More than 2500 members of Australian Army’s 1st Brigade recently undertook a series of training activities at the Cultana Training Base near Port Augusta as they prepare for deployment in 2019.
Exercise Predator’s Run took place from September 3 to 28 and saw infantry, armour, artillery, combat engineers, combat service support and signals combined into multi-discipline teams.
The teams took on military tasks involving attacking, peace support, defence and live-fire activities which were staggered over a period of time.
A total of 174 armoured vehicles were used in the activities, ranging from the M1A1 Abram’s Tank to the M113AS4 Armoured Personnel Carrier.
Army trains for deployment
Australian Light Armoured Vehicles from C Squadron, 1st Armoured Regiment prepare to move from their harbour to support a Gap Crossing with the 1st Combat Engineer Regiment and C Company, 5th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment.
155mm shells drop close to 7th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment's position during a Danger Close activity which involves 8/12 Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery hitting targets in extreme close proximity to personnel from the 5th and 7th Battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment.
Caught in the heat shimmer, a C-27 J Spartan Battlefield Airlifter from the Royal Australian Airforce's 35 Squadron conducts an airdrop at the Cultana Field Training Area on Exercise PREDATOR'S WALK 18.
Soldiers from the 1st Combat Service Support Battalion unload Combat Rations from a HX77 truck at the Cultana Field Training Area during Exercise PREDATOR'S RUN 18.
Providing heavy firepower to a C Company, 7th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment- led combined arms team, a M1A1 Abrams tank of B Squadron, Ist Armoured Regiment towards a form-up point prior to an attack on a simulated enemy position during Exercise PREDATOR'S RUN 18.
Lieutenant Stephen Szuster Communicates to other call signs in a B Company 7th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment-led combined arms team during the securing of a simulated village as part of Exercise PREDATOR'S RUN 18.
Officer Commanding of B Company 7th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment, Major Jacob Kleinman gives directions to his soldiers as they clear compounds of simulates enemy forces as part of Exercise PREDATOR'S RUN 18.
Working Dog "Max" from B Company, 1st Military Police Battalion, works with members of a B Company 7th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment-led combined arms team to clear compounds of simulated enemy forces as part of Exercise PREDATOR'S RUN 18.
Signaller Reece Martin and Signaller Shayne Hunter of the 1st Combat Signal Regiment.
Major Kris Gardiner said Exercise Predator’s Run was the premier training activity for the 1st Brigade, and signalled the beginning of their road to readiness for deployment.
“The soldiers get an enormous amount out of it, any time when they can take theory and put it into practice is highly important,” he said.
While the scenarios involved soldiers using blank rounds, the live-fire training saw them fire real rounds at targets to practice their accuracy in prosecuting a target.
“During danger-close training soliders are placed in trenches close to the target area of artillery so they get the feeling of percussion of the rounds as they explode,” Mr Gardiner said.
“It helps them get used to the loud sounds they would experience on a real battlefield.”
Mr Gardiner said Cultana was a premier training facility that was perfect for tanks due to its wide-open nature.
“It’s an enormous area which is great for us to train soldiers and maneuver armoured vehicles. We’ve used it for 30 years and will use it for many more years yet,” he said.