No Angry Shots ...
Seek and Close
with the ENEMy
The company flew into central Australia somewhere remote. The EX was basically a 10 day patrol culminating in a Battalion attack with our new Commanding Officer LTCOL BJ Caligari, who had replaced LTCOL Beale. After we land, we have a day chilling non tac to complete Battle Preparation and get some rest whilst the remainder of the Unit deploys into the Area of Operation.
We do what diggers do when its non tac? Hootchie up, put on the brew gear and tell stories of exotic lands, beautiful women and adventures we have been on or will undertake. Chuck, Smithy, Baz the Pom, Lawf and Sketty are all chilling under Chuck and my double hootchie. Drinking coffee. Making coffee. Chilling.
Smithy earns himself a new nickname, The Squatter. Every time the cup canteen gets passed to him, like royalty, he squats on the mug, not sharing it – taking 3x times as many sips as anyone else.
Hey Squatter, how about passing that brew along. Of course, making brews is also below his station as a Squatter, he just drinks other people’s brews.
We stayed in the Staging Area for one night and realised that it would be a cold exercise. If Mt Spec had been cold, Alice at night was freezing. The temperature drop was significant, going from 35 – 40 deg during the day down to 5 -10 deg overnight. It was a winter sleeping bag trip.
Welcome Jim
Next day we deploy to our area of operations and start the patrol phase. Geoff Marschner is my section commander, Chuck ‘I’ve got your Trousers’ Walker is number 1 rifleman, I am number 2 and Sketty number 3. The terrain is rugged, valleys, dry riverbeds, rocks and spinifex grass.
After a few hours, Sketty is struggling. Unlike the Foreign Legion, we tried to keep our diggers alive, just in case we had to carry the body bag to the nearest road. But by day's end, he is shattered. He has kept up – just. Avoided heat exhaustion - just. And can almost recite his own name.
Chuck and I sit down to find out more about Jim mostly Why the Fuck did you join the Army? And specifically, Infantry? Because we couldn't see bronzed Anzac in the barely lifeless melted mass of baggy greens. Jim, what did you do before the Army?
I was a Bank Teller.
Why did you join? I wanted to do something different.
Yeah, well why didn't you just join the reserves? I did. My first parade was a battle run of 3.2km in boots and greens. Stuff I got off the Q store shelves. We all know where this is going ... boots not broken in, first time in greens ... I made it but collapsed after the run, they carried me to the tap and I lay there for 15 mins until I could get moving again.
Chuck and I laughed hysterically. Then why did you join the regular Army? I wanted something different.
Well, here we were in the middle of the desert, no taps, and having to help Sketty to his feet every time we got the order to move. Every time, like a turtle. That’s different all right.
Author’s note - Jim was always light, and a couple years later attempted Selection for SAS. They obviously didn't need banking expeience in '87.
He was mentally tough and resilient digger and well regarded in the unit.
After a couple days Sketty was getting up himself. We admired his toughness. We had patrolled over the ranges and were now patrolling adjacent to some dirt roads. This meant the enemy could be positioned to contact us. Of course, vehicles leave dust trails so we knew it was coming.
Contact
Unfortunately, the enemy were just bastards.
We would see the dust clouds, know the feature and then a soft faint pop would initiate contact. If the daily patrol through the desert plains outside Alice was not enough, we were now being contacted at maximum range. In close country – the Jungle, contacts were often less than 50m and at worst 100m due to visibility and terrain. In open country, contacts were normally 200 – 300m, which could be a lengthy assault, when fire and movement under contact requires you to run 3-4 paces, dive, crawl t a new position, observe, aim and fire. Then crawl to a new position and run down crawl observe aim and fire as part of a section or platoon assault.
In the first week om Adroit Patrol, the contacts were never less than 800m and often as long as one kilometre away.
That's 1k in 38 deg heat, with pack and webbing and pretty sore bodies. If you filmed our contact drills or fire and movement, it was a really poor standard. When the assaulting platoon got within 300m they would withdraw back to their vehicles. After a few contacts we knew why the contacts got further away, if we caught the bastards, it could've got ugly. It was the same tactics we used against the Americans and now the Pioneers were using it against us.
It’s been a few days in, we’ve seen the enemy once or twice and I have started craving pizza.
The Story continues. Patrolling through the Desert. And finally - Pizza.