UH-60M Black Hawk from the 16th Aviation Brigade flew into Townsville to conduct training with soldiers from the 1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR).
While the battalion has extensive experience working with CH-47F Chinooks from the 5th Aviation Regiment, it was the first time the battalion had worked with the new helicopters.
The training focused on safety procedures, aircraft drills and mission planning in preparation for more complex exercises later this year.
Commanding Officer of 1RAR Lieutenant Colonel Benedict Farrell said the exercise, in late March, was an important step in rebuilding the battalion's air assault capability.
"From a unit perspective this is really important for building competence and confidence with the aircraft," Lieutenant Colonel Farrell said.
"It's exciting to work with these aircraft as it provides myself as the commander, and the soldiers, a different experience.
"This training is extremely valuable for soldiers who have never worked with aircraft before. It gives them exposure to how the broader Army operates and familiarises them with different capabilities."
Lieutenant Colonel Farrell said it was important to integrate different aviation capabilities into the battalion's training program.
"These exercises help junior soldiers and officers understand how aviation integrates with the ground force to achieve the mission," he said.
"Exposure to these aircraft assists junior leaders in understanding how the employment of aviation supports the execution of combined arms operations. This gives the unit the experience required to plan and execute air assault operations.
"Both the Chinooks and Black Hawks give us versatile options for inserting and extracting troops, each offering distinct advantages that influence how we conduct mission planning and execution."
Future training will expand to platoon level manoeuvre, conducted by day and night, and will incorporate a range of tactical scenarios.
