TOWNSVILLE BOOMS
LACW Simone Liebelt reports on Jabiru, a fast-jet bombing exercise

Leading Aircraftman David Kelly, pre-checks a Hornet before it taxies from the ordnance loading apron of RAAF Base Townsville during Exercise Jabiru. Photo by LACW Simone Liebelt

Life Support Fitter Corporal Kyton Weeks rigs out avionics technician Corporal David Bruce with a G-suit for his familiarisation flight in a Hornet. Photo by LACW Simone Liebelt

Leading Aircraftman Chad Dalton retrievies a cargo net from the equipment store. Photo by LACW Simone Liebelt

Air Traffic Controller Flight Lieutenant Robyne Chawner on duty in the tower. Photo by LACW Simone Liebelt

Flying Officer Aaron Ward readies his Hornet for a mission. Photo by LACW Simone Liebelt

Leading Aircraftman Ryan Espie conducts pre-flight checks on an F-111. Photo by AC David Gibbs

Squadron Leader Shawn Matthews, Flight Lieutenant Leon Cossins and Squadron Leader Phil Eldridge sign the paperwork for their aircraft. Photo by LACW Simone Liebelt

Leading Aircraftman Mick Day and Corporal Adam Watson align a Mark 82 low-drag bomb onto the attachments of the FA-18. Photo by CPL Craig Sharp

An F-111 takes off during Exercise Jabiru. Photo by AC David Gibbs

NATIVE to Northern Australia, the Jabiru is a bird known for its booming voice and clattering beak.

So it is a fitting choice of namesake for the major fast-jet bombing exercise that thundered over RAAF Base Townsville from February 27 to March 19.

Eleven F/A-18 Hornet aircraft and more than 130 personnel from No.77 Squadron participated in Exercise Jabiru, which also involved two F-111 aircraft from No. 1 Squadron and a range of Army mortar, infantry and Special Forces ground units.

The three-week High Explosive (HE) ordnance exercise allowed 77SQN to test and practice its key war fighting and deployment capabilities through the delivery of dummy and live bombs to the High Range and Shoalwater Bay training areas.

Run for the first time out of RAAF Base Townsville, the annual exercise took advantage of new state-of-the-art Ordnance Loading Apron (OLA) facilities, including aircraft shelters, runways and operations and maintenance bunkers, built as part of the base’s multi-million dollar redevelopment project.

The program-run exercise involved day and night operations, with an average of 16 air-to-ground strike or armed reconnaissance missions flown each day in two separate waves of Hornets.

Starting with the delivery of small practice weapons, the exercise then moved into HE laser-guided bombs and training rounds. Army troops operating as part of an artillery exercise on the ground at High Range helped guide the bombs to their targets.

Detachment Commander Squadron Leader Phil Eldridge said while the Squadron regularly deployed on exercises, this was a once-a-year opportunity to put their training and skills to the test in a live bomb environment.

“This exercise not only gave us the chance to deploy our whole squadron operationally but provided a great training opportunity for all of our guys,” he said. “We’re there to service the exercise so the tempo is high, but it is also a big objective of ours to get our gunnies and armourers trained and qualified on all the HE weapons we carry. We also have a very strong focus on the upgrading of our aircrew to the next category of achievement, and this sort of deployment provides that opportunity.”

While many aircraft technicians put their armament skills to the test during the exercise, only one pilot was being assessed for the next grade of fighter flying.

Ex Jabiru was the culmination of more than three months of B category fighter preparation training for Flying Officer Aaron Ward. In every mission he flew during the exercise, FLGOFF Ward was the leader of four Hornets and was continually assessed on his ability to plan, brief, and execute the missions successfully. As a qualified B category fighter pilot, FLGOFF Ward can now lead four jets into war.

Labelling the exercise a success, SQNLDR Eldridge said the lessons learnt over the three weeks would be applied to the Squadron’s next deployment – Exercise Pitch Black, in mid-year.

“It’s a learning process all the way through every deployment and we will always talk about the things we’ve learnt and what we can do better next time,” he said.

“We are already capitalising on some of the lessons learnt from Operation Falconer. We’re certainly using some of the procedures we used overseas, but that was one war and this was only one exercise, so you can’t cater for all of them.”

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