The 4th Artillery Regiment and 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment battle through record rainfall during training exercises

There wasn’t a dry uniform in sight as soldiers pushed through record-breaking rainfall to brush up on their skills and test out new capabilities. SEE THE PHOTOS.

Ankle deep in mud and soaked to the bone is how soldiers spent the past two weeks out in the field as they trained rigorously to brush up on skills, prepare for new capabilities and test out new ammunition.

As Townsville underwent another record breaking month of rain, gunners from the 4th regiment Royal Australian Artillery (4REG) and sappers from the 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment (3CER) endured the wet weather to complete their first chunk of field exercises for the year.

It was a historic moment for 4 REG at the culmination of Exercise Shot Start at Townsville Field Training Area, as they became the first gunners ever to fire the new Assegai 155mm explosives as part of the testing process.

Commanding Officer of 4 REG, Lieutenant Colonel Simon Frewin said ensuring new ammunition is fit for purpose while navigating the torrential rain had posed its own challenges.

“Live firing is a complex task, the whole team needs to work together and it’s made more difficult … with the mud and the slop that exists as we churn up the ground doing our job each day,” he said.

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“Calm seas don’t make for a good sailor, easy field or easy conditions in the field don’t make for a good soldier.

“It’s been a bit of a shock to the system for some but I’m proud of each and everyone of them for enduring this weather.

“At the same point in time doing what the Australian government expects us to do is achieving our mission, being lethal, on time, on target and safe for us while battling the conditions that are trying to make it hard for us to achieve that.”

The new Assegai explosives is world leading and will boost the projectiles to over 30 kilometres which is a 30 per cent increase in range.

Soldiers from Alpha Detachment, 106th Battery, 4th Field Regiment during Exercise Shoot Fire at the Townsville Field Training Area at High Range. Commanding Officer of 4th field Regiment Lieutenant Colonel Simon Frewin. Picture: Evan Morgan

“It’s a brand new capability just being introduced into service and will make the third brigade in the Australian Army more potent and lethal,” Lieutenant Colonel Frewin said.

These rounds will also be used with the AS9 Huntsman self-propelled howitzers when they are introduced into service next year by the regiment.

However they weren’t the only ones battling the intense North Queensland wet season, with sappers from 3CER traversing overflowing creeks and flooded plains as they practised their breaching techniques in preparation for the arrival of their new combat engineering vehicles later in the year.

Corporal Connor McLean from the 18th combat engineering squadron (armoured) said during Wednesday’s training, they simulated a minefield breach using live demolitions.

An Australian Army soldier from 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment, prepares for a demolition during Exercise Dingo Fury in Townsville Field Training Area, Queensland, on 26 March 2025. PHOTO: CPL Riley Blennerhassett

“It’s a deliberate breach, this is a minefield and then we as an engineer section roll through and reduce it to make a lane for the rest of the combat team to come through,” he said.

Corporal McLean said the wet conditions had made it harder to co-ordinate and conduct breaches and activities.

“(Vehicles) can get bogged and you can’t see through the tall grass so there’s lots of creeks and stuff which cause a bit of problems with timings and getting the vehicle stuck and breaking down.”

Originally published as The 4th Artillery Regiment and 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment battle through record rainfall during training exercises