Australian Army Reserve sappers from 5th Engineer Regiment might be deployed to RAAF Base Tindal for Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025, but they're providing construction works that will support base operations and exercises for years to come.
The Sydney-based reservists are carrying out crucial work on the base, constructing temporary platforms with DuraBase composite mats to support future operations, particularly those occurring during the wet season.
For sapper Lance Corporal Paul Coates, these construction works are the culmination of many months of hard work.
"We were first up here in February for Exercise Arafura Shield, getting the project started by testing the DuraBase mats to see if they met our needs and how they would stand up to the weather conditions," Lance Corporal Coates said.
"During Exercise Talisman Sabre, we've come back to continue the project and build more work platform for vehicles for future exercises and operations.
"The DuraBase mats need to be manoeuvred around quite a bit and put together with pry bars and locking pins, but we're lucky because the machine does all the heavy lifting."
The DuraBase composite mats have been used for several exercises already, with very positive results.
Section commander Corporal Christine O'Reilly said she wouldn't have wanted to deploy on Talisman Sabre with any other team.
"I've been working with this section for quite some time so I know all about their skills and what tasks I can put them on," Corporal O'Reilly said.
"This makes us very effective on a task like this."
Lance Corporal Coates echoed her comments.
"We've all come through our unit and brigade build-up training together, so we're working well as a team and we couldn't wait to get back up here and rip into the work," Lance Corporal Coates said.
Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025 is being conducted across Australia from July 13 to August 4.
