Page 80 - Australian Defence Magazine September 2018

DEFENCE
LAND FORCES
HAMEL
Shaping the Joint Force Exercise Hamel 2018
THE biennial series is traditionally also Army’s major field training exercise and its primary purpose is to certify the ADF’s ‘Ready’ Combat Brigade under the Army’s ‘Ready, Readying and Reset’ Force Gener- ation Cycle as outlined in Plan Beersheba.
But is also a very important training exercise in the Joint space and Hamel has seen major growth in this area over the last five years or so - in recognition that a single service will rarely fight on its own in future conflicts, but rather it will operate as a part of a Joint Force in conjunction with other elements of the ADF, other government agencies, and coalition partners.
The Joint Dimension
In recognition of this fact, Hamel 2018 was integrated with the Sea Series Exer-
cise to provide an amphibious dimen- sion, and 8,500 soldiers from the Aus- tralian and US Armies, the US Marine Corps and the NZ Defence Force oper- ated in the SWBTA over the course of the exercise. From a Navy perspective, the Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) HMAS Canberra, Landing Ship Dock (LSD) HMAS Choules, and Anzac-class frigate HMAS Newcastle provided the amphibious dimension and Air Force assets included the EA-18G Growler air- borne electronic attack aircraft, F/A-18 strike fighters and C-27J Spartan battle- field airlifters.
8th/9th RAR arrive at Sabina Point, Shoalwater Bay Training Area, in MRH-90 helicopters during Exercise Hamel 2018.
NIGEL PITTAWAY | MELBOURNE
Exercise Hamel 2018 was held in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA) in June and July, representing the ADF’s major collective training activity for the year.
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