Amphibious forces embark for Talisman Sabre 2025

Preparing for the embarkation and transportation of hundreds of people is no easy task, but for the Australian Amphibious Force it has become second nature.

CAPTION: Personnel from the French Armed Forces and Australian Army embark HMAS Choules in Townsville, Queensland, in preparation for Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025. Story by Lieutenant Tahlia Merigan. Photos by Leading Seaman Lauren Pugsley.

For Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025 HMA Ships Canberra and Choules have embarked the entire Australian Amphibious Force in less than one full tidal cycle, proving the ADF’s ability to rapidly deploy an Amphibious Task Group to sea.

Within two days, the two ships absorbed over 800 personnel in addition to their regular crew.

The embarked force comprised over 30 units from the Royal Australian Navy, Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force, plus allied forces from the United States, Japan, Republic of Korea, France and others.

Personnel, vehicles, supplies, weapons, ammunition and even an explosives detection dog were brought on-board to build up the Amphibious Assault Forces’ considerable capabilities.

Some of the many vehicles embarked included Bushmaster protective mobility vehicles, Light Amphibious Resupply Cargo (LARCS), HX77 Rheinmetall MAN military vehicles, (both the HX77 and the 40M) M777A2 Howitzers, G-Wagon 6×6 vehicles, LCM8 landing craft and CAN-AM all-terrain vehicles.

CAPTION: Australian Army Private Daniel Knight on the upper decks of HMAS Choules during force protection training.

These assets were smoothly but rapidly driven into the ship, and on to the light or heavy vehicle decks where they were then firmly secured for action.

One person on-board Canberra whose job is to manage everyone embarking is Bombardier Riley Slattery.

“My role is the Embarked Forces Coordinator, which involves being the first point of contact when people first get on the ship,” Bombardier Slattery said.

“I look after people’s accommodation coming in but also assist in the force projection of joint combat elements including ground, logistics and air heading out to the beach.

“I also look after the welfare of the embarked forces. Essentially just think of me as the hotel concierge for the personnel: as in if anything goes wrong, they’ll come to me.

“One complex issue while embarking our partners is that we only have one translator for a whole platoon of international soldiers.”

Despite the communications challenges that come with working within a multinational setting, the embarkation went smoothly for the Canberra and Choules cargo handlers.

While Canberra was able to embark many vehicles via a heavy-duty gangway, Choules used a crane to lift trucks and supplies expertly on to the flight deck.

CAPTION: HMAS Choules embarks cargo in preparation for Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025 in the Port of Townsville, Qld.

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