Brisbane-based 7th Brigade conduct annual Diamond Run

A Brisbane army brigade is conducting wargames in a Queensland stronghold, and our reporter is embedded. SEE THE VIDEO

Lessons from the current Gaza and Ukraine conflicts have informed a wargaming exercise playing out in Queensland this week.

Brisbane-based 7th Brigade’s largest annual exercise Diamond Run is under way at Shoalwater Bay near Rockhampton, involving thousands of personnel.

Combat Training Centre Commander Colonel Ben McLennan said the exercise came amid volatile global and regional security situations.

“That has meant that we are training harder and more often than ever before in my career, and I’ve been in the army for 30 years,” he said.

The two-week exercise has included simulated attacks from an enemy from a fictional country known as the People’s Republic of Olvana in the fictional country of Belesia, which is representative of any Indo-Pacific nation.

Colonel McLennen said they were training for the worst possible situation for Australia.

“We’re at (fictional) war, a type of war we haven’t seen since World War II, and we don’t want to be in that position,” he said.

The army has adopted lessons from Ukraine and Gaza by focusing its training on large-scale combat operations including drones and counter-drone technology, as well as incorporating long-range firing.

7th Brigade’s Bombardier Jesse Todhunter said he had done several exercises like this one, but was still learning each time.

“The operating in chemical warfare, I haven’t done an exercise that’s included that before so wearing the gear and having the masks on you, I haven’t really experienced,” he said.

As part of Exercise Diamond Run, soldiers trained in a chemical/biological/radiological/nuclear attack at the Shoalwater Bay training facility. They needed to get their gas masks on instantly, and their full protective gear on within 5sec.

“The exercise solidifies the tactics we use,” he said.

Bombardier Todhunter said Diamond Run also gave an overall experience in operating with battle groups.

With more than 1500 personnel partaking in the exercise, Army’s 7th Brigade Commander Brigadier Giles Cornelia said the fictional war was a “complex circumstance” including a conventional and irregular enemy.

“The army is changing its force structure to meet government direction as part of both the defence strategic review and the national defence strategy,” he said.

“It’s really important that we train in a realistic environment and we want to train people to be able to confront really challenging circumstances.”

7th Brigade’s Bombardier Jesse Todhunter and Commander Brigadier Giles Cornelia inside the exercise.

This most recent exercise comes about a year on from Exercise Talisman Sabre, which saw the tragic death of four soldiers in a Taipan Helicopter crash off waters near Lindeman Island, Queensland.

Colonel McLennan said the next Talisman Sabre would be the biggest ever.

Asked if he had concerns over whether increasing the difficulty of the exercise after the tragic events of the last one, Colonel McLennan said they were honouring the lives of the soldiers by making the exercise better.

“This one’s going to be well and truly, much bigger than what we had last year. I think we’re tracking 19 nations participating,” he said.

At the last Talisman Sabre there were about 12 nations participating, Colonel McLennan said.

The Taipan helicopters were previously used at the Diamond Run exercise before the transition toward Blackhawks, Cdr McLennan said.

Colonel McLennan said around 20 Blackhawks and 30 Apache helicopters have been brought in to sustain the ADF’s capability as well as Tiger aircraft and MV 22 for attacks.

“I think the best thing we can do is to honour those brave soldiers and officers who died in that tragic accident,” he said.

“…by doing our best to run the biggest Talisman Sabre ever, one that is fundamentally safe, but also one that is unmatched in its effectiveness,” he said.

Designed to fully prepare the army, soldiers trained in heavy rain, expeditionary resupply (air and sea), conventional trench warfare (seen in Ukraine), urban operations (seen in middle east and Ukraine) and chemical weapons defence.

The two-week exercise runs until Tuesday.

A soldier dons protective gear. Picture: ADF