IS GIVING SOLDIERS A REAL LETHAL EDGE
With one third of Australia’s military combat power based in Townsville it could be easily assumed that so too are the bulk of Australia’s Defence industry companies. But it’s quite the opposite. Cubic Defence Australia has been the only company to be headquartered in North Queensland since 2007, despite a huge injection of cash by the Federal Government to grow defence capability, assets and workforce. And, with a long history operating as a forward mounting base for military operations, Director of Strategic Development Mark Horn says Townsville is an ideal location to achieve its service delivery. Mark goes further to make an argument that being based in Northern Australia is only going to become more important as greater political focus is placed on the Indo-Pacific region. “As a contractor you can sort of lose touch with what the Defence Force is doing but working with the Combat Training Centre on Lavarack Barracks we’re constantly exposed to the highest end of collective training who have access to the best (military) training areas in the country,” says Mark.
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BY KATE BANVILLE
“There are logistic considerations but also Townsville has a really high veteran workforce and we have a need, and an interest in employing and developing veterans. “We put an investment into people and we have to you cannot become qualified to do a Cubic technical role with a certificate or a specific degree. It needs to be a blend of military, civilian, tech because it takes quite a while to understand the methodology of technical and training outcomes at that level.” The programs crafted by Cubic are a blend of synthetic and live action immersive tactical scenarios to safely and realistically train soldiers to respond to adversaries in crisis, says Mark. The futuristic approach to combat training also allows Defence to monitor, collect and analyse data from defence personnel and adapt training accordingly. It’s been compared to a fitbit, only military grade. But even then Mark says it’s a little more complex. Not only is Cubic’s software unique to Defence but so too is the company’s relationship with the Australian Army where it has staff working alongside uniformed members at Townsville’s Combat Training Centre to develop and to run major national and international exercises.
