An Cosantóir

www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE | 17 PART 1 I n December 2019, Australia's CONTACT military magazine (owned and oper- ated by an ex-pat Wexfordman who became a sergeant in the Australian Army) [optional inclusion], reported on Australian Defence Force support for bushfire-fighting efforts across a wide area of the south-east of Australia in what were officially classed 'catastrophic' bushfire conditions. At the time, Australian Defence Force support ran to about 1500 personnel in what was essentially business-as-usual as- sistance to a country that 'enjoys' extremes of weather, especially around the Christmas/ New Year summer peak. When published on 1 December, CON- TACT didn't/couldn't know that catastrophe was indeed about to strike – and the ADF's efforts reported in December were chump change compared to what was to come. The world's largest wildfires – the ADF's greatest civilian-assistance mission ever – the first ever 'compulsory call-out' of Army Reserves – Operation Bushfire Assist 19-20 became the Australian Defence Force's 'main effort' with almost 7000 uniformed members deployed for more than a month. But, as always happens in Australia, drenching rains extinguished the fires – causing flash flooding and a new set of headaches in some places (though not nearly as bad as predicted or feared). But, Aussies still love their sunburnt coun- try, of droughts and flooding rains – where, this summer, 46 million acres were burnt (more than twice the size of all Ireland), 2779 homes and more than 3000 other buildings were destroyed – and 34 people were killed. A major increase in Defence bushfire- fighting support was announced on New Year's Eve, with a significant injection of manpower and equipment to boost the bushfire-fighting effort, initially at the request of the Victorian government. Black Hawks from Sydney and, at first, a single Chinook helicopter from Townsville moved south in preparation to rescue stranded resi- dents in towns and hamlets cut off by fires. Royal Australian Navy ships were also mobilised, to an area off East Gippsland in preparation for evacuations. HMAS Choules out of Sydney and MV Sycamore out of Jervis Bay, both with significant capacity to land helicopters, and send boats ashore, were first to respond. But this was just the start – and follow-on deployments ramped up quickly. The effort now also had an offi- cial name – Operation Bushfire Assist 19-20. On 2 January, HMAS Choules and MV Sycamore arrived off the bushfire-isolated Victorian town of Mallacoota – now famous for photos and video of townsfolk and holidaymakers alike huddled on the beach as fires literally lapped at the edge of the sand – to evacuate hundreds of locals and tourists. Australian Defence Force personnel commenced evacuating more than 1200 people on the first day. HMAS Choules, with a crew of 179, departed for Westernport on the Mornington Peninsula with about 1100 evacuees aboard, followed by MV Sycamore and her crew of 29 civilian contractors and one Navy officer, with 60 evacuees on board. Journey time for both ships was about 20 hours. CO HMAS Choules Commander Scott Houlihan said that for a bunch of people who had been through one of the most horrific experiences you can ever imagine, their spirits were high, they were joyful, they were a pleasure to have on board and it reaf- firmed his belief in the human spirit. "The embarkation was a key milestone achieved through close coordination with various government and non-government agencies," Commander Houlihan said. "We quickly and effectively integrated with counterparts from Emergency Management Victoria, Victoria Police, the CFA, the local council, Red Cross and other agencies". "The embarkation process started around 8am, with people being moved from the community centre to the pier by bus, and then moved across to the ships using five landing craft embarked in Choules. By early evening we had completed the embarkation and were underway heading towards West- ernport. I could not be prouder of their efforts and the results achieved." Executive Officer Lieutenant Commander Arron Convery oversaw the welcome of all evacuees on-board Choules. "The general spirit among our guests has been one of ap- preciation mixed with relief to get away from the devastation and the heavy blanket of smoke that has engulfed the region," he said. "Of course, there was some level of worry, but there were many hugs of appreciation throughout the day." In addition to the human evacuees, hun- dreds of pets accompanied families. "There were 135 dogs on-board, some cats, even a rabbit and a bird," Lieutenant Commander Convery said. "The pets and their humans were comforted by being able to stay to- gether for the transit, and we were pleased that we could facilitate this." Commander Houlihan said a key coun- terpart from one of the partner agencies in the evacuation described the process as being 'organised and structured, without being sharp and brutal,' and he thought this described perfectly the attitude, flexibility and welcome demonstrated by Choules' and Sycamore's ships' companies – and was to become a hallmark of the entire operation, driven from the top down. Commander Operation Bushfire Assist BY BRIAN HARTIGAN, CONTACT MAGAZINE

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