TURNING AN EAST COAST-CENTRIC ARMY’S ATTENTION NORTH WEST

By Stephen Bunce,

Defence Writer, WA DEFENCE REVIEW &

Graham McKenzie-Smith AM,

Contributing Military Historian

TURNING AN EAST COASTCENTRIC ARMY’S ATTENTION NORTH WEST

Since Federation, the Australian Army has had an east coast-centric conception of the nation - a consequence of the facts that the majority of Australia’s population resides in the east and that Defence’s primary focus has been on Asia and the Pacific. While the 1987 Defence White Paper, The Defence of Australia, may have introduced the concept of the Regional Force Surveillance Unit (RSFU) and precipitated the deployment of a brigade to Darwin as part of the ‘Army Presence in the North’ initiative, the west coast and the remote North West have remained largely neglected by the army. While recent measures to modestly increase the army’s size in Western Australia are welcome and long overdue, more needs to be done to address the variety of national security vulnerabilities in the west and the North West of the Australian continent. An expanded army presence would match the increased focus on the Indian Ocean and strengthen our ability to protect and secure Australia’s sovereignty and national interests.

Soldiers from 3 Squadron Pilbara Regiment conduct exercises on West Lewis Island in the Dampier Archipelago in preparation for an Operation Resolute deployment. © WA DEFENCE REVIEW. Photographer: Serge DeSilva-Ranasinghe.

WEST COAST ARMY

Since the Australian Defence Force has increasingly shifted to an IndoPacific focus a growing chorus of voices has advocated for an enhanced army presence in WA. This advocacy began with an initial statement made in 2015 by an Australian Industry and Defence Network of WA organised dialogue. It was followed by a broad range of reports and statements, including the RDAPerth report, Security and Defence in Western Australia: An Economic Perspective (2017), Developing an Indo-Pacific Army (Peter Leahy, 2018), Future of the Army in the North: A Case For The RFSUs (Guy Duczynski, 2018), WA’s Defence, A Forward Projection, (Kim Beazley, 2018), Australia’s Indo-Pacific Future (Stephen Smith, 2019), A Two-Ocean Army in an Indo-Pacific Era (Professor Mike Evans, 2019), and We Need More Army in WA (Sean L’Estrange, 2020).

The recent Chief of Army’s directive to increase the force’s footprint in WA, by incrementally expanding the army reserve’s 13th Brigade, is an important step to redress the imbalance. The expansion of 10th Light Horse Regiment will boost the brigade’s light reconnaissance capacity and it is hoped the unit will eventually field at least a squadron of the Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles under army’s LAND 400 Program.

The planned re-introduction of an engineer construction capacity by the expansion of 13 Field Squadron to a regiment and the proposed riverine element for 16th Battalion, Royal Western Australia Regiment (16 RWAR) will further, albeit modestly, expand the brigade’s capabilities to respond to military and civil emergencies. INTEGRATED WORKFORCE

The army’s integrated workforce model, whereby soldiers can move between full and part-time employment, allows the new recruits needed to achieve these incremental expansions to complete their recruit and corps training full-time on the east coast, before re-joining their reserve units in the west.

In addition, the gap year program will allow potential recruits to trial life in the ADF for 12 months before they commit. Both initiatives will increase troop strength available in the west. However, WA has only 11% of the Australian population and 33% of Australia’s total land mass, so it is unlikely that the army reserve can be expanded enough to meet the Defence needs of this vast state. Therefore, an increased presence of regular troops will be needed.

In a speech to the Royal United Services Institute in Canberra in July 2021, Chief of Army LTGEN Rick Burr said, “We are also investing more heavily in 13th Brigade, looking to harness the workforce in Western Australia, to advance our thinking about integrated units.” One might ask: what will these ‘integrated units’ look like? Although there are regular army training and administrative cadres in the Pilbara Regiment, they constitute an administrative skeleton of the regiment, with most of the patrols being conducted by mobilised army reservists.

The integration of regular army companies into the understrength “ Two squadrons are based in the Pilbara and one in Perth, but their area of operations covers 1.5m square 11/28 RWAR and 16 RWAR, or the kilometres and eventual conversion of one into a full- extends right along the coast time regular battalion would allow from Geraldton the development of the necessary to Port Hedland. Their roles include administrative and operational doctrine, capable of being used direct support for the Australian Border Force in elsewhere in the army. their operations against mostly drug trafficking, and

general purpose intelligence, It has only been in times of war that surveillance and reconnaissance the defence of the west coast has truly functions. been a concern. It is noteworthy to Increasing the remember that the army is no stranger regular strength of the Pilbara to the west coast. For example, by the Regiment with a end of 1942 more than 50,000 troops full-strength regular squadron based at from three divisions were deployed Karratha would on the sand plain between Perth and Geraldton – a greater combat presence enhance its capacity and provide additional military than in Southern Queensland or NSW ‘first responders’ at that time. for the defence of the region’s critical infrastructure. In the short term such a squadron could be based in Perth with rotations into the Pilbara (FIFO) until the domestic infrastructure is put in place to house them in the North West.

