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HIGH IMPACT
The hills of Puckapunyal again echoed to thunderous explosions as Exercise Chong Ju unleashed a deadly arsenal, Cpl Andrew Hetherington reports.
Edition 1174, September 6, 2007 |
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Ground breaking: Two Mk82 2000lbs bombs dropped by an F-111.
Photo by Cpl Michael Davis |
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| Talking shop: Cfn Mitch Cuvrey, Support Sqn at the School of Armour, briefs members of the School of Inf. Photo by Cpl Michael Davis |
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Well schooled: 53 Fd Bty conducts a fire mission.
Photo by Cpl Michael Davis |
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On the gun line: Gnrs Mark Le Messurier, Andrew Edgar and Chris Toll, School of Arty’s 53 Fd Bty, load the L119 Hamel Gun during a four-round fire-for-effect mission.
Photo by Cpl Michael Davis |
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Wait out: Sgt Danny Rigoni, School of Armour, readies for the battlefield assault.
Photo by Cpl Michael Davis |
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Smoke trail: Sgt Steven Deleeuw, School of Inf, fires his first Javelin missile at an armoured vehicle target.
Photo by Cpl Andrew Hetherington |
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In sight: Gnr Mark Le Messurier, School of Arty’s 53 Fd Bty, adjusts the sight of a Hamel Gun.
Photo by Cpl Michael Davis |
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New toy: Sgt Craig Holdcroft and WO2 Dennis Barlow in their Abrams tank.
Photo by Cpl Michael Davis |
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Enemy targets on Objective Spike fall like bowling pins, but it’s hard to determine who or what is carrying out this precise strike.
Only when I train my camera lens to the 11 o’clock position 100m away do I notice the prone sniper team.
Theirs were not the first shots of a battle in a distant land, but the opening stage of the biannual Exercise Chong Ju.
This is the eighth year and second time in 2007 the highly orchestrated exercise has been held at the Puckapunyal range.
Two hundred personnel from the Schools of Artillery, Infantry, Armour and Engineers put on a formidable firepower display for the students of the Combat Officers Advanced Course (COAC).
Lt-Col Jason Thomas, CO School of Armour and Officer Conducting the exercise, said the primary purpose of Chong Ju was to educate captains on COAC about the effects of individual weapons platforms and combined arms teams.
“It is to demonstrate to them the advantages of conducting combined operations and also to show them the planning principles and effects of firing into a target from the end of a combined arms team,” he said.
“The students will now go on to complete the course, which involves seven weeks of planning combined arms operations. They will not take the course to the field, but they will practise what they learn through war gaming.”
The exercise took three months to plan and Lt-Col Thomas said the intention was to always include the latest weapons systems.
From the opening sniper engagement, Chong Ju was the most astounding flex of Army combat muscle I had seen.
One of the snipers displaying his target-hitting prowess was WO2 Robert Maitland, recon sniper team at Tactics Wing of the School of Infantry.
He said his role was to demonstrate the effects snipers could achieve and how they could link in with a commander’s overall design for battle.
“This was my third Exercise Chong Ju and I really enjoyed highlighting to the spectators the engagement capabilities of a sniper and the weapon systems at various ranges,” he said.
“We used the SR98 7.62mm sniper rifle out to 850m and used the 12.7mm or .50 cal Anti-Material rifle out to 1100m. It was a bit challenging as we were using tracer ammunition, so the spectators could see us firing. We normally use match grade ammunition.”
After the sniper team neutralised targets in the enemy bunker on Obj Spike, three ASLAVS in a fire support role engaged the target location.
Tpr Nicholas Petersen, Support Sqn at the School of Armour and an ASLAV driver, said this was one of the best of the four Chong Ju exercises in which he had participated.
“Everyone was hitting what they were supposed to hit and the timing was really good. The exercise worked really well,” he said.
“It’s a good opportunity for me to get out and really see the capabilities of the armoured vehicles and other weapons like the Javelin and close air support of the F-111s.”
He said the highlight of the exercise was witnessing the firing of the Javelin missile system.
“It was really good – nice and accurate – and I liked the way it travelled through the air.
In my role I liked the way we drove up a hill towards the end of the exercise and all the armoured vehicles swung around together,” Tpr Petersen said.
“We were travelling at about 55km/h – it was quite a comfortable ride due to the ASLAV’s suspension system.”
Out of one of the three ASLAVs emerged Sgt Steven Deleeuw, School of Inf, with a Javelin missile system and two fellow operators, who formed what is called a Javelin Post.
Their objective was to destroy an enemy armoured vehicle and they did not miss.
Sgt Deleeuw said the Javelin firing was his first live missile shot.
“It was good to fire and it took us a day and a half to prepare for the shoot with a rehearsal,” he said.
“We were running a Javelin instructors’ course here at Puckapunyal and the live fire coincided with the course.”
He said as part of the course students had to see a firing of a Javelin either live or on video.
“Of the exercise I enjoyed watching the combat team, the firepower and how it was employed. It was the first time I had seen the Abrams and I was quite impressed.”
Following the successful Javelin firing, 105mm artillery guns from 53 Bty, School of Arty, fired rounds from 3km away and two F-111s from 6 Sqn, travelling at 1100km/h, dropped four MK84 2000lb bombs, pummelling an enemy company position at the range location called Pearson’s Finger.
To continue the destruction, an M1 Abrams moved into a dug-in tank-fighting position, working in a support by fire role alongside the three ASLAVs. It used its 120mm gun to full effect as a mix of deadly metal and flames obliterated what was left of the position.
Also used in support was an RBS-70 Air Defence Bty to protect ground forces from enemy air attack.
With Obj Spike suppressed and ground forces protected against threats from the air, Combat Team Hammer – consisting of Abrams, ASLAVs and M113s from the School of Armour and dismounted infantry under the cover of artillery fire – assaulted targets on the objective. Abrams tank commander LCpl Christian Signall, Tank Tp at the School of Armour, said Exercise Chong Ju allowed him to operate his vehicle in a live-fire scenario.
“It also shows everyone else exactly how we operate, to let them see the firepower we have,” he said.
“We fired a total of eight main armour rounds in the assault and fired 400 .50 cal rounds. We went pretty well – as soon as we came over the small saddle we picked up the first target and just shot it. I then said to my gunner, next target left and when he was on target the loader loaded the next round and we fired again.”
He said the most enjoyable aspect of the exercise was firing his tank’s weapons.
“It is a pretty awesome feeling having a $5 million piece of equipment under your control,” LCpl Signall said.
When the assault was complete the infantry soldiers climbed back into their M113s and returned to base with CT Hammer.
Lt-Col Thomas said the display was a highly valuable learning experience for the captains who witnessed the exercise.
“At some stage in an officer’s career they have to be able to visualise this equipment in use,” he said. “It is all well and good to discuss it, but not until you see you can’t really understand it effectiveness.”
The next Exercise Chong Ju is scheduled to be held in May 2008. |
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