Down and dirty
Even hobbits would have found the going difficult during adventure training
at Wee Jasper caves, FLTLT Paul Reimers reports

Sergeant Jamie Bordiuk rehearses his egress using a wire ladder before the exploration of the Wee Jasper caves.

Photos by FLTLT Paul Reimers

Flight Lieutenant Paul Albrecht abseils into the entrance of the “Dip Series” cave during the training exercise.

DARKNESS, tight spaces, mud, bats, slippery rocks and big drops. Caving doesn’t sound inviting to many people, but it can be a challenging and memorable experience, both physically and mentally.

Aircraft Maintenance Management Systems (AMMS) – DGTA did its annual adventure training exercise in the Wee Jasper caves in NSW from March 19-23.

The AMMS organisation is split between RAAF Base Williams and Canberra.

The opportunity to have the entire section together and undertake a group activity in an unfamiliar environment led to the plan to explore the underground cave systems in the Wee Jasper area.

Like many adventurous training activities, the AMMS caving experience was safe and enjoyable owing to a mix of experienced instructors, quality equipment and proper preparation.

The team of Unit Adventure Training Leaders (UATL) led by Sergeant Ian “Chalky” Thomas, of No. 21 Squadron, spent a full day conducting abseiling refresher/instruction off the face of a collapsed cave, wire ladder egress training on the same face, and cave familiarisation in the “Signature Cave”.

The cave introduction gave many people the first taste of being confined (read stuck) in subterranean rock features, having to deal with fear and, in some cases, work out of the jam in which they found themselves.

But this was only a sample of smaller (and bigger) things to come. Full of confidence after their first day’s foray the group split in two and explored the “Dip Series” caves.

UATLs Flight Sergeant Tim Fuery, Warrant Officer 2 Adam Potts, and Sergeants Darren Schafer and Thomas managed to put the groups through tunnels that most were convinced would not fit a “hobbit”.

There were tight spots but there were also large spaces and caverns with impressive formations.

After making their way through each of the five levels of the series and experiencing the difficulty of getting from one to another, participants were left with a healthy respect for those who originally discovered and explored the caves.

Turning off the lights and trying to navigate in absolute darkness made us appreciate our team members and our lighting systems! On the last day, Warrant Officer 2 Jim Smith and Sergeant Phil Crome joined the group to allow a three-team staggered start, undertaking exploration of various combinations of the “Punchbowl” system.

This involved an abseil entrance, various scrambling paths into ledges, grottos, “Diprodadon” pits, rope-assisted climbs and further abseils within the complex itself and, finally, a testing 80-foot wire ladder egress to the surface.

All done with the accompaniment of a few annoying flies that followed the headlamps into the depths of the cave.

The local inhabitants (thousands of insect bats) were a little ruffled by the visitors but tolerated the intrusion and took the opportunity to lunch on the unfortunate flies.

One caving group was more than a little ruffled by the bats too, which flew down a small tunnel they were in.

The cavers had to close their mouths and eyes and wait for the bats to pass.

Opportunity for some self-reflection was available while sitting in the dark on cave floors covered with tonnes of bat guano, eating lunch and pondering how to get out of the particular chamber into which we had crawled, slid or abseiled.

The combination of technical rope work, careful path selection and ongoing physical and mental exertion had all working hard for the seven-hour periods spent underground.

For many in the group, caving at Wee Jasper was the highlight of the adventure training they had undertaken so far in their military and APS careers.

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