FINDING SOLUTIONS

During the 1980s, and prior to the Pilbara Regiment being raised, the 13th Brigade was tasked with the defence of the North West and regularly trained in the region. The integration of regular army companies into the understrength 11th/28th, Royal Western Australia Regiment (11/28 RWAR) and 16 RWAR, or the eventual conversion of one into a fulltime regular battalion would allow the development of the necessary administrative and operational doctrine, capable of being used elsewhere in the army. They would also provide a basis for subsequent force structure increases. Expanded regular army cadres would also be needed for the medical, transport and logistics units of the 13 Combat Service Support Battalion (13 CSSB).

The current redevelopment of Irwin Barracks needs to consider accommodation for the increased regular army component of these integrated units, or perhaps it is time to reconsider a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and army ‘super base’ at RAAF Pearce, which was first publicly advocated for by the Australian Industry and Defence Network of WA in 2015. More areas will be required that can be used for training in southern or central WA within six to eight hours travel time from Perth’s outskirts. Consideration also needs to be given to any increased requirements for bases and training and range areas under the AUKUS initiative and current US force posture reviews.

Members of the Royal Western Australian Regiment of the Australian Army commemorate the 61st birthday of the Regiment’s forming on 1 July 1960 at St Georges Cathedral in Perth. © Department of Defence. Photographer: LSIS Richard Cordell.

Exercise Northern Shield 2016 deployed 1000 troops to Derby at short notice during the dry season for seven days. Post-operation reports detailed issues with supply of heavy equipment as well as food, fuel and water. The logistical challenges of sustaining such a deployed force over an often sub-standard road network need as much attention as the personnel issues. Exercises of this sort are one way of increasing the east coast-centric army’s awareness of the issues relating to the defence of the North West. The next step is to find solutions. EQUIPPING FOR THE FUTURE

It often argued that troops could be flown into the RAAF Curtin (Derby) and RAAF Learmonth (Exmouth) if needed. However, any threat to the region would require more than troops and the equipment they can carry. This would also be the time when the RAAF is deploying assets to activate and supply these bare bases, so a significant part of their Air Mobility Group would be needed for that role.

The range of equipment and stores held at Palmer Barracks at Guildford has in the past been limited to what was needed for training the army reserve units, and although it is being modestly expanded, it remains less than would be required to fully equip 13th Brigade for combat operations, let alone any regular units that might be airlifted to WA. As well as expanding the stocks at Guildford, consideration should be given to prepositioning of at least a battalion set of heavy equipment and mobilisation stores at either Karratha, or maybe at the nearby RAAF ‘bare bases’ located at Exmouth and Derby.

It has only been in times of war that the defence of the west coast has truly been a concern. It is worth remembering that the army is no stranger to the west coast. For example, by the end of 1942 more than 50,000 troops from three divisions were deployed on the sand plain between Perth and Geraldton – a greater combat presence than in Southern Queensland or NSW at that time. Today, the importance of WA to the Australian economy is anchored on its vast mineral wealth and associated processing plants and ports. The mining and onshore processing of the critical minerals needed in this digital age will only increase the state’s vulnerability to disruption in times of actual, or threatened, conflict.

In the short term, the army’s necessary footprint in WA will only increase when administrative and operational systems are developed to bring regular and reserve soldiers together in integrated units. Using the 13th Brigade as a testbed is a welcome start and should be given every opportunity to succeed, but additional options should be considered and implemented to strengthen national security on the west coast and North West of Australia, as the Indian Ocean and Indo-Pacific geo-political environment continues to deteriorate.

Established in 1982, the Pilbara Regiment plays a key role in monitoring the vast and remote North West region of Australia. © WA DEFENCE REVIEW. Photographer: Serge DeSilva-Ranasinghe.

A unified voice for the defence and security interests of Australia’s North West

By Michael Edwards,

Co-founder and Managing Director of Gascoyne Gateway Limited

GASCOYNE GATEWAY: A FORCE MULTIPLIER IN AN AGE OF UNCERTAINTY

North West Cape and Exmouth have been an operational and strategic outcrop for Australia and its allies since World War II. Today, with rising geo-political tensions in the Indo-Pacific, this part of Australia has an even more important role to play for Australia’s force posture and capability.

