‘We are never going to be combat ineffective because of atmospherics... we can work in the rain, we can work in the mud, and we can work in the jungle.’ In this week’s episode, we talk all things infantry reconnaissance and how reconnaissance patrols enable the fight. Our guest this week - CPL Andrew Noseda - is currently the acting Platoon Sergeant for the Reconnaissance Platoon at the 1st Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment. He was the Section Commander for the battalion’s Duke of Gloucester Cup team and his team took out second place out of all the teams submitted by the regular infantry battalions. He has been in reconnaissance for the last four years, two as a digger and two as a Patrol Commander, and he talks us through the purpose of dismounted infantry recon and what a recon patrol can offer commanders.
Observation Posts (OP) and Point Target Reconnaissance (PTR) are the primary means by which infantry recon will answer their Commander’s Critical Information Requirements, ranging from questions about the terrain/weather to the enemy disposition and pattern of life. Recon patrols are prime targets for enemy engagement and are inherently vulnerable. They operate in isolation, with limited communications and they often carry all the stores and equipment necessary for their task on-foot. They can be inserted via vehicle, boat, helicopter or on-foot to set the preconditions for the main force.
Infantry recon can be supplemented with engineer recon, armoured recon and Joint Fires Observers to enhance mobility, endurance, to answer more of the commander’s questions and to target the enemy with Offensive Support. The Basic Reconnaissance Course is the first course in the continuum and can be completed by both infantry and other corps. The Patrol Commander is responsible for briefing the commander that they are attached to on what they can achieve. The earlier in planning that the Patrol Commander is included, the more refined the specified tasks their patrol is allocated in orders to better enable the commander’s intent.
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Tactical Communications – CAPT Jack Virtue
‘There are a number of things to [jamming] and I don’t think we necessarily train it well because it’s a very complex concept.’ In this week’s episode, we talk all things tactical communications or more specifically the options available to communicate within a combat brigade. Our guest this week – CAPT Jack Virtue – has been the signals officer for a combat signals regiment, a combat engineer regiment and an artillery regiment all within a combat brigade. He has also been a communications planner for rotary wing attack aviation and has just finished a posting to the Joint Data Network Unit, integrating Army, Navy and Air Force assets into the joint fight.
Combat net radios remain the primary means of transmitting information in a brigade. Any planner needs to understand, integrate and monitor the development and establishment of tactical communications. Terrain, weather, distance, dispersion and even whether it is night or day can have an impact on how easy it is to establish and maintain communications. For ease of understanding, the backbone of brigade and below communications can be separated into line-of-sight (LOS) and beyond line-of-sight options (BLOS). LOS options include Ultra High Frequency (UHF) and Very High Frequency (VHF) bands which are both relatively easy to operate; however, can be constrained by terrain conditions and only reach longer distances by using retransmission. BLOS options include High Frequency (HF) and Satellite Communications (SATCOM) which can reach far greater distances; however, can be more difficult to use and in the case of SATCOM can be disrupted or denied.
Communications proficiency is a perishable skill, and it is paramount to conduct regular training and Command Post Exercises (CPX) well before the time comes to run it live. Like weapon drills, CAPT Virtue argues that if you do not maintain hands on with the equipment and the theory behind communications, you’ll lose the competency that is so hard fought for. This episode sets the preconditions for a future episode with the Commanding Officer of the 1st Armoured Regiment on combat experimentation and a future episode on machine learning in command posts and jamming.
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38:32
Lift Helicopters in Modern Conflict – CAPT Mac Purbrick
‘The guys are firing in bursts, but you can put a significant rate of fire down to allow us to extricate ourselves from a situation ...’ In this week’s episode, we are joined by a CH-47 Chinook helicopter pilot from the 5th Aviation Regiment in Townsville QLD. Recorded at the Avalon Air Show, our guest this week – CAPT Mac Purbrick – runs us through the state of play in Army aviation and how to fight rotary wing aircraft under all types of threat.
C Squadron at the 5th Aviation Regiment is about to celebrate its 30th birthday, flying CH-47 Chinook helicopters since they were handed over by the Royal Australian Air Force in 1989. It is the Swiss army knife of helicopters, being able to conduct Air Mobile Operations, carry underslung howitzers, carry generators into flood zones and conduct Aeromedical Evacuation but it's baseline is being able to operate off a ship at night, with little clearance off the ground and fly into a landing zone the aircrew has never seen before. CAPT Purbrick talks about what happens when it goes right but more importantly what happens when it goes wrong.
When planning with lift aircraft, unsurprisingly a commander needs to focus on an effect rather than an entire scheme of manoeuvre and plan for contingencies. What happens to my callsign if the primary landing zone becomes untenable and we get dropped 5km off? What happens to my callsign if all timings are pushed by 20 minutes because the aircraft has to sit in holding outside of the air defence threat waiting for a recon section to clear the landing zone?
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55:22
The Turning Point - LTCOL Steve Young
‘Morale in the face of steel doesn’t always work.’ In this week’s episode, we take off from where we left off with the Bombing of Darwin and the Sparrow Force’s work in Timor combating the Japanese advance through South-East Asia and the Pacific. Joined by my regular co-host LTCOL Steve Young, this episode is about the turning point in the Pacific, the Battle for Milne Bay.
Following the Bombing of Darwin and Sparrow Force’s deployment onto the island of Timor, the 7th Brigade was sent to Milne Bay to establish airfields using the US 43rd Engineering Regiment. The 7th Brigade, under BRIG John Field, would be bolstered by the 18th Brigade under the command of BRIG Frank Wootten. Milne Force as it would become to be known was also allocated two Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) fighter squadrons, making a Combined Joint Force commanded by MAJGEN Cyril Clowes.
This episode tells the story of the Australian’s first win in the Pacific and the turning point for the Japanese Thrust. It started in the dead of the night, LT Robinson’s platoon established the first hasty ambush against the Japanese landing force, then a battalion tasked with fighting patrols was rerolled into the defence of KB Mission, two Japanese tanks advancing without lights and then illuminating Australian’s whose only defence was the Sticky Bomb which was not designed to be used in humid climates. These stories characterise the fighting in Milne Bay which was a battle of a thousand skirmishes fought in the pitch black.
The RAAF’s 75 Squadron (who now fly F-35A Lightning II multi-role, supersonic, stealth fighters) is again mentioned in this episode, as both 75 Squadron and 76 Squadron fly P-40E Kittyhawks in air combat against Japanese Mitsubishi Zero’s to oppose the Japanese beach landings. As each aircraft would land for refuelling and rearming, the underside would be sprayed in mud as the aircraft matting got pushed further and further into the New Guinea mud. The Aircrew and Maintainers would use their bare hands to claw the mud from the underside before a pilot would take off again, exhausted and riddled with malaria and dysentery. The commander of 76 Squadron SQNLDR Peter Turnbull DFC was killed in action defending Milne Bay.
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Lead Source:
Veitch, M., 2019. Turning Point: The Battle for Milne Bay 1942 - Japan's First Land Defeat in World War II. Hachette Australia.
The Cove Podcast aims to explore all aspects of Professional Military Education within the Australian Army. From short tips and soldier's fives to interviews of Army personnel on operations, find out how the men and women of today's Australian Army work towards professional excellence.
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