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With the ADF’s combat role in Afghanistan at an end and Army’s force preparation now focused on contingencies rather than current operations, fresh emphasis has been placed on the development of amphibious capability.

This is driven by the ADF’s objective of an expeditionary capability able to undertake sustained joint operations from the sea both in the littoral approaches to Australia and throughout the immediate region; a goal which on current planning should be achieved in 2017.

For Army, this involves enhancing its amphibious skills to best utilise the Landing Ship Dock (LSD) HMAS Choules and the RAN’s two 27,000 Canberra-class Landing Helicopter Docks (LHDs), the first of which enters service next year and the second in 2016, while simultaneously restructuring its regular brigades under Plan Beersheba to generate three “alike” multi-role manoeuvre formations.

At the heart of both developments lies the Brisbane-based 1st Division, whose dual role is higher level preparation of troops for operations, and providing a Deployable Joint Force Headquarters (DJFHQ) staffed by tri-service personnel for the Chief of Joint Operations.

Both responsibilities came together during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2013, with a 350-strong DJFHQ providing the command and control element for some 28,000 US and Australian personnel while assessors noted not only the performance of the headquarters itself, but also the viability of Plan Beersheba structures and the effectiveness of amphibious training to date.

“This year was a milestone, trialling the sort of joint training we might pursue in developing an amphibious force,” Major-General Stuart Smith, commanding officer of 1st Division, told ADM.

“Starting with headquarters training, command post activity; stepping through low level training for drivers, helicopter crews, navy operators on how to bring equipment on and off amphibious platforms; and then more advanced field training bringing all the force together for tasks from non-combatant evacuation to a security operation.

“We’ve stepped through that model this year and with Talisman Sabre we’ve learnt quite a bit about the doctrine and training required to deploy an amphibious force, and its command and control.”

This included the need for a communications framework able to communicate ship-to-shore, manage airspace in an amphibious environment, direct fires from ships, and then coordinate those fires ashore.

MAJGEN Smith also referred to the complexity of working at what he described as the edges between different environments – “for example, managing the airspace and having aircraft down at helicopter level flying in coordination with AEW&C (airborne early warning and control) assets prior to an entry operation”.

Overall, Talisman Sabre had seen joint activities coming together far more seamlessly than anticipated, and planning was moving ahead to have the so-called Amphibious Ready Element (ARE) reach Initial Operating Capability (IOC) in time for Talisman Sabre 2015.

The 350-strong ARE will be based around an infantry company drawn largely from elements of Townsville-based 2 RAR, the unit designated to spearhead the enhancement of Army’s amphibious skills, together with supporting elements, MRH-90 multi-role and Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopters, and a single LHD with navy escorts.

An ARG based around an infantry battalion with enablers that will involve about 2,000 troops, both LHDs, the LSD and navy escorts, is scheduled to be operational by 2017.

No decision has yet been made on whether 2RAR will be permanently tasked with providing the amphibious landing force or whether that role will be rotated.

“What we’re doing now in terms of testing and trialling will inform us as to whether this should be a tailor-made force. How perishable are the skillsets, how challenging is it to develop those skillsets on an annual basis or over every two years, they’re the sort of questions we’ll need to ask ourselves,” commented MAJGEN Smith.

Meanwhile the supporting elements for the ARE – artillery, armour, helicopters, logistics and other specialised personnel, continue to undergo their own foundation warfighting training but join the ARE nucleus formed by 2RAR for joint field training under the model trialled in Talisman Sabre.

“We’ve certainly at the moment structured a force which is balanced. As we take the force on its training activities next year and into 2015 I’m sure we’ll learn more about what is a good structure, a flexible structure, and a powerful structure for mission sets. You won’t always need an Abrams tank for a non-combatant evacuation operation,” MAJGEN Smith said.

While advice had been sought from the US Marines and UK Royal Marines on training, doctrine and force structure, the outcome would be uniquely Australian.

“Where it’s different to other nationalities is we don’t necessarily have the same broad manpower or even budget to run what other nations have as an amphibious force,” he noted.

