Defence force thanks Whitsunday community, council for support of training exercise
Military police reported zero protests and an overall ‘cruisy’ time, as soldiers visiting Bowen agreed the friendliness of locals was a welcome change from encountering enemies at every turn.
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The leader of a major military training exercise held in Bowen at the weekend has praised the community for its co-operation as helicopters, heavy artillery, and hundreds of camouflaged soldiers temporarily took over the town.
Lieutenant Colonel Laurie Lucas said the multi-day Talisman Sabre exercise went off without a hitch as the Bowen community respected temporary restrictions around public areas such as Kings Beach, and embraced opportunities to interact with visiting soldiers when safe to do so.
Agreements with private landowners, and a well-attended open day at Port Denison Sailing Club on Sunday were further evidence of the community’s support of the exercise, which provided participants from the US, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, the UK and other parts of Australia a training experience “as close to reality as possible”.
Lt Colonel Lucas said the weekend was an example of the Australian Defence Force strengthening its enduring relationship with Bowen, which also included providing on-ground support following the devastating Cyclone Debbie in 2017.
“I’ve had people come up and say to me, ‘You helped us [after the cyclone], it’s good to see you back in town,’” Lt Colonel Lucas said.
“They see it as giving back to the defence force for the help we gave previously.”
While recruitment was not the object of the exercise, Lt Colonel Lucas said public appearances like the open day would “expand the horizons of occupations available to local young people”.
“There’s no defence base here anymore so it’s a good opportunity to see what the defence force has to offer,” he said.
Talisman Sabre participants left Bowen by boat on Monday to continue the exercise at Ingham.
More information about the exercise is available at the Department of Defence website.
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