A first for Aussie clearance divers

The ADF has, for the first time, deployed a Navy clearance diving team to a Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) exercise.

CAPTION: Navy’s Clearance Diving Team Four uses the Artemis underwater navigation sonar unit during a seabed training search at Palau Tioman, as part of Exercise Bersama Lima. Photos by Corporal Lisa Sherman.

The team exercised with FPDA partners at Tioman Island, Malaysia, where they cleared Juara Bay of mines laid by a fictitious enemy.

Exercise Bersama Lima, an annual FPDA exercise, took place from October 1 to 18 in Malaysia, Singapore and the FPDA exercise area, including the South China Sea.

Officer in Charge Clearance Diving Team Four Lieutenant Samuel Devine said the divers were highly trained professionals.

“We practised skills including clearing the jetty of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), clearing underwater mines and clearing vessels suspected of carrying IEDs,” he said.

“The team is trained to deal with a range of complex situations under time pressure.”

CAPTION: Royal Malaysian Navy mine warfare clearance divers isolate the area for an improvised explosive device scenario at Palau Tioman, as part of Exercise Bersama Lima.

Lieutenant Devine and his team enjoyed working with international partners.

“We’ve made lots of new friends working with the different nations here and it helps us to better align our forces moving into the future and develop our interoperability for future tasks,” Lieutenant Devine said.

Members of the Malaysian and Singapore Armed Forces educated ADF members on the local environment with vital knowledge to support exercise aims for the coordinated defence of Malaysia and Singapore.

A contingent of about 400 ADF personnel deployed to Exercise Bersama Lima and worked alongside the FPDA partners Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

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