5 July 2024
Trainees unleashed carnage and obliterated targets as they got their first taste of combined-arms combat during the Royal Australian Armoured Corps (RAAC) regimental officer basic course in Puckapunyal.
As the ground trembled and 120mm rounds from M1A1 Abrams tanks annihilated everything in their path, 25mm chain-gun shots from Australian light armoured vehicles and mechanised infantry small arms fire were relentless.
They bound in formations, firing alongside one another, fighting through engineered obstacles and explosions.
This final attack marked the conclusion of their training during the culminating five-day Exercise Gauntlet Strike, where junior RAAC officers put into practice what they learned during the six-month course.
Trainees mastered vehicle tactics and leadership during night live-fires, raids and reconnaissance tasks, to prepare them for command of a tank or cavalry troop.
Instructor Captain Julian Brunero said the exercise was the first opportunity lieutenants had to operate in the armoured environment, broadening their understanding of combined arms and manoeuvring in an unfamiliar area.
“We focus on teaching them their role in combined arms and enable them to see how we synchronise effects in an armoured combat team,” he said.
The course starts with three months of technical training on a tank or cavalry vehicle, including comms instruction, driving, servicing and gunnery.
This is followed by 11 weeks of tactics training where they learn to command their vehicle, then a troop, by day and night.
The training includes live-fire, offensive and defensive operations along with reconnaissance.
“We focus on teaching them their role in combined arms and enable them to see how we synchronise effects in an armoured combat team."
“When conducting complex mounted operations, you need the cover of darkness, low visibility, so you can move through a gap in the enemy's defensive plan,” Captain Brunero said.
This year’s course involved more live-fire than the previous ones.
The first thing a troop commander must do in a contact is control their own vehicle, according to trainee Lieutenant Grace Neuhaus.
“Making sure you’re free to engage, give the gunner a fire control order and give the driver direction,” she said.
Depending on the tactical scenario, she might get the driver to halt or take the next round and once the gun is on target they engage.
“You're waiting until the rounds fall on target, while directing your driver at the same time,” Lieutenant Neuhaus said.
Once on target, they inform higher to allow other call signs to advance and join the fight.
But conducting a delaying action, to slow the enemy’s advance and facilitate a withdrawal, is more complex.
If they are in a position with clear observation, they wait for targets to appear.
Once engaged, the withdrawal is triggered, and everyone drives to the next position, staggering as they break contact.
“It's usually when we come against something we can't handle and we try to get ourselves out of that,” Lieutenant Neuhaus said.
She said the best part of Exercise Gauntlet Strike was seeing live artillery rounds dropping coordinated with vehicle movements.
The course qualified six tank officers and 11 cavalry officers and is run once a year at the School of Armour, in Puckapunyal.
