More than 22,000 Australian Defence and US Defense personnel are participating in the military training exercise Talisman Sabre 2011 in Australia 11-29 July.
Talisman Sabre is a biennial training activity jointly sponsored by the US Pacific Command and Australian Defence Force (ADF) Joint Operations Command to train the US 7th Fleet and Australian Deployable Joint Headquarters staffs as a designated Combined Task Force.
Brigadier Bob Brown, the Australian spokesman for Talisman Sabre, said that the exercise is a unique and invaluable opportunity to exercise combined and joint Defence capability between Australia and the US.
“This is a major undertaking which reflects the closeness of the Australian and US alliance and the strength of the military-to-military relationship,” Brigadier Brown said.
This year’s exercise is the first time there will be significant involvement from other Australian and US government agencies.
Active participation by Australian government agencies includes the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, AusAID, Australian Federal Police, and the Asia Pacific Civil-Military Centre of Excellence.
US agencies participating in the Exercise include the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization, and members of the US Civilian Response Corps from the Departments of State, Justice, Commerce, Agriculture, Homeland Security, Health & Human Services, and the US Agency for International Development.
The inclusion of civil agencies this year will help to strengthen civil-military collaboration for future operations and the bilateral partnerships between the US and Australia.
Approximately 14,000 US and 8,500 Australian personnel will conduct sea, land, and air training predominantly in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area near Rockhampton, but also in Royal Australian Air Force Bases in Townsville, Darwin, Tindal and Amberley. Exercises will also be conducted in the maritime areas of the Coral, Timor and Arafura Seas.
The ADF has conducted a full environmental impact assessment on the Shoalwater Bay region and strong measures have been put in place for participants to respect and protect the marine environment within which they will be operating.
Additional information on the exercise and environmental measures is available at http://www.defence.gov.au/opEx/exercises/ts11/
Ed: The US Talisman Sabre website is at http://www.cpf.navy.mil/talisman-sabre/
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