Australian Army, US Marines team up with Royal Marines, Filipino Army for Exercise Predators Run
Fighter jets may be winning Darwin’s adoration, but thousands of soldiers are getting ready to eat, sleep, and fight in the ‘unforgiving’ Territory bush.
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While pilots are winning the publicity in the Top End, thousands of soldiers are rolling into the harsh Territory bush ready to eat, sleep and fight deep within the tropics.
While flying activity Exercise Pitch Black 24 entertains locals from the sky, on the ground about 3000 troops will operate by day and night in the bushland as part of Exercise Predators Run – a land-based military activity featuring both Australian and international troops.
On Monday morning, troops from Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Philippines stood to attention at Robertson Barracks as Darwin’s 1st Brigade commander Brigadier Doug Pashley addressed the men and women who would descend deep into the bush by nightfall.
“We send a message to the region that if competition is to escalate into crisis, we can respond,” he said.
“And that we are not working out how we’re going to operate together (or) who to speak to, how to talk to each other, how to serve alongside each other at two in the morning at night, because we’ve done it on exercises like Predators Run.”
Brigadier Pashley warned the troops of the arduous environments they would soon immerse themselves in and urged junior commanders to avoid unnecessary risks.
“We are asking you men and women to operate in some of the most hostile parts of Australia – the climate, the flora, the geography is unforgiving,” he said.
“Nothing is worth anyone getting injured or worse over the next three weeks.”
Hundreds of vehicles have also been geared up for the massive exercise, including protected mobility vehicles and light skinned vehicles which were seen strapped aboard heavy trucks destined for various training areas across the Top End.
For air mobility activities, the US MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor will also feature in the skies above over the coming weeks.
Brigadier Pashley told media the scale of the exercise would challenge the commanders in particular.
“I know that (the soldiers) will execute their jobs perfectly,” he said.
“There will be a lot of good learning for commanders and command and control nodes as part of this activity.”
UK commando force commander Lieutenant Colonel Oliver Denning said his troops were relishing at the “amazing opportunities” that awaited them in the bush.
“We’ve got aviation assets, we’ve got the surface manoeuvre craft and of course we’ve got the commandos on the ground as well.”
Lieutenant Colonel Denning said the large space available in the Top End offered huge training benefits.
“In the UK we don’t really have the real estate to (train) in the same way and operate in this type of geography.”
Marine Rotation Force – Darwin commander Colonel Brian Mulvihill, whose Marines have called the Top End home for several months already, said he expected his US warfighters to continue their strong chemistry alongside Australian soldiers.
“The Marines and the Australian Army share very similar tactics, techniques and procedures,” he said.
“We could put a Marine squad next to an Australian squad on a training range and they would probably sync pretty quickly.”
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