TF Field Engineers Hone Skills in Exercise Masada

Territorial Force Field engineers from 3rd Auckland Northland Battalion Group, 5th Wellington West Coast and Taranaki Battalion Group (5 WWCT), and 2nd Canterbury Regiment honed their skills over a nine day annual field training exercise in the greater Auckland metropolitan area recently.

Pushing forward at Omega Bay, Ponui Island (WN-10-0001-100).

Support was provided by elements from 2 Land Force Group including 2 Engineer Regiment, and 2 Signals Squadron, while the Opposition Force was provided by 5 WWCT.

Exercise MASADA II was set in the notional South Pacific island of Victoria located to the North East of Australia. The scenario began in Sept 2006 where an insurgent group called the Victoria Liberation Army (VLA) began a campaign against the ruling government. In May 2009 the VLA began to target and attack police and government officials with small arms ambushes and primitive Improvised Explosive Devices (IED).

Following a request to the UN, an international assistance force was established, of which the composite engineer squadron was a part. Based out of Ardmore, the squadron began battle preparation for the first of two Troop-level round robins.

Engineer reconnaissance was tasked with providing information on infill and exfill sites on the Waikato River for boating operations to a suspected VLA Camp at Tuakau and a suspected VLA training camp vicinity Kaipara Air Weapons Range.

1 Troop moved to the Waikato River and carried out a waterborne operation into a VLA camp located on a farm adjacent to the Tuakau Bridge. A search of the area and of occupied buildings resulted in four VLA members being arrested for storing arms and having the material to construct IEDs.

In a parallel operation, 2 Troop moved to the Kaipara Air Weapons Range and prepared explosives for the demolition of military targets in the VLA Training Camp. This was carried out at dawn the following day resulting in the camp being unusable for future insurgent training activities.

There were many tired soldiers on hand at the debrief. The tasks had been challenging, including some real time activities, which allowed the skill levels to be assessed and to enable effective future training to be planned.

The integration with the Regular Force engineers within the Sections allowed for a good flow of knowledge for tasks. The exercise was aimed at a high level and tested the various levels of command and control functions.

Editor's note

Masada is an ancient palace and fortification on top of an isolated rock plateau on the eastern edge of Judean desert overlooking the Dead Sea. The Zealots constructed fortifications on Masada and used it as a base for harrassing the Romans. In the year 73 the Romans laid seige to Masada, unable to breach the wall, they constructed a rampart on the western side of the plateau. In the spring on the year 73 and after 2-3 months of siege they breached the wall of the fortress. Of the 960 inhabitants only five survived the rest setting fire to buildings and food stores and committing mass suicide.