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| Sea bird: A Black Hawk from 5 Avn Regt prepares to land on HMAS Kanimbla with LCHs Labuan and Wewak standing off. |
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Careful: Pte Ray Mathewson, 35 WTS, guides an LCM 8 to a stern-door marriage with HMAS Kanimbla.
Photos by AB Andrew Dakin |
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| Heavy work: An Army forklift, with load, backs slowly on to an LCM 8 from the stern door of HMAS Kanimbla. |
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MANY of the soldiers from C Coy 2RAR fully expected the amphibious training activity Exercise Sea Lion to resemble the assault on Omaha Beach in Saving Private Ryan.
But the soldiers of C Coy and other support elements quickly learnt that the ADF’s evolving amphibious warfare doctrine is not about assaulting impregnable defences, but exploiting the maneouvrability of sea-based military forces to fight smart and win with minimum casualties.
Ex Sea Lion, an annual joint Army and Navy amphibious exercise conducted at Palm Island from February 19-23, aimed to enhance the ADF’s interoperability in conducting amphibious operations in complex littoral environments.
The exercise also provided good amphibious capability lead-up trainig for Exercise Talisman Sabre with the US Navy and US Marines later this year.
Ex Sea Lion involved HQ and C Coy 2RAR as well as elements of 3CER and 10FSB, supported by Black Hawks from B Sqn 5 Avn Regt, and RAN platforms including HMAS Kanimbla and LCHs Brunei, Labuan and Wewak.
Commander Amphibious Task Group Capt Peter Laver said Ex Sea Lion was an important building block that would enable us to progress to more advanced capability development in partnership with the US and other coalition partners.
Capt Laver said Ex Sea Lion had provided the ADF with important lessons that would be validated at Ex Talisman Sabre and incorporated into new amphibious warfare doctrine.
Ex Sea Lion also served to provide 2RAR and HMAS Kanimbla with an opportunity to further enhance the working relationship they established during Operation Astute in 2006.
CO 2RAR Lt-Col Ben James said the exercise provided 2RAR and supporting elements with a golden opportunity to work with a major Fleet asset on the complexities of amphibious operations.
Lt-Col James said that as a force integration training activity, Ex Sea Lion’s intent was to provide both the embarked force and the naval assets with basic procedural training for amphibious operations.
“Ex Sea Lion provided the basic skills that sailors and soldiers require to work together which is an important pre-condition for our upcoming, high-readiness responsibilities as the Ready Battalion Group,” he said.
“Ex Sea Lion will help sailors and soldiers understand what tasks they need to complete so that the ADF can marshall a landing force and project it into shore as an adequate response to any emergency that arises.”
Lt-Col James said through exercises such as Sea Lion and Talisman Sabre, the ADF was demonstrating its commitment to shifting from a lift and lodge philosophy, where Army units were deposited on a foreign shore for autonomous land operations, to a true manoeuvre warfare philosophy, using joint forces to exert influence in an uncertain littoral security environment.
OC C Coy 2RAR Maj Michael Bassingwaighte said Ex Sea Lion provided the Navy and the Army with an opportunity to work on the many procedures involved in amphibious operations.
A major feature was the force integration phase which involved Kanimbla conducting stern-door marriages with the three LCHs, which enabled the transfer of 2RAR, 3CER and 10FSB troops, vehicles and equipment to the landing craft for the assault phase.
Maj Bassingwaighte said the force integration phase of Ex Sea Lion provided the Army units involved with invaluable hands-on experience.
“It’s important that soldiers get the opportunity through such exercises as Ex Sea Lion to become familiar with living and working in a Navy ship, which includes the challenge of embarking and disembarking from landing craft,” he said.
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