Exercise Talisman Sabre has wound up in North and Central Queensland with a continuous deployment of hardware backing up participating forces on site at Australian Defence Force facilities including Townsville Field Training Area and Shoalwater Bay.
All ordnance is discharged and loaded by Northern Stevedoring Services through the Ports of Townsville, Alma Bay near Rockhampton and Gladstone.
Tanks, armoured personnel carriers and helicopters were cleaned to Australian Quarantine Inspection Service standards before being deployed on exercise.
NSS Logistics Manager David Vass paid tribute to the efforts of dockside crews who manage traffic through the wash bays.
Townsville staff were among a group across NSS sites in North and Central Queensland who were holding the NSS service standard high, Mr Vass said.
“We clean equipment and present it to biosecurity to be inspected and it’s cleared to acceptable standard. We’ve got a good reputation with them which helps in maintaining the flow of traffic to the exercise,” he said.
“It takes about a week sometimes to get one of the tanks through. We’ve got two engines in each vehicle to pull out, disassemble, wash and reassemble. So, there’s a bit of work involved.
“It is something different and they enjoy it. We’ve got good personnel and a good relationship with Biosecurity. Penny Skipper, Richard O’Rourke and Gordon Smith that work in the wash bay in Townsville are doing a great job.”
Exercise Talisman Sabre involves more than 35,000 military personnel from Australia and partner nations.
It involved live-fire exercises and field training activities, including amphibious landings and ground force manoeuvres.
The exercise is conducted biennially.