Over 2000 Townsville soldiers engage in Exercise Brolga Walk

Soldiers from Townsville’s 3rd Brigade have engaged in tank exercises, artillery shoots and more as they embark on their first major training operation for the year.

Soldiers from 3rd Brigade have been honing their skills in their first major training operation for the year during Exercise Brolga Walk.

All elements of the Townsville-based brigade have been involved in the current operation, including up to 2000 soldiers, which leads into the more complex Brolga Run Exercise towards the end of May.

Exercise Brolga Run at the Townsville Field Training Area at High Range. Gunners from 4th Regiment, Royal Australian Regiment conduct live fire with M777 Howitzers by day and night. Picture: Supplied

That training regimen will also incorporate a contingent of US Marines and Japanese Self-Defence Forces.

Brigade Commander Brigadier Dave McCammon said Exercise Brolga Walk was an opportunity for the troops to get back into the grind.

“It’s a great opportunity for our teams that have had some time off over Christmas or people that have just posted into the brigade to just start at that low level training, get the teams working around,” he said.

Exercise Brolga Run at the Townsville Field Training Area at High Range. Soldiers from 3CER build a Brigade Command Post bunker. Sapper Kye Lindley. Picture: Evan Morgan

“Whether that’s a tank crew, a team on a (artillery) gun, so 155 or something like that, doing their basic shoots and getting ready for more complex tasks -because it’s a big training year this year.

“There’s been a range of different training occurring here. We’ve had tanks doing battle runs and engage targets. We’ve had the artillery shooting complex shoots including night shoots.

Exercise Brolga Run at the Townsville Field Training Area at High Range. Soldiers from 3CER build a Brigade Command Post bunker. Sapper David Spiller and Sapper Abraham Rowe. Picture: Evan Morgan

“The engineers have been doing a range of what we call mobility and counter mobility activities, which includes building obstacles to stop the enemy advancing, but also doing things that make it easier for us to move IP bridging, improving roads, and then also doing things to make us more survivable, like building trenches, putting our headquarters underground.”

Exercise Brolga Run at the Townsville Field Training Area at High Range. Sappers from 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment conduct explosive breaching of a compound before clearing it, with a casualty scenario. PNGDF senior soldiers assist in running the activity. Picture: Supplied

He said survivability of soldiers on the battleground was a priority in the Australian Army.

“It’s really important that we practice and rehearse survivability, whether that’s digging trenches and getting underground, or that’s use of armoured vehicles.

Exercise Brolga Run at the Townsville Field Training Area at High Range. Soldiers from 3CER build a Brigade Command Post bunker. Sapper Lochlan Warwick and Sapper Tom Boddy. Picture: Evan Morgan

“But it’s incredibly important that we are survivable and can survive first strikes, and then go back onto the offensive.”

Exercise Brolga Run at the Townsville Field Training Area at High Range. Soldiers from 3CER build a Brigade Command Post bunker. Sapper Kye Lindley. Picture: Evan Morgan

The brigadier said he was proud of the work the combat engineers had done in building an underground Brigade command post.

“They’ve worked with no design. They’ve had to come up with this concept themselves, a small team of civil engineers, different tradesmen. They’ve designed this, they’ve implemented it.

Exercise Brolga Run at the Townsville Field Training Area at High Range. Gunners from 4th Regiment, Royal Australian Regiment conduct live fire with M777 Howitzers by day and night. Picture: Supplied

“I think it shows that the complexity of what the ADF has and what sort of opportunities there are for people if they want to join the ADF it’s not just all tanks and artillery and infantry. There are other great opportunities in the ADF.”

Exercise Brolga Run at the Townsville Field Training Area at High Range. Soldiers from 3CER build a Brigade Command Post bunker. 3CER construction troop commander Lieutenant Jisang Yu. Picture: Evan Morgan

The command post was designed by 3CER construction troop commander Lieutenant Jisang Yu who said it was the first time he had designed and built an underground command bunker.

“In recent conflicts trench warfare is becoming more and more important and we haven’t practised that in a number of years,” he said.

Exercise Brolga Run at the Townsville Field Training Area at High Range. 3rd Brigade Commander Brigadier Dave McCammon at the Brigade Command Post bunker. Picture: Evan Morgan

“My soldiers didn’t know how to do it, I didn’t know how to do it so we had to work together to find a solution.

“There was also constant challenges while we’re building the structure itself. So it’s just shows how important actually doing this is to improve next time, it becomes more of a drill rather than deliberate planning exercise.”

Exercise Brolga Run at the Townsville Field Training Area at High Range. Sappers from 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment conduct explosive breaching of a compound before clearing it, with a casualty scenario. PNGDF senior soldiers assist in running the activity. Picture: Supplied

Originally published as Over 2000 Townsville soldiers engage in Exercise Brolga Walk