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Commander of the Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Jonathan Mead, took the opportunity to inspect HMAS Adelaide and the crew as they sailed into Australia’s largest amphibious exercise, Talisman Sabre 2019.
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The crew of HMAS Adelaide were reminded of the scale and importance of the task at hand. During a tour of the ship at the start of Exercise Talisman Sabre 2019 (TS19), RADM Mead spoke to the 400-strong ship’s company.
RADM Mead said, "Talisman Sabre is our biggest exercise and essential for us to get ourselves to final operational capability. I wanted to come here to personally congratulate you for your work in generating this amphibious capability.
"I wanted to come here to personally congratulate you for your work in generating this amphibious capability. But I also wanted to thank you for your service to this country, for there is no more noble cause."
It has been a busy year for the Royal Australian Navy, with HMA Ships Canberra and Adelaide recently returned from the Sea Series exercises.
Now embarked with personnel from other participating nations such as the US, UK and Japan, the Landing Helicopter Docks are ready for the challenge of this large-scale combined, joint exercise.
While TS19 will certainly be a highlight of the calendar, RADM Mead said that there was much more to come.
"The economic prosperity and the safety of our people at home rests in your hands, so I wish you all the best. We will continue to test those capabilities, we will continue to test ourselves and be ready to deliver high-end warfighting," RADM Mead reaffirmed.
TS19 is a bilateral combined Australian and US training activity, designed to practice respective military services and associated agencies in planning and conducting Combined and Joint Task Force operations, and improve the combat readiness and interoperability between Australian and US forces.
Occurring every two years, Talisman Sabre is a major exercise reflecting the closeness of the alliance and strength of the enduring military relationship. TS19 is the eighth iteration of the exercise and consists of a field training exercise incorporating force preparation (logistic) activities, amphibious landings, land force manoeuvre, urban operations, air operations, maritime operations and Special Forces activities.
Stephen Kuper
Steve has an extensive career across government, defence industry and advocacy, having previously worked for cabinet ministers at both Federal and State levels.
