Publication:Navy Annual 2005/Sea King in Aceh
BY LIEUTENANT COMMANDER MATHEW BRADLEY, RAN
On 26 December 2004 an earthquake centred in the Indian Ocean west of the island of Sumatra initiated the worst natural disaster of the last 40 years, and subsequently led to a multinational effort to help those countries affected by what became known as the Boxing Day Tsunami. As the Operational Response Squadron for the 2004/05 Christmas Period, 817 Squadron (Commanding Officer, CMDR James Tobin, RAN) was called upon to embark two Sea King helicopters in HMAS Kanimbla as part of the ADF support to this massive humanitarian task - Operation SUMATRA ASSIST.
The requirement to embark the Sea King helicopter in the Landing Platform Amphibious (LPA) has been a regular occurrence in the last five years. The LPA's capability to move large quantities of personnel and stores from Australia to a theatre of operations is augmented by the Sea King's afloat support capability to airlift this cargo from ship to shore. This combination has been a feature of recent operations ranging from border protection tasking, combat operations against Iraq, peacekeeping support in the Solomon Islands and numerous amphibious exercises on the Australian station. On this occasion, the need to deploy and establish a large body of army personnel overseas, provide aero-medical coverage for these personnel and transport humanitarian aid to the people of Sumatra immediately identified the need to again task the Royal Australian Navy's LPA/Sea King capability.
Due to the urgent nature of the tasking, embarkation in HMAS Kanimbla was required in less than two days and involved a whole Squadron effort to not only land two aircraft on deck before the ship sailed, but to also embark a full maintenance stores package and detachment of 30 personnel. Despite the fact that the majority of Squadron personnel were on leave (with some being recalled from as far afield as Townsville), the full embarkation was achieved only 40 hours after initial notification. This effort did not cease as HMAS Kanimbla sailed through Sydney Heads on New Year's eve; the ongoing provision of maintenance items and supplies that would allow the Sea Kings to operate at a high rate of effort for several months drew on the expertise and resources of not only 817 Squadron, but many organisations based at HMAS Albatross responsible for keeping the Sea Kings airborne, and this support was to continue until HMAS Kanimbla returned home.
Upon arrival at Banda Aceh, HMAS Kanimbla's priority centred on establishing the 1st Combat engineering Regiment (1CER) ashore so that they could commence their vital task of restoring infrastructure in the tsunami-affected areas of the city. Delays in establishing a beach landing site for HMAS Kanimbla's embarked LCM8s meant that the Sea Kings played an intrinsic role in the initial establishment of the 1CER logistic and command presence. Once this tasking was completed the Sea King detachment changed focus to helping with the huge humanitarian stores distribution effort being undertaken by military helicopters from no less than eight nations.
The employment of the Sea King, and its ability to transport large internal loads over long distances, effectively doubled the Australian Defence Force area of distribution of humanitarian stores to a coastal distance of over 200 kilometres south of Banda Aceh. During initial aid distribution the Sea Kings supported Brunei military efforts based at the Island of Sebang to provide a daily service of 6000 pounds of water, rice and tents to isolated villages in the vicinity of Calang. The immensity of this natural disaster and the stretch on available resources quickly became apparent as the Sea Kings' sorties were conducted to hastily cleared landing pads situated on hillsides above the tsunamiaffected coastline. With coastal roads and townships destroyed, these isolated communities of survivors received their first relief supplies courtesy of the Sea Kings - almost three weeks after the wave hit.
As ADF operations transitioned in February 2005 from humanitarian aid to the reconstruction of Banda Aceh, so too did the employment of the Sea Kings shift towards providing logistic support to army personnel based ashore. encompassing provision of meals, ship-borne stores and medical support, the aircraft continued to operate at the highest operational tempo experienced by 817 Squadron in 18 months, culminating in the completion of operations in Aceh at the end of March 2005.
With the subsequent earthquake damage to the Indonesian island of Nias, and HMAS Kanimbla's tasking to support medical relief operations there, the Sea King once again played a critical role in supporting those affected by this second natural disaster. Although the tragic events of 02 April 2005 have focussed on the potentially dangerous nature and tasking undertaken by the Australian Defence Force - even in peacetime operations - the combined efforts of the Sea King crews, medical teams, Royal Australian Navy, Army and Royal Australian Air Force personnel over the four month period of SUMATRA ASSIST should not be forgotten as the wellbeing of the survivors of both these disasters is their legacy.
