Head down to the Rockhampton Showgrounds at 10am this Sunday to witness the Australian Army’s 11th Brigade take part in a high risk weather season training exercise.
Rockhampton Region Mayor Tony Williams said the exercise will be part of a community Demonstration Day designed to give a glimpse into the equipment and skills used to assist the community during a disaster.
“The Army’s 11th Brigade encompasses Army Reservists from across Queensland, who support whole of Government responses to fires, floods and other weather events,” said Mayor Williams.
“Here in Rockhampton, I know our community benefited immensely from the help of our local 11th Brigade Unit during the aftermath of Cyclone Marcia.
“There will be other community and Emergency Services personnel at the Demonstration Day, and it will be a great opportunity to see exactly what goes in to helping our community when we’re at our most vulnerable.
“The community event forms part of Exercise Rocky Ready which is a larger joint Defence and Emergency Services joint training exercise.
“This three day multi-agency exercise will help ensure that in an emergency event personnel have the processes, practice and support necessary to mobilise an effective and coordinated response during an emergency event.
“The practice scenario is around a Tropical Cyclone and flood event, which is precisely the kind of event we’re all too familiar with in this region.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for our region that allows the ADF and civilian teams to hone their skills, but it has also come in very timely manner with the severe wet weather predicted this disaster season.”
Commanding Officer of the 31st/42nd Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Dave Gandy said the Capability Demonstration Day provides an opportunity to showcase to the community what collective capabilities would be available from Defence and other state emergency service agency – including personnel, vehicles, equipment and response skills in response to a High Risk Weather Event in the region.
“Defence will have on display a range of military equipment including Bushmaster vehicles, AW139 helicopters, drones and engineer plant equipment in addition to a Defence Force Recruiting Stand,” said Lieutenant Colonel Gandy.
“I encourage the community to come along, meet Defence and other state emergency service personnel and find out more information about what we are doing to support the community in readiness for the high risk weather season.”
