Features

IMPRESSIVE REACH
Words: Lt Joseph Ternowetsky and Capt Gabrielle Parker
Images: AB Kade Rogers

Edition 1164, April 19, 2007
 
Thumbs up: On manoeuvres during Exercise Southern Reach.
 
Leopard tank: from 1st Armoured Regiment conducting manoeuvres during Exercise Predator's Strike at El Alamein Army Camp, Cultana, South Australia.

 
Southern land: A soldier from 16 AD Regt moves through the scrub at Cultana in South Australia.
 
On fire: APCs from 1 Armd Regt conduct a night firing serial.
A COMBAT engineer lays det cord, while main battle tanks stir up dust in the distance. His focus is never once disturbed by the pounding of artillery guns or thumping of machine-gun fire resounding in the hills.

No, this is not Iraq or Afghanistan. This is Exercise Southern Reach in Cultana, South Australia.

The training, held from February 19 to May 17, has involved more than 1100 soldiers from 1 Bde.

The largest training activity for 1 Bde for 2007, Exercise Southern Reach will culminate in a MRE for about 520 soldiers from 5RAR who will deploy to Iraq mid-year.

The roar from 1 Armd Regt Leopards during battle runs and static firing is coupled with 1CER lighting up the sky during demolition practices and 8/12 Mdm Regt howitzers thundering into the night. Soldiers from 1CSSB and 1CSR are providing combat services and signals support, while the headquarters is in lockdown, fighting a fictitious war in Capricornia against a powerful force.

16 AD Regt has also joined the exercise, practising combined training with 8/12 Mdm Regt and defending 1 Bde HQ from aerial attack.

As always, the training focuses heavily on creating cohesion between the different units.

Comd 1 Div Maj-Gen Ash Power said this kind of unit integration maximised Army’s combat power.

“Each unit within the division has its own strengths and weaknesses,” Maj-Gen Power said.

“We mitigate the weaknesses by forming balanced combined arms organisations supported by robust logistics.”

For example, he said a tank group could be vulnerable when in close country and an infantry unit was at increased risk without mechanised or armoured support. Together they made a formidable team.

The combined arms approach is not new, having been used effectively, for example, in the Battle of Hamel in World War I. But it continues to be refined by the Army.

At Cultana, personnel have demonstrated brigade cohesion while using about 125 armoured vehicles, including Leopards, ASLAVs, M113s and Bushmasters.

The exercise is occurring in the midst of 1 Bde’s substantial commitment to operations all over the world.

Commander 1 Bde Brig Craig Orme said it was a “demanding and challenging time to be a soldier”.

“Not only is the brigade required to meet today’s challenges, the brigade is also a key part of the Army meeting our future security challenges,” Brig Orme said.

He said the training was held at Cultana because the wet season made training facilities in the NT inaccessible.

“The Cultana Field Training Area provides our soldiers a facility that is not subject to such environmental changes, enabling our soldiers to continue their training and preparations for operational deployments all year round,” he said.