After 15 hours on a non-stop flight from Alaska, Australian commandos, US soldiers and Canadian infantry descend from the sky near Williamson Airfield outside Rockhampton.
The mammoth US C17 Globemasters disgorge hundreds of troops over the next hour under the watchful eyes of Australia’s Chief of Army and high ranking US, New Zealand and Japanese officers.
A few kilometres away, hundreds of Australian soldiers jump into the surf from amphibious landing crafts, as warships dot the horizon and fighter jets screech overhead.
It’s Exercise Talisman Sabre 2017 and around 30,000 troops are in Queensland to fight a fictional enemy reflecting real world threats.
“Well I think everyone is watching the news at the moment and seeing how uncertain a place the world is and this gives us a fantastic opportunity to practice high-end warfighting skills,” Major General Paul McLachlan, the commander of the Army’s 1st Division, told SBS World News.
“It’s no good consistently using really high end technology against a low end enemy.”
He, like many in the Army, are aware that Australian soldiers have been engaged in combatting insurgencies in the Middle East for more than ten years, while militaries like China’s and North Korea’s continue to grow in Asia.
While it’s technically a combined military exercise involving Australia and its allies, it will be keenly watched by other powers in the region.
But the American military claimed it’s not trying to send a message to any country.
“There’s no specific threat, there’s no country that we’re looking to in terms of these exercises,” Brigadier General Peter Andrysiak, Commander Pacific Ocean Division of the US Army Corps of Engineers, said.
“This exercise is all about inter-operability with the Australian Defence Force.”
Now in its seventh iteration, this year’s war games will also see hundreds of aircraft and 21 war ships patrolling northern Australia, as well as Australian and US Special Forces training together.
It’s also a road test for the US’ new battle doctrine for the region, the Joint Concept for Access and Maneuver in the Global Commons.
While the war games are dominated by a large-scale simulated conflict, it will also reflect the changing face of war. Fictional militias and cyber attacks will also try to disrupt the exercise.
Talisman Sabre concludes at the end of July.
