Working to pass inspection

Leading Aircraftman Mark Lawlor prepares to unload ADF cargo to cleaned and inspected by AQIS. Photo by SGT W. Guthrie

By LT Alastair McPherson

AS military movements from the Middle East Area of Operations increase, Australian forces and their kit are coming under stricter scrutiny by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS).

The ADF and AQIS are working to close potential pathways into Australia for serious pests and diseases prevalent in the Middle East.

Diseases such as Foot and Mouth, Sheep and Goat Pox, Virulent Newcastle disease and Karnal Bunt fungal disease can be transported in soil and pose a massive threat to livestock, poultry and cereal grain production. Soil and dust are the main quarantine concerns as they can be easily deposited in vehicles, cargo, ship ballast, field kit and weapons.

The ADF has taken the potential threat to Australian primary industries and ecosystems seriously and has constructed an Intermediate Staging Base (ISB), in a major Middle East port.

The ISB is tasked with cleaning and processing equipment before embarkation to Australia.

With a completion deadline of mid-June, it is staffed by eight permanent members and is supported by 68 personnel from across the three services, including members from the Air Terminal Squadron.

Two AQIS Inspectors have been embedded at the ISB to supervise the process and to inspect all materials to ensure that equipment returning to Australia is free from dust, soil, seeds and plant material as well as insects and rodents.

As kit rolls in from across the MEAO, the ISB team begins the painstaking process by dismantling vehicles and equipment to enable thorough cleaning with power tools, high-pressure water blasters, disinfectant and pesticides.

Every piece is then inspected by AQIS for contaminants and once cleared for RTA, the vehicles and equipment are reassembled, wrapped in plastic and transported to an air base, given a final wash down and sprayed with insecticide before being loaded on to chartered Antonov 124s or Ilyusion 76s embarking to Australia.

Leading Aircraftman Mark Lawlor, of ATS, said, “My job is to pack everything up for shipping and the stuff I get is always very clean and free from dust – without us the gear would not get home.”

It came with the kit

Palm-sized flesh-eating Camel spiders have been found in the kit of forces returning from the field. Although they look ferocious and have a powerful bite, they are harmless – for humans at least. Despite the name and appearance, camel spiders are actually solifugids which, unlike spiders, do not have venom or silk glands. They prey on spiders, scorpions, insects, small vertebrates and other solifugids. Usually nocturnal, they sometimes come out in the day but will seek out shadows, even if the shadow is cast by a human. If the person moves, the solifugid follows the shadow, which gives the impression it is giving pursuit. It’s easy enough to get that impression, particularly as camel spiders can move at speeds of up to 16km/h.

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