ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE BASE TINDAL, Australia -- Service members with Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 242, the “Bats,” with augments from Marine Wing Support Squadron 171 and Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 12, arrived aboard Royal Australian Air Force Base Tindal, Australia, June 5, to take part in Exercise Southern Frontier 2014.
Southern Frontier is an annual bilateral training exercise between the Royal Australian Air Force and the United States Marine Corps with a primary focus on offensive air support.
Upon arrival, Marines and sailors talked eagerly about the upcoming exercise and the relations they hope to strengthen with the RAAF as they made way to the accommodation camps they will call home for the exercise.
“I’ve had the privilege of working with the U.S. Marines in the past,” said Wing Commander Mark Larter, the senior Australian defense officer for RAAF Base Tindal. “From past experiences, I have learned that the Marines who come to Tindal are professionals in every aspect of the word; they are proficient at their jobs and courteous to base residents.”
During exercises like Southern Frontier, members of the RAAF get to learn customs and courtesies while working alongside members of different coalition forces Larter.
“The Bats may have just landed here in Australia, but our presence is already felt,” said Lt. Col. Shawn Basco, commanding officer of VMFA(AW)-242. “We have big things planned for the exercise right out of the gate, and I know the Marines under my command are more than up to the challenge.”
Basco added that with a surge week kicking off SF14 the Bats are slated to drop more ordnance in the first week compared to previous instalments of the exercise.
“We are going to be busy during the exercise,” said Basco. “My Marines will be working from dusk to dawn, making sure the F/A-18s are properly working, fueled and loaded with ordnance at any given time, we are the nations force in readiness after all.”
With SF14 underway Basco said he looks forward to training with his Australian counterparts and to see the level of greatness his Marines will achieve.