New Zealand Army
New Zealand Soldiers during the Australian Army Exercise Crocodile East Timor 17 August 2010
Exercise Crocodile, also known as MAREX was an exercise hosted by the government of Timor-Leste, involving elements from the F-FDTL, ADF, NZDF and US Marine Corps. The aim of the exercise was to improve tactical understanding between the participating nations defence forces, but it also provided the F-FDTL with an opportunity to enhance their reputation as a credible and effective fighting force.
The exercise was conducted the week 21-25 June and commenced with a section skill at arms competition. This saw an eight man section from each nation compete for glory, completing various stands that tested individual and group military skills. The New Zealand section, lead by Recon’s own Corporal Green and Lance Corporal Arnott, dominated the obstacle course and marksmanship and placed highly in all other stands. This effort gained them first place overall followed by the Marines, F-FDTL and pleasingly in last place the Australians.
The close country jungle training was conducted over two days in secondary jungle just east of Manatuto in an area called Vemasse. The training was facilitated and delivered by the Australian and NZ forces and involved 3 platoons from the Marines with a section of NZDF and a sect from F-FDTL attached to each. The platoons deployed into small AO’s and were given informal lessons on Australian and NZ close country Training Tactics and Procedures. These were then practiced through patrolling. From all accounts the Marines found the training interesting and beneficial as most had not touched on close country in many years, or in some cases not at all given their current focus on combat in urban, open and mountainous terrain. The training also provided an excellent opportunity and forum for the sharing of ideas and the comparison of different methods and techniques for operating within a jungle environment. The Marines proved to be a friendly bunch that were keen to swap rations and take advantage of the Kiwis generosity with cigarettes. They accepted the training in an extremely positive manner, being more than happy to take an opportunity to enhance their limited experience of jungle training. Before the completion of the close country training phase several of the combat veterans from the Marine Coy spoke to the platoon about their experiences of combat in Iraq. It was clear by the silence of the lads as they walked away at the conclusion of the talk that the Marines had certainly given them something substantial to consider.
The exercise culminated in a mounted Coy raid on the abandoned Manatuto prison compound. The platoon married up with the Marines at their Beach Landing site, where the landing craft (hovercraft) had offloaded the pers and equipment, at the mouth of the Laclo River. The Weapons Coy came equipped with armored Humvee mounted with Saber, AGL and 50.cal, a platoon of LAV II, and various recovery and CSS vehicles. The Marines were fascinated by the armored LOV’s, which they affectionately named them the “mystery mobiles”. The raid was conducted at first light, with the New Zealand platoon as the assault element, our mission to kill or capture a high value individual believed to be inside the compound. Prior to the assault the objective was subjected to notional CAS and blank preparatory fire. The New Zealand platoon, having followed and assumed the battle from a Marine platoon, began the assault on the compound. 1 and 2 section lead the way gaining a break in through the compounds main entrance building only to encounter heavy fire from the Marine enemy party located inside. With ammunition dwindling the Kiwi platoon made a desperate push to the first few buildings within the compound.
Once these were secured the platoon commander reinforced the platoon with a squad of Marines who with passionate abandon charged daringly along the full length of the compound to clear the final stubborn enemy. Miraculously no one was seriously injured during the attack. After a clearance of the site we completed a withdrawal back to the Landing site where we said farewell to the Marines and headed back to Dilli with the QAMR PMV troop, enjoying hot meals and milk shakes as we went, care of the Marine MRE ration packs we had acquired.
Overall the exercise was a resounding success and provided an excellent opportunity for the NZ soldiers to experience first hand how other nations defence forces operate at a tactical level.
New Zealand Army
New Zealand Soldiers during the Australian Army Exercise Crocodile East Timor 17 August 2010
Exercise Crocodile, also known as MAREX was an exercise hosted by the government of Timor-Leste, involving elements from the F-FDTL, ADF, NZDF and US Marine Corps. The aim of the exercise was to improve tactical understanding between the participating nations defence forces, but it also provided the F-FDTL with an opportunity to enhance their reputation as a credible and effective fighting force.
The exercise was conducted the week 21-25 June and commenced with a section skill at arms competition. This saw an eight man section from each nation compete for glory, completing various stands that tested individual and group military skills. The New Zealand section, lead by Recon’s own Corporal Green and Lance Corporal Arnott, dominated the obstacle course and marksmanship and placed highly in all other stands. This effort gained them first place overall followed by the Marines, F-FDTL and pleasingly in last place the Australians.
The close country jungle training was conducted over two days in secondary jungle just east of Manatuto in an area called Vemasse. The training was facilitated and delivered by the Australian and NZ forces and involved 3 platoons from the Marines with a section of NZDF and a sect from F-FDTL attached to each. The platoons deployed into small AO’s and were given informal lessons on Australian and NZ close country Training Tactics and Procedures. These were then practiced through patrolling. From all accounts the Marines found the training interesting and beneficial as most had not touched on close country in many years, or in some cases not at all given their current focus on combat in urban, open and mountainous terrain. The training also provided an excellent opportunity and forum for the sharing of ideas and the comparison of different methods and techniques for operating within a jungle environment. The Marines proved to be a friendly bunch that were keen to swap rations and take advantage of the Kiwis generosity with cigarettes. They accepted the training in an extremely positive manner, being more than happy to take an opportunity to enhance their limited experience of jungle training. Before the completion of the close country training phase several of the combat veterans from the Marine Coy spoke to the platoon about their experiences of combat in Iraq. It was clear by the silence of the lads as they walked away at the conclusion of the talk that the Marines had certainly given them something substantial to consider.
The exercise culminated in a mounted Coy raid on the abandoned Manatuto prison compound. The platoon married up with the Marines at their Beach Landing site, where the landing craft (hovercraft) had offloaded the pers and equipment, at the mouth of the Laclo River. The Weapons Coy came equipped with armored Humvee mounted with Saber, AGL and 50.cal, a platoon of LAV II, and various recovery and CSS vehicles. The Marines were fascinated by the armored LOV’s, which they affectionately named them the “mystery mobiles”. The raid was conducted at first light, with the New Zealand platoon as the assault element, our mission to kill or capture a high value individual believed to be inside the compound. Prior to the assault the objective was subjected to notional CAS and blank preparatory fire. The New Zealand platoon, having followed and assumed the battle from a Marine platoon, began the assault on the compound. 1 and 2 section lead the way gaining a break in through the compounds main entrance building only to encounter heavy fire from the Marine enemy party located inside. With ammunition dwindling the Kiwi platoon made a desperate push to the first few buildings within the compound.
Once these were secured the platoon commander reinforced the platoon with a squad of Marines who with passionate abandon charged daringly along the full length of the compound to clear the final stubborn enemy. Miraculously no one was seriously injured during the attack. After a clearance of the site we completed a withdrawal back to the Landing site where we said farewell to the Marines and headed back to Dilli with the QAMR PMV troop, enjoying hot meals and milk shakes as we went, care of the Marine MRE ration packs we had acquired.
Overall the exercise was a resounding success and provided an excellent opportunity for the NZ soldiers to experience first hand how other nations defence forces operate at a tactical level.