Commandos drop in on rural community

Australian Army Special Operations Force soldiers from 2 Commando Regiment dropped in on the rural NSW community of Temora in late-March and again this month as part of short-notice training activities.

CAPTION: Soldiers from 2 Commando Regiment depart the drop zone after parachuting into stubbled fields in Temora, NSW. Story and photo by Sergeant Janine Fabre.

More familiar with seeing historic aircraft displays from the nearby aviation museum, several local landowners gathered their families late in the afternoon in March to watch the soldiers jump from an Air Force C-130J Hercules as part of Exercise Titan Pegasus 2021.

The landowners, who gave permission for the Army to use their rain-soaked fields, watched about 30 special operations force personnel land safely in the impromptu drop zone.

In May, a small force parachuted into the area at night, silently stowing their parachutes and navigating several kilometres from the drop zone to the airport, where they rendezvoused with RAAF aircraft for the extraction.

Warrant Office Class Two S, who supervised the drop zone, said it was the first time 2 Commando Regiment had used the Temora area for training.

“The local landowners have been great to work with,” WO2 S said.

“Nothing was ever a problem and I’m glad they could come out, bring the kids, their dogs and make an afternoon of it and, I’m particularly glad, it all came off smoothly.

“We’ve been able to achieve some solid training in a new environment, unfamiliar to the teams involved and we wouldn’t have been able to do that without the local support.”

Exercise Titan Pegasus is part of 2 Commando Regiment’s build-up to Exercise Talisman Sabre in July, when they will conduct special operations alongside United States special operations forces.

The next phase of the build-up training is to conduct a similar exercise by night at another remote drop zone.

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