The war drums are beating ... Kamaria invades Legais. To restore democracy, the US and Australia decide to take action. This is the scenario being played out in the skies, the seas and the sand of central Queensland to show how we go about ...
Sabre Rattling

LT Simone Heyer travelled to the fictional island of Legais, alias Shoalwater Bay Training Area, to see how Air Force units and personnel played their part during Exercise Talisman Sabre.

Pump up the volume at Amberley
When the pressure's on
The elements of bomb construction

Bringing lethality in minutes

WGCDR Steve Roberton: “It’s a difficult job to coordinate everything that needs to happen.”

Photo by LAC Mark McConnell

COMMANDING Officer No. 75 Squadron Wing Commander Steve Roberton is at home on the Queensland coast. But the view from an F/A-18 is a bit different from the ground. Thousands of kilometres from his unit at RAAF Base Tindal, for the next few weeks, he will fly over his home region of the Sunshine Coast enroute to Shoalwater Bay Training Area for Exercise Talisman Sabre.

Based at Amberley for the exercise, 75SQN has a strength of eight aircraft and 14 pilots flying sorties as part of the exercise scenario.

WGCDR Roberton said the role of 75SQN was to provide offensive defence by air.

“We’re fighting US forces and supporting the F-111s and ADF air assets,” he said.
“We’re also doing simulated strikes in the AO.”

He said the normal difficulties would come up during the exercise.

“As per any air campaign in support of ground manoeuvres, it’s a difficult job to coordinate everything that needs to happen.

“We’re flying in coordination with naval gun fire and army artillery. The Hornets bring lethality. We can be there in minutes instead of hours.”

Twelve-14 sorties are flown a day on a 12-hour mission cycle.

“We receive an air tasking order 12-48 hours before a mission, detailing which assets we’re deploying with,” WGCDR Roberton said.

“We coordinate all that, then plan strikes and individual roles.”

He said the exercise was standard training for the squadron.

“We have a lot of joint and combined exercises. For us to come to a colder climate with different terrain is good experience.

“We enjoy the opportunity to operate with the US Navy, they’re flying the same aircraft type.

“The Americans have a different mindset, and it’s amazing at how differently we operate. They operate from the carrier group which is an entirely different paradigm.”

The CO said there was limited tactical-level training during the exercise, but the real training was in the coordination of flying the sorties.

“We’ve got a couple of younger guys going for upgrades of different levels of leadership in formation sizes. They coordinate, build packages, look at the situation, mission, execution, and then evaluate.

“They’re getting the opportunity to take $200 million worth of equipment and people’s lives and to bring them back in one piece,” he said.

Talisman Sabre also gave the Hornet pilots the chance to train in a combined environment with the F-111s.

WGCDR Roberton said a 100-person maintenance crew travelled to Amberley to keep the Hornets at their flying best.
He said they worked two shifts over an 18-20 hour day.

Exercise Talisman Sabre will give the F/A-18 crews the chance to test new equipment designed to make their job easier.

“We’re incorporating the operational test and evaluation of night vision goggles, or NVGs, we’re trialling,” he said.

“The NVGs are being employed in a large scale exercise for the first time. They increase night capabilities which means an increase in our work load. They’re a great capability enhancer.”

WGCDR Roberton said the NVGs were the latest generation and weren’t used at low altitude.

Pump up the volume at Amberley

LAC Steve Borg, above, and LAC Peter Piesker below, from 382ECSS, keep the jets flying.

Photos by LAC Mark McConnell

YOU won’t get off the ground without them. Refuelers Leading Aircraftmen Steve Borg and Peter Piesker from No. 382

Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron, know they’ve got a vital job in the running of Exercise Talisman Sabre.

The squadron refuels all aircraft that land in Amberley both during the exercise and on normal tasking.

LAC Borg said they got a program every night that detailed the launching times of each group of aircraft the next day.

As Hornets and F-111s are heavily involved in the exercise, he said it was important they were refuelled in a timely fashion.