“So it will always be uniquely Australian, tailored for what might be encountered in a region with remote islands and a paucity of facilities to rolloff/rollon cargo, or land large aircraft such as C-130Js.”

Looking ahead, consideration is being given to moving beyond Talisman Sabre and synchronising some ADF amphibious training and objectives with those of the US Marines deploying to Darwin “but we have to focus initially on just getting our force together and on an approved training model before we lean too far forward in getting involved with the Marines on a regular basis”.

That training model will eventually see all components of the ARE, and subsequently of the ARG, stepping through annual testing under agreed conditions and standards, first at the component army level, and then at the joint level.

Notwithstanding the additional emphasis placed on the amphibious role, this ultimately remains just one aspect of the high-end warfighting collective training and certification carried out by 1st Division’s Townsville-based Combat Training Centre (CTC) with whichever of the army’s three regular force brigades is in the “readying” phase of the force generation cycle.

The CTC comprises three elements; one handling command post exercises, the second teaching jungle warfare at the Tully training area north of Townsville, and the third running field warfighting exercises up to battalion group level.

Role of simulation

The live training element’s observers, instructors and umpires are supported in the field by the modular and fully relocatable Combat Training Centre – Live Simulation, Range Instrumentation and Information System (CTC-LIS).

CTC-LIS uses appliqué laser and radio frequency-based systems that simulate direct and indirect fire weapon effects and other area effects, tracks exercise participants by GPS, and collects real time situation and event data to enable replay, analysis and objective feedback on performances.

Instrumentation for the M113AS4 armoured personnel carrier and technology to simulate combat air support, naval gunfire support and artillery was added to the system in 2012. Instrumentation for the Abrams M1A1 main battle tank and the Hercules armoured recovery vehicle will be added this July.

Lessons learnt on operations play a vital role in operational planning and training. These are integrated by an adaptive warfare cell into the 1st Division headquarters structure as training doctrine.

“What we’ve learnt about IEDs is an obvious example– how we can better develop our protective equipment and how we can adjust our tactics – but the one that’s really prominent for me is what I’d call cultural intelligence and awareness,” said MAJGEN Smith.

“On pre-deployment courses for a specific area soldiers are taught about the relevant culture and how to interact with a person of that culture, how to understand the values of that culture, and basic language skills to establish rapport.

“In scenario-based training for mission rehearsal exercises we’ve brought in Afghans and Timorese to roleplay the sort of people we’re likely to be interacting with, and then debriefed them on the effectiveness of the soldiers’ interaction.”

Interaction of a different type takes place within the DJFHQ; during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2013 its 350-strong staff was sourced from Army, Navy, Air Force, government agencies, the US Marine Corps, and the US and NZ armies.

The size of an operational DJFHQ reflects the type and size of the operation it will control.

At the smallest end of the scale, a 50-strong element led by a Colonel or an officer of equivalent rank is on notice to move “within hours rather than days”; a headquarters of this size was deployed to the Philippines to support disaster recovery operations after Typhoon Hainan.

The following month saw another 50-strong element join a NZ joint interagency task force headquarters and provide the deputy commander for Exercise Southern Katipo, with a second element headed by a Lieutenant-Colonel training with the Malaysian armed forces in Malaysia.

The next size up involves about 110 personnel normally headed by a Brigadier or equivalent officer; the type of deployment which coordinated ADF relief operations following the Sumatra tsunami in 2004.

A full-sized DJFHQ numbers about 230 staff, to which may be added further ADF personnel and specialists from government agencies relevant to a specific task such as the restoration of law and order.

Wideband and narrowband command and control networks, catering and transport support are provided to deployed headquarters during force preparation and on operations by the 1st Signal Regiment, also based at Brisbane’s Gallipoli Barracks.

Retaining a training edge with no operations currently in prospect is not an issue for MAJGEN Smith, given the very steady rehearsal format and continuing international engagement.

His own role in 1st Division he sees as one of driving continuous improvement, whether through modelling new force structures, applying lessons learnt, or enhancing DJFHQ command and control suites with DSTO assistance.

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