Four months ago, in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, Australian Army soldiers from 41st Battalion, the Royal New South Wales Regiment (41 RNSWR), were clearing roads, filling sandbags and conducting welfare checks on community members at Lismore, northern NSW.
Today, laden with field packs and fighting equipment at the air movements facility at RAAF Base Amberley in Queensland, the part-time soldiers from the Australian Army's 5th Brigade are preparing to board a KC-30A multi-role transport for rapid air movement to RAAF Base Curtin in Western Australia.
There, the reservists will be force assigned to the Royal Australian Air Force to conduct agile air operations tasks during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025.
Talisman Sabre is the largest bilaterally planned, multilaterally conducted training activity between the ADF and the United States military - the 11th iteration of the exercise, which seeks to test planning and conducting high-end, multi-domain warfare across participants.
Lieutenant Rob Murray is a platoon commander at 41 RNSWR, whose soldiers form part of 5th Brigade's security and response task units.
'The soldiers in the reserve world have a really good capability to pivot on the spot and learn new things, so I'm really confident with our troops to do the mission.'
Among their foundational warfighting skills being tested on Talisman Sabre is the protection of Defence assets during conflict.
"My platoon's role on Exercise Talisman Sabre is to provide security for all the Air Force aircraft at these regional airstrips," Lieutenant Murray said.
"It's going to be [a] really fluid operation. We are going to be trying new things and it's going to be really exciting for the unit to try out."
This exercise is an important milestone for 2nd (Australian) Division, as it steps up to lead the defence of the Australian mainland to enable Army's contribution to a strategy of denial - protecting critical infrastructure and expeditionary air bases in Australia's north.
"The soldiers in the reserve world have a really good capability to pivot on the spot and learn new things, so I'm really confident with our troops to do the mission," Lieutenant Murray explains.
Having emigrated to Australia in 2020 with three years' service as a 'baggie' (part-time infantryman) in the New Zealand Territorial Army, the 31-year-old architectural designer from Coolangatta, Queensland, is excited to be contributing to Talisman Sabre in such a meaningful way.
"I really enjoy very much being part of the Army Reserves and recommend to everyone in Australia that they join up," Lieutenant Murray said.
"There's nothing better than serving your country - I thoroughly enjoy doing this."
More than 35,000 military personnel from 19 partner nations are expected to participate in Exercise Talisman Sabre across Australia and Papua New Guinea. The exercise runs from July 13 to August 4.
