Operated by No 6 Squadron, RAAF, this HARM-toting EA-18G is taxiing out
at last light for a night sortie from RAAF Base Darwin. GPCAPT McCormack
noted that Diamond Storm still has some way to go in providing suitable
training on the ground for Growler aircrew. This suggests a requirement
for more advanced surface-to-air missile and other ground-based threats,
whether live or simulated.Exercise
Report Diamond Storm 2019
those sorts of things. We’ve got
about 300 extra personnel on the
base at the moment, so well within
our capacities to support that and
the 33 aircraft on the base. What
we do here day-to-day is support
75 Squadron, so we surge when
supporting 77 Squadron. For me,
it’s about doing our job safely, for
example refuelling – there’s more
tempo, more people, more trucks.
We surge our messes too, and one
of the other things to note is we’re
not just servicing Tindal as we’ve
also got people out at Delamere,
Pine Creek and Bradshaw.
“From a military perspective
alone, we’ve done 25,000 meals
in the last four weeks supporting
this exercise. We’ve delivered
over 2.5 million litres of fuel.
Those are the things we look at
and it’s good to get the team
planning for an exercise like this.Doing what we do here is what
we do overseas on deployment- it’s real-world training.”
No 75 Squadron commanding
officer WGCDR Pete Robinson
provided his insight on Diamond
Storm: “The joy of the Territory at
this time of year is the weather,
but at all times of the year we’ve
got this amazing airspace that
that allows us to fly our aircraft
to their limits, in a large area.
We have also got some great
weapons ranges out there, so
we can roll into air-to-ground
training against a number of
different targets. We have also
got simulated surface-to-air
missile systems on the ground.
“Bringing everything together
with the aircraft we have in
Darwin, the F-15s, 2 OCU, and
with 77 Squadron coming up
here to join 75 Squadron, it’s
a pretty amazing exercise for
us. It’s something different for
75 Squadron as usually we’re
up here, just ourselves, and we
have to generate all our own
internal training. When we have
all the additional assets up here,
we have some amazing things
that our aircrew get to deal
with. The size of the exercise
also challenges our logistics,
maintenance and administration
personnel, as they get to see the
base operating to its full extent.”
Visiting Tindal for the exercise
was No 77 Squadron, led by
WGCDR Jason ‘Easty’ Easthope:
“We’ve brought 12 aeroplanes
from our home base down in
Williamtown, and we’ve also
loaned a couple of our aeroplanes
to the squadron up in Darwin
as part of this. We have about
150 people here up in the Top
End in support of the exercise.
It’s quite a big detachment for
us, but an easy one because
we are familiar here – they know
Hornets, the base is set up for
it, they know how we work and
what we need, and we’ve worked
together a lot over the years.
“No 77 Squadron has been
on the go since we started with
Red Flag over at Nellis Air Force
Base in the US. We dropped
some aeroplanes off to Canada
[as part of the sale of ex-RAAF
F/A-18s to the Royal Canadian
Air Force], then came back here
and into the AWIC, so we’ve been
on the go for about five months
now. We’ve had a lot of planning
over the last six months for what
has been a busy year for us.
“During this exercise we are
quite willing to be flexible –
one day I could be flying a 77
Squadron ‘tail’ on a mission with
77 Squadron pilots and the next
day I’ll be in one of the ‘Magpie’
[No 75 Squadron] jets with one of
the ‘Magpie’ wingmen, operating
out of their facilities. So we just
swap from one day to the next.”No 2 OCU
For No 2 OCU at Darwin,
Diamond Storm gave its AWIC
students the chance to fly basic
strike mission training before
working up to larger formations
of aircraft. Mission profiles saw
students working alongside
other squadrons to maximise
real-time information flow and
challenge the students. The
OCU students operated over the
Delamere Air Weapons Range
and Bradshaw Field TrainingArea near RAAF Base Tindal.
Operating with foreign forces
is not something No 2 OCU
does every week and Diamond
Storm was an opportunity for
students to integrate with USAF
assets including F-15s and
B-52Hs. This was the last AWIC
for No 2 OCU’s ‘classic’ F/A-
18A/Bs as the unit will convert
to the F-35A early next year.Eye of the storm
Diamond Storm ended with an
overview from GPCAPT Matthew
McCormack, the exercise director,
responsible for around 2,000
personnel. Planning for the
exercise took around 12 months.
GPCAPT McCormack said:
“The exercise pushes personnel
to their absolute limits. The
challenges faced are well
known and dealt with. Skillsets
are used to manage problems
within a training environment
and feed into future tactics and
operations. Students need to be
agile, adapting and exploiting
situations using the capabilities
and knowledge of their own and
other weapons. The exercise is
above what could be expected
in a real warzone. The scenarios
are not set up to win – it’s OK if
candidates fail and come away
learning to improve their skills.”
GPCAPT McCormack concluded:
“The RAAF is grateful to have the
opportunity to undertake this most
complex and difficult exercise
every two years. Everyone is
operating under intense pressure
and is able to work together.
Professional individuals across
the exercise are able to overcome
problems and learn new skills”.Exercise director, GPCAPT Matthew
McCormack. Phil BuckleyAFM58 // September 2019 #378 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com54-58 ExRepDiamondStorm AFM Sep2019.indd 58 8/5/2019 10:36:32 AM