More than 3000 personnel are participating in the Australian Army’s largest domestic multinational exercise this year.

The 3rd Brigade is in Townsville with personnel from the United States, Japan, Papua New Guinea and South Korea for Exercise Southern Jackaroo from May 29 to July 3.

Commander 1st (Australian) Division Major General Ash Collingburn said the high-tempo training exercise tested the readiness and integration of participating forces in a demanding and realistic environment.

“This is not routine training. It is a rehearsal for war. A deliberate test of readiness, resilience and trust,” Major General Collingburn said.

The exercise will push soldiers physically and mentally to strengthen combined capability and collective readiness.

“We must be ready to deploy anywhere, operate in austere conditions and fight on arrival. That is a shared challenge across all our forces, and this exercise is where we build that readiness together,” Major General Collingburn said.

'Most importantly, this is where we build trust. Trust in procedures, trust in capability, but above all, trust in each other – as one team.'

Commander of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force contingent, Colonel Soichi Yamazaki, said the Townsville Field Training Area offered training opportunities unlike those available in Japan.

“Our training field in Japan is very limited, very narrow. On the other hand the training environment in Australia is incredible,” Colonel Yamazaki said.

“So we can conduct a fire exercise at maximum range and we can use UAVs [uncrewed aerial vehicles] without any limitation.”

Commander of the United States Marine Corps contingent (Marine Rotation Force – Darwin), Major Trevor Kerchner, said North Queensland provided a markedly different training environment, from unfamiliar terrain to communication hurdles, highlighting challenges and benefits for partner nations.

“Specific to language barriers, we use things like terrain models or we use pictures in the dirt to create an environment similar to the map,” Major Kerchner said.

“Even though we might not have the same terminology or language, we can visualise what we are trying to do on the map together and create a mutual understanding.”

Major General Collingburn said trust between partner nations was central to multinational training.

“Most importantly, this is where we build trust. Trust in procedures, trust in capability, but above all, trust in each other – as one team,” Major General Collingburn said.

“That trust, built here in training, is what carries forward into crisis and conflict.”