Login
iscover
In October and November, a combat team centred on the 8th/9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, deployed to Wide Bay training area to conduct Exercise Ram Horn.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
According to Captain Luke Hanna, enhancing soldiers’ capability in trench warfare was a major learning outcome from the exercise.
The reception of the troops was positive, CAPT Hanna added, and the hard work that went into digging the trenches and planning the activity was worth it.
“The feedback we’ve had from our soldiers on the trench warfare component of this exercise was first class.
“There’s an incredible body of work that goes into constructing a training activity of that scale, but it’s been well worth the effort for us,” CAPT Hanna said.
The assault on the urban operations training facility was also educational, with soldiers pushing past fatigue and relying on good communication to clear the township.
During the exercise, which focused on trench warfare and conventional warfighting, Alpha and Charlie companies each cleared a trench system, dug by the 2nd Combat Engineer Regiment.
They married up later in the exercise to conduct an assault on an urban operation training facility, defeating an enemy party which was controlling the township.
According to Private Jack Ellison, it was an incredible experience to clear the trenches, and it was the first time doing so for many of the soldiers.
“I really enjoyed that; it was great, and I’d never done anything like it before.
“We were all really riled up for that and it was a lot of fun, even though it was chaotic.”
CAPT Hanna added it gave the battalion a chance to return to its roots.
“Exercise Ram Horn has been an excellent opportunity for Battle Group Ram to get back to its core business of high-intensity warfighting and joint land combat,” CAPT Hanna concluded.
[Related: RAN Vice Admiral in Japan for high-level talks and JMSDF anniversary]
