Hinchinbrook Mayor Ramon Jayo welcomes ADF in Ingham
Hinchinbrook Mayor Ramon Jayo has welcomed Australian Defence Force-led military exercises in North Queensland.
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Hinchinbrook Mayor Ramon Jayo has welcomed Australian Defence Force-led military exercises in North Queensland.
“It’s a good economic stimulus for us because they do engage with our community, that’s the first thing,” he said.
“The second thing is that as a council we believe that we’ve got to afford them (ADF and military partners) the opportunity to do their urban training because if we are facing a threat in the future, the threat won’t be isolated is some desert … they will attack a town.”
Australian Defence Force Deputy Commander 3rd Brigade Colonel Boniface Aruma said the expansive warfighting exercises in North Queensland were an essential tool in ensuring the ADF was combat ready.
Commander 3rd Brigade Brigadier Dave McCammon, speaking earlier, said the landings were part of the Brolga Run military exercises with Southern Jackeroo and Vigilant Scimitar also occurring throughout North Queensland.
The exercises are designed to rehearse, enhance relationships and demonstrate combined will and capability, alongside the US Marine Corp, US Army Pacific, Japanese Self Defence Force, and Papua New Guinea Defence Force.
Brigadier McCammon said the aim of the exercises was two-fold.
“It’s to test our deployability and how quickly we can move and different ways for us to move assets and military equipment in and around the region,” he said.
“And then the second part is to test our collective readiness … building on the building blocks of individual soldier training.”
He elaborated by saying that soldier training began with basic skills such as shooting before learning to “operate in a section that then becomes a platoon”.
“The activity (exercises) is right at the high end: That’s getting infantry, armour, artillery, engineers all operating together.”
Brigadier McCammon said upcoming aspects of the exercises would include air assaults involving the CH-47 Chinook helicopters, as well as close training between tanks and combat soldiers.
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Originally published as Hinchinbrook Mayor Ramon Jayo welcomes ADF in Ingham
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