Exmouth township sits approximately 1300km north of Perth, on the closest point of mainland Australia to Christmas and Cocos Keeling Islands, and the Sunda Strait - one of our main ocean trading routes to Asia. The Naval Communications Station Harold E Holt (HEH) sits at the North West Cape 25km north of the township and is home to the Very Low Frequency (VLF) radio transmission facility designed to communicate with both Australian and allied submarines. The RAAF Learmonth ‘bare base’ is positioned 35km south of the township and shares facilities with the domestic airport terminal. Geographically, Learmonth is an ideal forward operating base for future maritime patrol and ISR missions utilising unmanned aircraft.

Incredibly, every litre of aviation fuel consumed at RAAF Learmonth and Exmouth Domestic airport is trucked 1300 kilometres by road from Kwinana. The 10-13 million litres of diesel fuel consumed annually at HEH is imported from overseas via a single-use tanker berth at Point Murat adjacent to HEH which, unfortunately, it now located within the declared World Heritage Ningaloo Marine Park.

Gascoyne Gateway Limited is a veteran-owned, privately funded multi-user jetty and port facility planned for a site congruous with the current industrial area, 10km south of Exmouth township. While the facility’s viability is determined by commercial operations and not reliant on defence use, the multiple berth jetty planned for up to 13.5m of draught and up to 900m of quay line, allows the operation of every class of Royal Australian Navy vessel and most allied vessels in service.

With very few viable options for refuelling warships between HMAS Stirling and Darwin, the Exmouth solution offers unconstrained access to the Indian Ocean with no navigation channels and quick access to submarine optimal diving depths. Moreover, the option of refuelling Collins-class submarines in Exmouth would likely extend operational patrol ranges by up to two weeks while providing more rapid deployment to strategic choke points in archipelagic sea lanes to the north. The Exmouth facility has been acknowledged by rescue organisations to support future submarine rescue operations in the North West of WA.

Replenishment of fleet units is conducted alongside prior to operations. Further replenishment would be conducted via consolidation fleet tankers at the Gascoyne Gateway, supported by its shoreside fuel infrastructure and storage. The recent focus on national strategic fuel holdings and dispositions throws a spotlight on this solution and the national fuel and Defence framework. Extended operations in support of the MH370 search highlighted the dearth of aviation stocks and resupply capacity in Western Australia - this situation would obviously extend to other contingency operations.

Naturally, there are likely requirements to move the essential personnel and other support elements that can only be provided by shoreside facilities, supported via the Learmonth military/commercial airbridge and ADF air transport system. This would likely include Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief and other civilian support options destined for our near neighbours in Southwest and Southeast Asia. The Australian Border Force would also benefit from an option offering 40% cost savings in operational fuel and running maintenance over those currently borne from Darwin based operations.

Potential allied use might include replenishment of fuel and ammunition, rest and recreation, expeditionary pre-positioning and warehousing, and low level depot repair maintenance – particularly considering the commercial and military capabilities of the RAAF Learmonth runway and airfields.

Ultimately, as time and innovative technology advances, we see a place for forward deploying or basing of autonomous underwater vehicles that would complement the submarine fleet in addition to antisubmarine and mine warfare into the future.

The Gascoyne Gateway is expected to be completed at the beginning of 2025 and will offer significant benefits to Australian sovereign fuel resilience while also providing unique opportunities for ADF and allied use for operational sustainment. Importantly, the company’s concept design is considering ADF potential requirements from the outset rather than risking expensive retrofit in the future. The utility of this unique and timely veteran-founded initiative, requiring no government or Defence funding, sees this strategic sovereign infrastructure coming online in the right place, and at the right time.

gascoynegateway.com.au

By Peter Long, Chair, North West Defence Alliance

THE WORLD’S GREATEST MINERALS PROVINCE: A SECURE NORTH WEST VITAL TO AUSTRALIA’S PROSPERITY

The vast North West region of the Australian continent comprises the Kimberley, Pilbara and northern Gascoyne regions and includes the densest aggregation of industrial infrastructure in the country. This infrastructure is valued at many hundreds of billions of dollars and serves to mine, process and export product from this, the world’s greatest mineral province.

THE NATION’S WEALTH

The Pilbara alone contains enormous reserves of iron ore, natural gas, oil, lithium, copper, gold, cobalt, manganese, zinc, lead, rare earths and other minerals vital for today’s technological society. The region contains dozens of major mine sites. Rio Tinto alone has 16, all connected by rail to its ports in the City of Karratha. The coastal area is a major producer of industrial salt, has one of the world’s largest ammonia production plants and manufactures large quantities of ammonium nitrate, extracting key ingredients from natural gas sourced locally.

