By
CPL Cameron Jamieson
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Air
traffic controller FLGOFF Luke Petrini on HMAS Kanimbla.
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Photo
by CPL Cameron Jamieson
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GREY-clad
air traffic controllers were deployed with the Amphibious Mobile
Airspace Control Element located on the Navy’s amphibious transport
HMAS Kanimbla during Exercise Swift Eagle.
Flying Officer Luke Petrini was one of the deployed controllers,
working alongside his counterparts from the
Army’s No. 5 Aviation Regiment to provide liaison between the
fast air, artillery, slow movers and the ships of the taskforce
involved in the evacuation of civilians from a volatile fictitious
island.
“Our job [was] to keep everyone apart, sanitising the airspace,”
FLGOFF Petrini said.
The real-time nature of the exercise, which involved a large amount
of freeplay by the taskforce, gave added emphasis to the complexity
of the situation.
“It gives us a good exposure to what is a fairly likely scenario,
where you have to coordinate with a lot of different elements,”
FLGOFF Petrini said.
The ability to locate the controllers onboard the HMAS Kanimbla
gave them the extra mobility needed to provide the necessary air
traffic control coverage across a broad range of on-shore activities.
“Previously, it would all have been done ashore or not done at
all. Now, with the ability to take air traffickers on the ship,
we can be moved to wherever we need to go, making for a very mobile
capability.”
Air traffic controllers were also ashore, working with 3RAR during
their assault on a terrorist training camp, again providing the
de-confliction between fire support and the air assets.
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