Coordinators of hope

Warrant Officer Second Class Les Tobin scans a colour satellite image of the Banda Aceh region to check for roads that are still usable for humanitarian aid vehicles. WO2 Tobin, a member of the Army Reserve, is a member of the Australian-British CIMIC (Civil Military Cooperation) team that is operating from the Banda Aceh airport, liaising with the Indonesians, international organisations and non-government organisations for the use of Australian and British military assets to assist with humanitarian relief efforts.

Lo-res | Hi-res

By Corporal Cameron Jamieson - filed 03 February 2005

The rush to help the people of Aceh province in Indonesia has been incredible. But without coordination the relief operation could easily turn into chaos.

The various military responses of the Indonesian and international forces brought transport and engineering resources into the region that the government, non-government and international agencies all desperately needed to access.

This is why Australia and the UK have deployed a combined Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC) group as part of Operation Sumatra Assist.

The group is divided between the headquarters and a CIMIC team in Medan, in Northern Sumatra Province, and another team at Banda Aceh Airport in Aceh Province.

Captain Bill Boyd-Law, a Reserve CIMIC officer from Brisbane, is a member of the CIMIC team in Banda Aceh.

"I'm a project manager in my civilian job, and that fits in well with CIMIC operations," he said.

"CIMIC is the conduit for civil agencies and government organisations to access military resources in Sumatra.

"Through the CIMIC cell we've been able to establish good relationships and exchange information with the various agencies and organisations here in Banda Aceh.

"Initially there were a lot of requests for air assets to do food and water drops, but as that side of the operation has settled down there has been a shift in focus to reconstruction and the sighting and building of internally displaced persons camps.

"There is also the ongoing job of providing more water sterilisation facilities and sanitation work across Banda Aceh.

Warrant Officer Second Class Les Tobin is another Army Reserve soldier whose civilian skills as a fleet maintenance manager are being used to organise resources.

When he first deployed from Medan to Banda Aceh he could only move with his field equipment, so his notebook became his office.

"We managed like that for about a week until the sustainment flights caught up with us," he said.

WO2 Tobin said the early days involved making contact with the various agencies in Banda Aceh to let them know of the CIMIC presence.

"We went out and met the various people, exchanged contact details and gathered information on what resources were available," he said.With the support of the Indonesian military, the CIMIC team then began holding meetings at the Banda Aceh airport to facilitate the allocation of resources among the relief organisations.

"Through those meetings requests for air support and engineers works within the civil community get put on the table and discussed," WO2 Tobin said.

"The Indonesian military representatives then take the requests away for discussion at the headquarters, and usually the next day, or even earlier, they will get back to us with their approval or suggestions to better integrate the relief request."

WO2 Tobin said the critical key to their ability to facilitate aid requests was the excellent relationship that exists between them and the Indonesians.

"We are here at the request of the Indonesians, and any work we do here in helping the people or repairing the damage has first to be approved by them, but the Indonesians have been very helpful in facilitating the requests as quickly as possible," he said.