Air force exercise in the forest
From the Autumn 2008 edition of Bush Telegraph Magazine.
Top: Volunteers in the ‘Communities in Forests’ programworking on the construction of the mountain bike trail formajor mountain bike riding events in the Wingello StateForest. Photo by Conservation Volunteers Australia
State forests along the North Coast played part in an air war last November, but most people would not have noticed.
And that is probably how the Department of Defence wanted it.
Wedding Bells State Forest west of Woolgoolga and Kiwarrak State Forest near Wauchope were conscripted to play host to communications posts during the East Coast Air Defence Exercise, ECADEX 07.
The exercise provided Air Force personnel with a chance to hone their air defence skills in a real life scenario, with the creation of ‘opposing forces’ as part of the exercise.
Conducted from RAAF Base Williamtown and RAAF Base Amberley, ECADEX featured a variety of aircraft, including F-111C strike and Learjet aircraft, as well as Hawk and F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft. A Boeing 707T tanker aircraft also took part, alongside the Navy’s HMAS Parramatta and a torpedo recovery vessel.
“It was also the tenth year that the Department of Defence and Forests NSW have collaborated on these biennial exercises,” said the manager of non-defence training areas in NSW, Major Mark Walton.
“This year we had communications installations at Nobbys Lookout in Wedding Bells State Forest and Breakneck Hill in Kiwarrak State Forest.”
Major Walton said Forests NSW provided venues for a range of defence activities, from recreation to sites for high end technical training and standard military training.
“The 41st Battalion Royal NSW Regiment frequently uses the State forests on the North Coast for exercises and training,” Major Walton said.
“We generally follow the bushwalking code: we take nothing but photographs and leave nothing but footprints, and some of the units don’t even leave footprints.”
Susannah Kable - Community Programs, Sydney
