US official praises military alliance with Australia during the Exercise Talisman Sabre opening ceremony
Preserving peace was the aim of a 70-year-unbreakable bond between the Australian and US militaries, according to officials at the opening ceremony of Exercise Talisman Sabre.
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Preserving peace was the aim of a 70-year-unbreakable bond between the Australian and US militaries, according to officials at the opening ceremony of Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Standing in front of three fighter jets, US Acting Charge d’Affairs, Gavin Sundwall, said Australia’s largest biennial military exercise was just one example of the strong partnership between the nations.
“In the face of adversity whether it be security concerns, combat operations or humanitarian assistance in disaster relief efforts, Talisman Sabre has proved to us time and time again that we are flexible and ready for anything,” he said.
Mr Sundwall – one of several dignitaries from different countries flown in from Canberra Wednesday to attend the opening ceremony of Exercise Talisman Sabre 2021 (TS21) at the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base Amberley, near Ipswich – said being able to run the mock war games with Covid-safe guidelines in place during the global coronavirus pandemic was a testament to Australians.
The joint exercise, which involves 17,000 military personnel and runs from now to August throughout Queensland, is designed to strengthen the Australian Defence Force’s alliance with the US and to help improve combat readiness.
It incorporates force preparation activities, amphibious landings, ground force manoeuvre, urban operations, and air combat and maritime operations.
The opening ceremony, which comprised a small crowd of socially distanced military personnel and the visiting dignitaries, was held just hours after a Chinese spy ship was spotted in international waters off Australia’s coastline.
It is the third time China has sent a spy ship to ‘eavesdrop’ on Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Now in its ninth iteration, TS21 and its continual expansion since its 2005 inception has sparked so much interest militaries from the UK, New Zealand, Canada, Japan and for the first time, the Republic of Korea are now also participating.
Nations invited to observe for the first time this year include France, India, Indonesia and Germany.
Mr Sundwall said TS21 was another opportunity for the countries to enhance their capabilities and to demonstrate their ability to work together.
“As our militaries come together through this month they help us advance in an open, interconnected, resilient and secure Indo Pacific, strengthening our relationship and interoperability among key allies and partners,” he said.
“Talisman Sabre is an example of the deep levels of trust and co-operation that we share, built over decades of operating and training together a trust that is further signified by this year’s commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the ANZUS treaty,” he said.
The Australia, New Zealand and United States Security Treaty was an agreement signed in San Francisco on September 1, 1951 to protect the security of the Pacific.
“There are no two militaries that work more closely together than ours,” Mr Sundwall said.
“Our alliance and the strong democratic values at its core will continue to deliver for Australians Americans and our friends and partners throughout the Indo Pacific.”
Defence Minister Peter Dutton, who said the Chinese surveillance ship was not expected to disrupt TS21, said Australia was faced with modern challenges, including the threat of cyber-attacks.
“Today we are faced with strategic circumstances which have echoes of the 1930s but which also present their own unique contemporary challenges,” he said.
“The … nations participating in and observing Exercise Talisman Sabre speaks to a shared purpose, to preserve an absolutely necessary peace. A peace which has and continues to drive humanity forward for the benefit of us all.
“Through military preparedness we bolster our collective capabilities and our determination (to deter) the most egregious form of coercion and aggression which threaten that peace. … We also own a collective readiness to respond to the direst of consequences and contingencies, should they be realised.”
The majority of the mock war-games are scheduled to take place in the Shoalwater Bay Military Training Area in Byfield, north of Rockhampton, as well as further north in Townsville and off the east coast.
All foreign military personnel working on land had to undergo Covid testing and the mandatory 14 days of hotel quarantine.
Thousands of US marines and sailors on board ships will not be allowed to disembark their vessels.
The joint training exercise is operating on a reduced scale because of the pandemic, with the military personnel numbers down from the more than 34,000 involved in TS19, then-making it the largest ever exercise to hit Queensland’s shores.
Talisman Sabre 2005 involved 17,500 Americans and Australians with 27,500 personnel participating in the 2007 exercise.
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