Volume
48, No. 6, April 20, 2006
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In
a first for 79SQN, six Hawks were deployed overseas last
week to participate in Exercise Bersama Shield in Butterworth,
Malaysia.
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Photo
by LAC Allan Cooper
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NUMBER
79 Squadron has commenced an historic double-first with its deployment
of six Hawks and 52 personnel to Butterworth for Exercise Bersama
Shield.
It’s the first time Hawks have deployed overseas and the
first deployment for the squadron in nearly two decades. The last
deployment was also to Butterworth in 1986.
Exercise Bersama Shield is the latest in the annual series of
air defence exercises held under the Five Power Defence Arrangement
(FPDA) between Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore and
the United Kingdom.
It will be held around Singapore and Malaysia over the next two
weeks.
79SQN Administration Officer FLTLT Basil Bradford said the squadron
had worked at a very high operational tempo as aircrew and operations
and support personnel readied themselves for the exercise.
“Aircrew have flown the types of sorties that reflect what
we expect in the exercise, as well as appropriate refresher training,”
he said.
“As this is the first time the Hawks have deployed, our planning
was very thorough.
All our personnel performed to very high standards and the 79SQN
maintenance section was awarded the Maintenance Trophy for 2005
in recognition of their hard work.
“The Bersama Shield deployment has had a positive effect
on morale, and everyone has been looking forward to the exercise.”
The squadron will return to Australia in mid-May and commence
preparations for its deployment to Darwin for Exercise Singaroo
in July.
FLTLT Bradford said the squadron intends to demonstrate the viability
of the Hawk in the Bersama series of exercises.
“The shorter range of the Hawk will raise opportunities to
come up with innovative solutions for deploying the aircraft –
with the possibility of air-to-air refuelling for future deployments
and, of course, how the Hawk actually performs on the big stage,”
he said.
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“We aim to prove the value of the Hawk participating in the
Bersama exercises, and hopefully this will lead to more overseas
deployments for the Hawk squadrons in the future.”
79SQN’s B Flight Commander, SQNLDR Ray Simpson agreed.
“The procedures we use for the Hawk are very similar to our
operational platforms,” SQNLDR Simpson said.
“This allows Hawk pilots to transition easily to warfighting
aircraft. These are combat-proven tactics and procedures.
“However, we are simulating hostile aircraft in some scenarios
and our aim will be to provide realistic profiles to our FPDA
allies. This will maximise the training of all FPDA assets and
prepare all players well for any contingency.”
