‘Hyper-diverse’ approach to keeping the peace

It is a challenging but rewarding environment for the ADF personnel working to support the South Sudan peace process.

CAPTION: UN peacekeepers RAAF Flight Lieutenant Grant Soutar, left, and Squadron Leader Dean Kremer, deployed on Operation Aslan, stand inside a 36 Squadron C-17 Globemaster at Juba International Airport, South Sudan. Story and photos by Corporal Jacob Joseph.

Fourteen Australians are deployed with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) under Operation Aslan.

Squadron Leader Dean Kremer and Flight Lieutenant Grant Soutar – air traffic controllers working in air operations and aviation safety – are part of a force of about 15,000 peacekeepers, which was established to oversee the UN mandate to protect civilians, monitor human rights and support the implementation of the revitalised peace agreement.

With 73 countries contributing personnel, Squadron Leader Kramer said the mission was “hyper-diverse”.

“When we are faced with challenges, we work together,” he said.

“Everyone here appreciates and values our collaborative security; it’s been refreshing to meet people who love the ethos of the United Nations.”

After a decades-long struggle, South Sudan gained its independence in 2011.

Shortly after, warring factions triggered a civil war that would cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and displace millions more.

Due to a lack of infrastructure, peacekeepers continue to rely on air transport to distribute aid and move throughout the country.

The Australian contingent consists of a military observer and staff officers, including the Military Assistant to the UN’s Special Representative of the Secretary General.

Colonel Brandon Wood is the ADF contingent commander and senior military observer in Central Equatoria State, centred on the capital, Juba.

As the link between the South Sudanese security forces and UNMISS headquarters, military observers patrol into communities and talk to local leaders to discuss a range of security challenges and discover how UNMISS could best assist their communities.

“We are doing Australia proud,” Squadron Leader Kremer said.

The ADF supports additional UN and other peacekeeping missions in the Middle East region through the deployment of personnel under Operations Fortitude, Paladin, and non-UN peacekeeping mission Mazurka.

CAPTION: UN peacekeeper, RAAF Flight Lieutenant Grant Soutar, helps People’s Army of Vietnam UN peacekeepers unload cargo from a RAAF 36 Squadron C-17 Globemaster at Juba International Airport, South Sudan.

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