United naval defence

HEAVE, HO (above): Traditional races included the Tug of War as part of the Tartan Terror Olympics.

By Michael Brooke
Volume 49, No. 18 , October 05, 2006

HMA Ships Darwin, Stuart and Gascoyne and Clearance Dive Team One, as well as other ADF assets, recently participated in the largest and most complex Five Power Defence Arrangement (FPDA) Exercise ever held.

Exercise Bersama Padu, which means “together united” in Malay, was conducted by the military forces of Australia, Britain, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore over the Malaysian peninsula and South China Sea from September 4 to 24.

The exercise involved 21 warships and submarines and 85 aircraft including RAAF F-111s, F/A-18s and AP-3C Orions.

Bersama Padu was based on lessons learnt from previous FPDA exercises.

Maritime Commander Australia RADM Davyd Thomas, who attended the closing ceremony in Singapore, said the exercise enhanced inter-operability, operational capability and mutual co-operation among the armed forces from the FPDA nations.

RADM Thomas said the exercise also enhanced regional peace and stability, and strengthened the FPDA’s ability to deal with the security challenges facing the region today.

“Exercise Bersama Padu provided an important opportunity for the men and women of the RAN to train with a multi-national force that included Air Force and Navy representatives,” he said.

RADM Thomas said the aim of the exercise was to tackle various scenarios of threats to maritime security and to enhance coordination among the forces in the defence of the sea lines of communication.
The RAN conducted force integration training, tactical exercises and maritime security exercises within Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, as well as in the South China Sea.

CMDR Peter Tedman, DJFHQ-M, said the maritime security component of the exercise featured the interception and boarding of target vessels, while a Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation (NEO) CPX was introduced to strengthen inter-agency coordination.

He said these augmentations to the exercise, on top of realistic and demanding exercise play at the operational and tactical levels, enabled the FPDA to strengthen its capabilities while building capacity to handle a wider range of non-conventional operations.

With more than 90 per cent of the world’s trade sea-bound and, with nearly a quarter of it passing through the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, maritime security will continue to be a key concern for this region.

---

Olympics en route

By LSPT Damien Cann

After an extremely busy year, the crew of HMAS Stuart (CMDR PJ Leavy) took the opportunity to divert their efforts en route to Bersama Padu to take part in the Tartan Terror Olympics.

Each department marched on to the flight deck for the opening ceremony before competition began. Events included the traditional egg-and-spoon and over-and-under races accompanied by the Stuart Irongut competition. The gold medal was awarded to the aviation department, with the stokers and greenies awarded silver and bronze respectively.

Following the Olympics, the Ship’s company then enjoyed a swim over Marianas Trench, the deepest part of the ocean. The ship also celebrated her fourth birthday while sailing north.

.