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13th rotation to Solomons
By Maj Ian Toohill
Edition 1173, August 23, 2007 |
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Good luck: Defence Parliamentary Secretary Peter Lindsay meets Pte Sean Williams, who was born in the Solomons.
Photo by Cpl Ricky Fuller |
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Medical aid: Medic Pte Joanne Read checks her kit.
Photo by Maj Ian Toohill |
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THIRTEEN is considered an unlucky number, but not for the largest collective deployment of Army reservists from Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania since World War II – they are the 13th rotation of troops on Operation Anode.
More than 140 troops – comprising two platoons from Victoria, a platoon of soldiers from Tasmania and South Australia, and a platoon of Tongan Royal Marines – have deployed as part of CTF 635 in the Solomon Islands. A platoon from New Zealand has joined them in country.
The soldiers undertook final training in Queensland before their official farewell in Townsville on August 4. Commander 2 Div Maj-Gen Ian Flawith and Defence Parliamentary Secretary Peter Lindsay attended the farewell.
In his address, Maj-Gen Flawith said reservists “used to train but go nowhere, now we go places – this deployment is another example of the integral role of the modern Army Reserve in the ADF”.
Mr Lindsay said the deploying 4 Bde and 9 Bde soldiers were “ordinary people doing extraordinary things”.
For the CTF’s youngest member, the farewell parade had special significance – Pte Sean Williams was celebrating his 19th birthday and his imminent return to the country of his birth.
“It’s a great day for me and I am really looking forward to this deployment. I still have some memories of my early childhood in the Solomon Islands,” he said.
Pte Williams came to Australia at the age of eight, and now lives with his mother and younger brother in Mildura. He topped his infantry IET course last November while in Year 11 and has put Year 12 on hold to complete a tour of duty.
All of the members of the CTF have been trained in pidgin, which will help outside the capital where knowledge of English is patchy at best.
CO CTF 635 Lt-Col Ian Upjohn said every soldier was keen to help the people of the Solomon Islands. “We are all looking forward to the challenges this may bring and I am confident of our ability to maintain the high standing of the ADF on worldwide operations,” he said.
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