Army’s amphibious force always ready at sea

Whether on land or at sea, the Australian Amphibious Force (AAF) personnel aboard HMAS Adelaide have been ready for anything.

CAPTION: From left, Private Shane Bagley and Private Frank Atkinson of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment on HMAS Adelaide. Story by Lieutenant Amy Johnson and Lieutenant Emma Anderson. Photo by Leading Seaman Sittichai Sakonpoonpol.

Army leadership on Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2022 (IPE22) focused on ensuring soldiers maintained a high standard of readiness to respond to the needs of the region.

Commander of Land Forces AAF Colonel Douglas Pashley said deploying on IPE22 provided soldiers with many unique opportunities to sharpen their skills.

 

“Deploying on an amphibious ship for this length of time brings unique opportunities to enhance our readiness in ways that aren’t always available in the land environment,” Colonel Pashley said.

“Our people are doing things they would not normally do, like live-fire-range-in-a-box training.

“They will get greater access to live-fire training through this deployment than they would back in their barracks.

“IPE22 is a real readiness generator.

“It will see our young men and women return from this experience better than when they departed.”

Lieutenant Sophie Agathagelidis, of the 5th Aviation Regiment, embarked in Adelaide as part of the AAF, said she was learning to adjust her skills to the maritime environment.

“The missions we train for on land are very different to missions at sea,” Lieutenant Agathagelidis said.

“It’s not a straight line from the armoury to the flight line on a ship.

“So, we practise clearing the flight deck and using the elevators to load munitions.

“We’re focusing our training to work with the ship.”

More than 500 AAF personnel were embarked in Adelaide as part of IPE 2022, which ended last month.

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