soldiers had been in the Army for just over six months and were ready for their first tour of duty.
“This is testament that the level of training at the initial employment stage is designed to produce professional soldiers, capable of serving effectively in any theatre of operation,” he said.
The 6RAR soldiers weren’t the only recent arrivals on Op Astute, as the deployment hosted several visits during the Christmas/New Year period including glamorous Miss NSW Caroline Penberton and Miss Asia Pacific and Miss World Runner-up Sabrina Houssami, as well as VCDF Lt-Gen Ken Gillespie and the RAR’s Colonel Commandant Maj-Gen Jim Connolly (Rtd).
The girls met a number of troops and visited several locations in Timor-Leste including an orphanage in Baguia as part of the Australian sponsored “Youth off the Streets” program.
Lt-Gen Gillespie met with senior Timor-Leste and UN leaders where he re-affirmed the ADF’s commitment to the ongoing stabilisation process and its support to security requirements for Timor-Leste’s up coming elections.
Brig Rerden also said there had been a recent number of significant milestones achieved towards the stabilisation process.
“Perhaps the most important of all was the signing of several agreements between the United Nations, the Government of Timor-Leste, and the Australian Government,” he said.
The agreements were simultaneously signed in Dili and New York via a video-linked conference on Australia Day. These arrangements formalised the security support and coordination mechanisms between the three parties to ensure enhanced security for the 2007 elections.
“The next crucial phase in the stabilisation process for Timor-Leste is the conduct of the presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for later this year.
The efforts of the International Stabilisation Forces are now focused on the safe conduct of these elections,” Brig said.
|