Offshore on Barrow Island is the massive Gorgon LNG Project, completed in 2017 at a price of $74bn. The $47bn Wheatstone LNG Plant is on the coast near Onslow, and near Karratha on the Burrup Peninsular is the Pluto LNG Project and the five trains of the Karratha Gas Plant, part of the North West Shelf Project which, when constructed was the largest project in the world. Oil and gas fields abound in the region and are exploited by a range of fixed offshore, floating and island facilities, producing natural gas and condensate which is processed and exported for domestic and world markets. Western Australia currently has 12 LNG production trains, four of which are offshore, including the floating Prelude facility.

This North West region exported some $140bn of resource products in 2020, which represented nearly 50% of Australia’s total commodity exports. The increase in the iron ore price over Treasury assumptions between 2018 and 2021 provided an extra $30bn to the federal coffers above its already generous contribution, showing how essential this region is to the economic health - and wealth - of our nation.

A larger and more visible military presence across the North West would send a clear message to the region that we are serious about protecting our offshore oil and gas industry, our coastal ports and massive inland infrastructure.

STRATEGIC SIGNIFICANCE

But the North West is sparsely populated, with approximately 100,000 people spread over an area of some one million square kilometres. It fronts the Indian Ocean, which has dozens of countries around its shoreline and is home to nearly three billion people. Some two-thirds of the world’s seaborne trade in oil, half the world’s seaborne container traffic and one-third of the world’s seaborne bulk cargo transit through the Indian Ocean and its adjacent waterways.

The rise of China has seen the Indian Ocean become a heavily contested maritime domain. The sea lanes from the Indonesian archipelago through Australia’s North West maritime jurisdiction is heavily trafficked with iron ore and other vessels carrying some 900m tons of export product northward each year. Empty carriers, asylum-seekers and others still traverse the same jurisdiction south. Submarines no doubt do the same.

Australia has 1800km of exposed coastline between Exmouth and Wyndham with numerous ports, coastal and offshore facilities that are responsible for exporting the many commodities we produce. EXISTING DEFENCE FOOTPRINT

Considering these facts, it would be reasonable to think that Australia should have a larger Defence presence in this part of the world. However, this is currently not the case.

There is Defence infrastructure in the region - the Harold E Holt Naval Communications Station in Exmouth and the air force ‘bare bases’ at Learmonth (near Exmouth) and Curtin (near Derby) are solid investments. However, the latter are largely unmanned, bases and NAVCOMSTA Harold E Holt, originally serviced by a large American contingent, is now run with a small number of Australian staff.

North Western Australia

Exmouth Port Hedland

Karratha

Ashburton Broome EAST Kimberley

WEST Kimberley

HALLS CREEK

EAST Pilbara

HMAS Warramunga patrolling the oil and gas installations in the North West Shelf. © Department of Defence. Photographer: POEW Owen Negus.

The North West has essentially a light army footprint, the Pilbara Regiment, which is primarily a reserve army unit made up of several dozen regular personnel as its core, and a significant reservist cadre. In comparison, there are some 5000 Defence personnel in Darwin and considerably more than that number in Townsville and north Queensland. The many world-leading resource companies, particularly the offshore oil majors who have billions of dollars invested in the region, are understandably concerned. SENDING A CLEAR MESSAGE

It would not necessarily be difficult to maintain a larger military force in the Pilbara. The region’s liveability, services and communications infrastructure are now first rate. There is major port infrastructure in Exmouth (the Navy Wharf), Karratha and Port Hedland with safe, protected anchorages, deep water, numerous wharves and a major logistics and resupply capability. Karratha has Western Australia’s second-busiest airport and Defence personnel stationed at the Pilbara Regiment always enjoy the commission.

A larger and more visible military presence across the North West would send a clear message to the region that we are serious about protecting our offshore oil and gas industry, our coastal ports and massive inland infrastructure. This could begin with increasing the regular cadre of the Pilbara Regiment, which would give it a more sustainable patrol capability, with the ability to deploy more frequently and without its current heavy reliance on reservists – which can be a challenge to mobilise at short notice. Further consideration should also be given to enhancing the profile of the navy and air force throughout the North West by way of more exercises and, where appropriate, even forward deploying assets and capabilities.

The North West is close to some of the world’s most dangerous flash points and it is beholden on us to do our utmost to maintain the security and integrity of Australia’s greatest export industry.