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Language the key: Pte Luke Amies speaks to a village elder during a patrol in the Solomon Islands.
Photo by Cpl Rachel Ingram |
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GAINING the rapport of the people is what will win the mission in the Solomon Islands, according to civil-military liaison officer Pte Luke Amies.
It is the second time the infantryman has been deployed on Operation Anode since joining the Army Reserve in 2004.
“While I was there the first time I worked really hard to learn Pijin and by the end of that I got to a stage where I could communicate well,” he said.
In between deployments, Pte Amies finished his Bachelor of Arts degree at Queensland University of Technology and continued to improve his linguistic skills.
“I was living with my girlfriend and a whole group of Solomon Islanders, so my Pijin was getting pretty good,” he said.
“Then I did the test with the Army and got classed as a qualified Pijin speaker. When the company deployed here, they put me in the civil-military liaison role.
“Over here I liaise with the civilian community and see what their impressions of RAMSI are, especially Army.
“We try to get out to the villages and communities.
“We get in contact with the chiefs and talk to them to see when the last time patrols came through, and what the soldiers did that was good and just generally talk to them.”
Pte Amies said the Army arranged meetings with villagers where the liaison officers would talk about Army’s mission.
“Then after that we’ll ask for any comments from the people so they can say what they think of RAMSI, any comments or questions, things they have heard.”
Without modern media, Pte Amies said the villagers were susceptible to “the coconut wire”, and his liaison work helped to set the record straight.
“These meetings make me like my job even more, makes me want to work harder, because when you talk to the locals they’ll tell us how much their life has changed in the short four years since RAMSI came here.
“They tell us how much better everything has got, and how much they really do want to see us here, and see us stay here until our work is complete.”
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