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NAVY NEWS, OCTOBER 2001
Argonaut 2001 ships fulfil busy exercise schedule as they head East
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RFA rescues 20 from boat A ROYAL Fleet Auxiliary supply ship on Exercise Argonaut has rescued 20 people from a sinking boat in the Mediterranean. The Captain of RFA Fort Austin,
dSte=Vjfi&li»"feV,
Capt Chris Knapp, received an emergency call, and within 15 minutes one of three Sea Kings of 845 NAS on board was on its way to a point 100 miles off Gibraltar. The helicopter crew - Lts Robert Fisher and G. Spence and Royal Marines Corporals D. Anderson and S. Goodman arrived to find 20 men in a Zodiac inflatable craft which was drifting and in danger of capsize. All 20, believed to be Moroccans, were winched on to the Sea King in an operation last-
ing 30 minutes, and flown back to the ship. They said they had been adrift for two days. Fort Austin passed the 20 on to the Spanish authorities at Cartagena. • HMS Illustrious alongside in Valetta, Malta. D.A. Butler.
The amphibious element of Exercise Argonaut 2001 steam in formation.
Training takes high priority
SHIPS
of
the
Exercise
Argonaut 2001 task group have already achieved plenty of use-
ful training - long before the
amphibious task group, led by assault ship HMS Fearless. Also featuring helicopter carrier
HMS Ocean, landing ships RFAs
Sir Tristram, Sir Bedivere and Sir Galahad, as well as support ships Fort Rosalie, Fort Austin and tanker Oakleaf, the group spent a week training off North Devon in The first of the three elements Exercise Channel Wader in order to give Royal Marines and ship's of the Royal Navy's maritime task group, the mine eountermeasures companies a chance to go through force, left Portsmouth in mid- their paces. Less than a fortnight later units August. The four ships - Quorn, of the carrier group, led by HMS Inverness, Walncy and Cattistock, Illustrious, left the UK. Frigates, destroyers and two supported by RFA Diligence and nuclear submarines, plus tanker coastal survey ship HMS Roebuck RFA Bayleaf, complete the mar- have already made several port itime task group. Rear Admiral visits, including Mallorca. While in the Eastern James Burnell-Nugent, Comman-
scheduled start joint-Service
Exercise Saif Sareea in Oman, the highlight of the deployment.
Mediterranean, the group conducted intensive training sessions with teams from Flag Officer Sea Training (POST), and as Navy News went to press the ships were heading south in the Red Sea. Next to leave the UK was the
the coast of Cyprus. • Coastal survey ship HMS Beagle is heading for the Gulf for her final deployment. Although not part of Exercise Argonaut, the ship did preparatory work for Saif Sareea last year. • See the Navy News website, www.navynews.cri.uk, for the latest news from Exercise Argonaut 2001.
EXERCISE Saif Sareea will not just be a proving ground
for troops and equipment. The joint-Service exercise, involving 21,500 UK personnel, will also be the first real test for a new Operational Welfare Package (OWP) which was introduced in April this year.
der of the UK Maritime Forces,
flies his flag in the carrier. Ships of the carrier group have been conducting port visits in the Med, while the amphibious group
split into two, allowing elements to
A review of operational welfare
train with Turkish forces and off
provision was completed in late 1999 as it became apparent that such provision had become inconsistent as the number of operations in different theatres increased. The review concluded there was a need for a single, balanced and comprehensive package, and following negotiations and the provision of extra funding, improvements were announced in April this year.
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As a result, all personnel and units deploying outside UK waters continuously for two months or more, or deploying into an operational theatre, under Permanent Joint HQ OpCom for seven days or more, should be issued with an OWP guide specific to that the-
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• Above: Sea
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Welfare package gets trial in desert
Kings from the Tactical Air Group of the Amphibious Task Group offload personnel and equipment in Cyprus.
atre. Exercise Saif Sareea will attract the main elements of the OWP but in order to ensure all Service personnel are aware of their rights,
policy staff are embarking on a publicity campaign to coincide
with the Oman exercises. The results will be assessed after Saif Sareea to sec where lessons
could be learned. Folowing on early next year will be a major study into welfare support and facilities for the dependants and families of deployed
Servicemen and women. The OWP consists of a basic 'menu' of facilities which can be tailored to meet the specific needs of personnel in any operation, thus ensuring they receive the right level of support at the right time. This replaces the ad hoc welfare arrangements which had developed, and covers facilities such as communications with home (including 20 minutes of free telephone calls each week, free e-mails and e-blueys), publicly-funded laundering of uniform clothing, publicly-funded newspapers and books, NAAFI/EFI facilities and leisure and fitness equipment. Unaccompanied personnel
appointed or drafted to the Falklands are now in receipt of the OWP. Further details of the OWP are available as follows: For RN personnel, details are contained in RNTM 100/01, which
can
be
found
at
http://fleel.tiwts.mocl.uk/cincfleet/in
• Right: A member of 40 Cdo on exercise in Cyprus in
preparation for Exercise Saif Sareea in Oman.
elex.htm under the library short-cut. For Services personnel involved in Exercise Saif Sareea, the provision of welfare facilities can be found at: hllp://jcha.chr>t.i.inrirJ.uk/ex_ss2/