Building sand castles

By Private John Wellfare

An F-111 is readied for takeoff at RAAF Scherger during Exercise Kakadu.

Photo by CPL Kirk Peacock

AN OPERATIONAL air base needs to be defended, which means fortifying guard posts and gun pits with sandbags to provide a shield against bullets and shrapnel.

While activating RAAF Scherger, members of No. 381 Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron and No. 2 Airfield Defence Squadron filled thousands of sandbags to bolster fortifications at all the base’s key points.

Ground Defence Officer Flying Officer Craig Nielsen, who managed some of the many sandbagging tasks undertaken at RAAF Scherger, said some sensible planning – tons of sand had been piled into a cleared section of the base – and modern technology made the painstaking job easier.

“The sandbagging machine we’ve got here is an excellent tool and it certainly cuts down on the workload, especially when you’re short on troops on the ground,” he said.

“It’s very manpower-intensive when you’re doing it by hand, one person holding the bag, one shovelling it in. It’s good to see that we’ve got equipment like this that we can call on to speed the process up.”

The task of filling the sandbags had fallen to whichever personnel were available at the time, Flying Officer Nielsen said.

“All personnel, being base combatant personnel, are trained in how to fill sandbags, how to place them down on the ground into the pits allocated,” he said. “So everybody throws a hand in when it counts.”

As well as building guard posts at the entrances to key positions and at vehicle checkpoints, sandbags were used to establish stand-to points for all-round perimeter security.

 

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