Publication:The Fearless Times Issue 3 2009/Captain's Corner
Dear Families, Friends and Supporters of Toowoomba,
Welcome to the third and final 156 deployment newsletter. Again, the Editor and Publisher have done another remarkable job in putting together a bumper edition which contains a colourful insight into some of the highlights and activities that have kept us busy during this, the final phase of our deployment. Thanks to Chaplain Steve Gunther and the Ship's Warrant Officer, Dave Devlin for all their hard work behind the scenes to produce such a quality product - your efforts are very much appreciated by us all onboard and of course, by our wide and growing readership ashore!
Toowoomba has travelled a great distance and achieved much in the two and half months since the last edition was published. At the beginning of September we departed the Arabian Gulf and sailed South through the Arabian Sea along the coast of Oman and Yemen before moving to the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden where we began Counter-Piracy patrols in the International Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC). In mid-September the ship visited Djibouti, a small impoverished African country which lies between Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. Our main task at this time was to promote the safety and security of the vast merchant shipping that passes through the . The presence of Toowoomba, the surveillance sorties conducted by our helicopter and the on-call response capability of our Boarding Teams provided a strong and welcome deterrence in this troubled region. Most of you will already know about the response we provided to the Merchant Vessel BBC Portugal on 20 Sep 09. This was just one example of the important contribution Toowoomba made during our time in the Gulf of Aden.
In October we passed through the Red Sea and conducted a visit to Aqaba, Jordan, a deployment highlight for nearly all and a career highlight for some. Afterwards, we established ourselves back in the for a final Counter-Piracy patrol before we returned to the Arabian Sea and the Arabian Gulf for Counter-Terrorism tasking. At the end of October, the ship visited Abu Dhabi for the weekend of the final Formula One Grand Prix of the season. Afterwards, we returned to the Northern Arabian Sea where we found ourselves escorting the American aircraft carrier USS Nimitz whilst she provided aircraft support to troops on the ground in Afghanistan.
It has been a very busy, challenging, highly interesting and professionally rewarding deployment for everybody. Some exceptional achievements were recognised at the end of our time in the Gulf by Commander Joint Task Force 633, Major General Mark Kelly AO, who presented personal Bronze and Silver Commendations. Notwithstanding these outstanding awards which feature later in the newsletter, the individual and collective efforts and contribution of all my Officers and Sailors has been truly outstanding. Evidence of this, are the messages of high praise and appreciation sent by the Commanders of Task Force(s) 150, 151 and 50, and Commander of the US Fifth Fleet. The success of Toowoomba and her Ship's Company could not have been possible without the ongoing love and support we have all enjoyed from our families and friends throughout our time away. On behalf of my Team, I thank you all for your wonderful support and for the many sacrifices you have made during our absence.
I also take this opportunity to congratulate ABET Chris Hebbard and his wife Rachel who have just become the proud parents of a baby girl. Molly is Toowoomba's Forth deployment baby this year!
Some of you may have already enjoyed a wonderful reunion with your partners and family members, given that a small group of our personnel returned back to Australia as Advanced Leave Party last week. For the majority of us who remain, we are due to visit Mumbai, India and Singapore before our arrival at Fleet Base West. In the three weeks that remain, we look forward with great excitement and anticipation to our own reunion with those that can join us down at Garden Island on the morning of Monday 7th of December. Until then, take care and thank you.
yours aye
Ivan Ingham