“Hornets are refuelled when they land, and F-111s before their launch,” he said.

“We have four or five guys refuelling at any one time, and an after-hours duty refueller.”

A 30,000-litre tanker can refuel a number of aircraft with one load, which the LACs say make their job less time intensive, but important when the refuelling tempo picks up.

Because the F-111s are on an airstrip on the other side of the base, refuelling can be a three-hour turnaround.

The Hornets meanwhile are next door to No. 82 Wing, and they’re refuelled using the underground fuel lines.

This means the guys don’t have to drive their tankers out to the fuel farm 10 minutes away, fill their tanks – which can take up to an hour, drive to the airstrip, then refuel the aircraft for an hour.

LAC Piesker said problems could be experienced during the exercise with truck and aircraft serviceability – “but we plan for that”.

He said that a few personnel at the squadron hadn’t been in an exercise the size of Talisman Sabre before, and it would be a good learning experience for them.

Despite this, he said their workload during the exercise wasn’t increased significantly.

When the pressure's on

CPL Ken Friend takes a break during bomb loading of an F-111 at RAAF Base Amberley.

Photos by LT Simone Heyer

IT’S NOT as simple as refuel and go for the F-111s and Hornets involved in Exercise Talisman Sabre. Corporal Ken Friend, a section trade NCO from No. 6 Squadron, is one of the Explosive Ordnance Employment Stream (EOES) airmen responsible for bombing up the jets flying north for the exercise.

He said the groups loaded 500 and 2000 lb bombs on to the aircraft, as well as chaff and flares.

Loading 24 500-pound bombs on to an F-111 takes time, according to CPL Friend.

“We’ve got a few trainees and a few people getting qualified which can slow us down but that’s all part of the exercise.”

He said the aircraft flew sorties twice a day in the early stages of the exercise and had to be fully replenished both times.

Senior engineer officer for No. 1 Squadron, Squadron Leader James Heading, has the role of Line Safety Controller (LSC) during the loading of high-explosive ordnance on the F-111.

He said No. 82 Wing’s combined 1 and 6SQN teams have performed outstandingly.

“This is a high-tempo exercise,” he said. “There are a lot of aircraft and a lot of bombs. Success shows the standards we maintain in both squadrons.

“The guys have been here since Sunday June 12 and we’ve been full-on for the past week.”

SQNLDR Heading said his airmen were no strangers to being busy or away from home with exercises taking people away for up to five months of the year.

“We have a crew in Adelaide, some guys back from Darwin and others just back from Townsville, together with a few overseas exercises – our year is very busy. It’s nice to be at our home base in Amberley for a change.”

He said loading high explosive bombs was a specialist job and everyone knuckled down.

“There’s a lot of responsibility for supervisors, knowing all the hazards and issues related to this work.

“There’s a high level of professionalism and it’s great to see it all come together in Talisman Sabre.”

Corporal Brian Rock is an EOES NCO with No. 75 Squadron. With Hornets flying two sorties a day in waves of six, the guys have their work cut out for them.

“We monitor and maintain electrical systems, ejection seats, launch and recovery systems and load chaff,” CPL Rock said.

“We also always have four guys under training at any one time.”

The elements of bomb construction

Making up the bombs for the squadrons flying on the exercise.

IT’S a case of bombs away for the bomb construction explosive ordnance staff at No. 82 Wing during Exercise Talisman Sabre.

Independent inspector Corporal Tom Hernandez said there were a few elements involved in bomb construction.
“First we receive the stores; bomb lugs, fuses and so on,” he said. “We test where required, assemble the bombs, then send them to a storage area.”

CPL Hernandez said the number of bombs the five-man crew constructed at any one time depended on the flying progam.

Although many were constructed in the first few days of the exercise – “the laser-guided series are a bit slower.”

“It’s a busy job – but the hours are 9 to 5,” he said.

Bringing lethality in minutes
Pump up the volume at Amberley
When the pressure's on

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