Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2022 (IPE22) concluded after a successful three months engaging with 14 countries across the region.
IPE22 finished with a busy series of activities in Indonesia, where HMA Ships Adelaide and Anzac were warmly welcomed.
Cheif of Joint Operations Lieutenant General Greg Bilton was pleased that this year’s activity built on the broader momentum in regional relationships.
“IPE22 is an activity which is really rich in the sense that we have been able to grow our own capability, but equally work with our partners to grow together,” Lieutenant General Bilton said.
“We’ve got shared objectives and we’ve gone after those objectives in an enthusiastic and persistent way from 2017, and I believe ultimately that we have deeper relationships as a consequence.
“IPE is one of our most important activities in any calendar year.”
Commander of IPE 2021 and 2022 Commodore Mal Wise said it was great to be back in the region and to engage personally with counterparts across Southeast Asia and the north-east Indian Ocean.
“Australia has been conducting IPE since 2017,” Commodore Wise said.
“While the pandemic has challenged the way Australia has been able to engage with its partners over the past couple of years, it’s clear we have maintained a level of continuity with IPE that is resonating with the region.”
Activities in Jakarta during the final section of IPE22 included Lieutenant General Bilton liaising with key Indonesian National Armed Forces leadership, a welcome ceremony with traditional dancers and various workshops and training serials.
Australian Army soldiers conducted major amphibious demonstrations with Indonesia on the island of Singkep, and with Brunei on Penanjong Beach, which included significant cross-training and relationship milestones.
The broader program of regional presence deployments included HMA Ships Hobart, Arunta, and Stalwart conducting port visits and RAAF assets conducting fly-in, fly-out visits across the region delivering Australian Aid pallets in Laos and attending a C-130J Hercules Workshop in Bangladesh.
Highlights included the Australian Army Boxer combat reconnaissance vehicles disembarking in Singapore to conduct urban-training serials (more coverage on this available on the ADM website this week), gender, peace, and security and defence industry seminars, and sporting opportunities in India, Malaysia and Singapore.
Commodore Wise was proud of the hard work of all those deployed on IPE22, who contributed to the success of such a large-scale activity.
“I think the results speak for themselves, which is a real credit to the collective effort involved in delivering what has been a very complex yet very successful activity,” he said.
Building on the ADF’s robust and longstanding program of regional engagement, IPE22 stood as a clear demonstration of Australia’s enduring commitment to an open, inclusive and resilient Indo-Pacific.
“As we look to future cooperation with our partners across the Indo-Pacific, IPE22 sets a new benchmark for the scope and scale of what the ADF has shown it can achieve in its regional engagement,” Commodore Wise said.