Witnessed by the world

CMDR Steve Dunning deals with a call from a media outlet whilst escorting a Japanese television cameraman in Banda Aceh. CMDR Dunning, the Senior Military Public Affairs Officer for the Australian Task Force in Indonesia, has hired a local boat to move around the coastal area as the local roads have been washed away.

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By Corporal Cameron Jamieson - filed 03 February 2005

You can't tell them apart by their uniform.

Working shoulder to shoulder with their full-time colleagues, the 40 members of the ADF Reserves who were initially assigned to Operation Sumatra Assist have played an important part in relieving the suffering of the Indonesians who survived the devastating Boxing Day earthquake and tsunami.

While the majority of reserves were medical and health specialists, others could be found in areas as diverse as air movements and civil-military cooperation, all providing their niche services.

Navy Public Affairs officer Commander Steve Dunning was one such specialist. Assigned to the task force headquarters in Medan, he travelled throughout the ADF's assigned area of operations, ensuring the task force commander's public affairs plan was being put into practice.

Like many of the personnel deployed to Sumatra, CMDR Dunning's deployment came at 24-hours notice as he was winding down from Christmas celebrations and preparing for the New Year.

With the support of his employer he had no hesitation in agreeing to go on full-time duty for the mission.

Operation Sumatra Assist is the ADF's role in the Australian Government's initial national response to the Boxing Day earthquake and tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia.

Australia was one of the first countries to respond to the crisis, and quickly provided ADF personnel and equipment to the Indonesian disaster relief operations in the Aceh province of Sumatra.

"The ADF assets committed to the operation proved invaluable," CMDR Dunning said.

"The medical and health support assets, the engineers with their water purification, the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft and the Iroquois helicopter capability were all extremely critical during the initial response.

"The arrival of HMAS Kanimbla with the Darwin-based engineer assets and the embarked Sea Kings were another group of important resources for the relief operations."

The first month of the operation saw unprecedented global media interest in the mission, which placed the ADF effort under the media spotlight, particularly those forces deployed to Sumatra.

"The satisfaction of helping get the message out about the ADF's achievements and the positive impact our involvement had on the Indonesian and Australia public was extremely satisfying," CMDR Dunning said.

But there were hurdles to jump before the public relations effort could proceed smoothly.

"One of the initial challenges we faced was establishing effective communications and networks with the media," CMDR Dunning said.

"This was particularly problematic in the early stages of the mission when we were reliant on mobile and satellite phones for all our public affairs communications.

"The media's requirement for immediacy and meeting deadlines presented numerous challenges, which we eventually overcame as we established the various ADF elements in the area of operations."

Despite the benefit of previous operational service in East Timor and Iraq, CMDR Dunning was unprepared for the devastation of Banda Aceh.

"Like most Australians I saw the graphic images on television, but that didn't prepare me for what I saw in Aceh province," he said.

"It's impossible to comprehend the loss of human life and the level of suffering that the people of Aceh province have suffered.

"Flying over the area in both fixed and rotary wing aircraft and then seeing the devastation on the ground left me in awe of the sheer force of the destruction wrought by the tsunami.

"It was common to hear the troops call the coastal strip of Banda Aceh 'ground zero', and perhaps that is the best way to describe it - whole suburbs were devoid of buildings and human life."

For CMDR Dunning, his agreement to serve with Operation Sumatra Assist was the right answer to an urgent request.

"We all hated the reason that brought us to Sumatra," CMDR Dunning said.

"But the response of the ADF troops was magnificent - I'm humbled by the opportunity to have shared in the experience with my full-time counterparts."