Operation Flashpoint - Sunny Fiji - Part 5

In late 2006, a foreign power set in motion a chain of events that would have culminated in the invasion of Fiji. Codenamed Operation Flashpoint, the ADF deployed its sea-borne and air assets to positions inside Fiji waters within striking distance of the capital Suva. Additionally, elite Special Forces infiltrated the country with communications equipment and weapons.

 

How close did we come to being invaded? Who among us who encouraged this act of aggression against their own country?

 

This is a fictional account of what may have happened in the days leading up to one of the most dramatic chapters in our history.

 

 

The flight was uneventful, a couple of coke and rums and some extra peanuts. The flight wasn't full as the tensions in Fiji were being reported widely in Australia and the Government had come out with a negative travel advisory, which put the tourists off.

 

We knew that the travel advisory was part of the political pressure that was being applied on the Commander to back off. As soldiers we tried not to take sides and just did our job. But we had a number of friends and a great deal of respect for the boys in the FMF Barracks.

 

In our check-in luggage was a 3 x2 foot silver box that is used to transport equipment sensitive to exposure to light used by the film industry. It had been packed in a day earlier at Garden Island off Sydney at one of our supply facilities and contained all the inventory that we needed for out trip.

 

Customs was a breeze. Our cover story was that we were part of a "Defence Supplementation Staff' to provide security at the Australian Embassy on the outskirts of Suva. We were met on the tarmac by a Customs bloke along with the Australian Defence attaché.

 

The Customs bloke started a conversation about the Wallabies. Fijians love their rugby and it is a great way to strike up a conversation and a rapport with them.

 

"Hows the Wallbies going aye? Can you beat the All Blacks without Larkham"

 

"Big loss Larkham", Rod chipped in. " But we'll get the job done"

 

I couldn't tell him that I was a Broncos fan and thought rugby was boring, no, that would have been counter-productive.

 

The plan was for us to train and work with the Fiji Police Tactical Response Team, a newly established Rapid Reaction Force that had been established under Australian Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes, after the Fijian Govt approached the suits in Canberra. Fijian Police has traditionally not had a specialised CT or Hostage Rescue Unit, the closest being a riot squad which was more suited to crowd control and property protection…..To be cont..

God, Help this Child

Why?

Why , Oh Lord to one so young?

Why?


The plight of Josaia Temo was first posted on LF on August 5 2008. The he could see and his face was visible. Read here

Today Josaia is blind.

Only his mouth is uncovered . His entire head is bandaged and he is on morphine for pain control.

Yet, Temo managed to celebrate his birthday in the Nanuku Settlement in Vatuwaqa.

Life can be cruel.

For Temo it has been unmitigated pain.

No amount of appreciation can be enough for the people who have cared for Temo ever since his aprents abondoned him. God Bless you kind souls.

If you wish to help, you can make at donation to Save the Children Fund, the cancer society and Project Heaven. These three NGOs jointly care for Temo.

Donations in cash or kind can still be made to these NGOs or to the following bank accounts: Fiji Cancer Society, Westpac Account No. 980002682 or ANZ Account No. 5047761. Deposit slips should be made out to Josaia Temo.

Watch, O Lord, with those who wake, or watch, or weep tonight, and give your angels charge over those who sleep.

Tend your sick ones, O Lord.

Rest your weary ones.

Bless your dying ones.

Soothe your suffering ones.

Pity your afflicted ones.

Shield your joyous ones.

And for all your love's sake.

WE ARE SORRY FOR YOUR SUFFERING JOSAIA.

INDEPENDENT,BALANCED,IMPARTIAL.

Operation Flashpoint - "Diplomatic Cover" - Part IV

In late 2006, a foreign power set in motion a chain of events that would have culminated in the invasion of Fiji. Codenamed Operation Flashpoint, the ADF deployed its sea-borne and air assets to positions inside Fiji waters within striking distance of the capital Suva. Additionally, elite Special Forces infiltrated the country with communications equipment and weapons.

 

How close did we come to being invaded? Who among us who encouraged this act of aggression against their own country?

 

This is a fictional account of what may have happened in the days leading up to one of the most dramatic chapters in our history.

 

 

One of my highlights of my last visit to the island was to have a shot taken with the guard in front of what is now the Presidents residential complex in Nasese. The soldier looking splendid in his red tunic and white sulu, a Fijian traditional dress that the boys referred to as the man-dress and not all that different from a Scottish kilt except with grooves cut around the bottom, stood motionless in 34C Suva heat.

 

Why anyone would sign up for that is beyond me. But there he was without blinking an eyelid as we lined up for our shots.

 

Actually we were more interested in the colonial design building built by the British behind him. The Presidents House overlooked the Pacific Ocean and gave a great vantage point South of Suva towards Kadavu, the island around which the Navy would be holding its exercises when the Kanimbla tragedy would occur.

 

A walk from the Presidents House was the Police Barracks which housed the Police personnel and also was home to the Police armoury. The holiday snaps with the guard was a great cover and has been used by the guys for quite some time.

 

But you get the picture. A large part of SAS tradition is being prepared, and we were.

 

It was decided that an advance scout party would proceed to Fiji on a commercial airliner, landing in Nadi and proceed to Suva by land. We would need a fair bit of equipment including our laser markers or SOFLAMS to designate landing positions to the boats off-shore and aircraft, secure GPS markers to update the spot maps from our earlier "visits" and communication equipment with encryption ability and other bits and pieces .

 

It was decided that the equipment would be shipped under diplomatic cover. To facilitate this, the High Commission was asked to "place" a newspaper story on how Australian Embassy was upgrading its Visa Processing Facilities with new state of the art equipment. Our military liaison officer would also pull some strings at the airport to "expedite the process."

 

By the time we finished, it was dinner time. It had taken us 8 hours and numerous kettles of brew. Planning is everything. We went over the "What –ifs" in detail, we discussed what we would do if we were separated and marked out rendezvous points , examined detailed photos of sensitive locations and looked for ways in and out, all the things that go into making sure the shit didn't hit the fan and if it did, it wasn't us with the stink.

 

Once that was done, I as the Team Leader walked across the loose gravel that separated the mess form the SM's shed , to file the OP. If he agreed and signed off, we would be on a plane in 2 days. It was called Operation Flashpoint…To be cont…

Power of One

INDEPENDENT,BALANCED,IMPARTIAL.

Operation Flashpoint - Parliament House - Part 3

In late 2006, a foreign power set in motion a chain of events that would have culminated in the invasion of Fiji. Codenamed Operation Flashpoint, the ADF deployed its sea-borne and air assets to positions inside Fiji waters within striking distance of the capital Suva. Additionally, elite Special Forces infiltrated the country with communications equipment and weapons.

 

How close did we come to being invaded? Who among us who encouraged this act of aggression against their own country?

 

This is a fictional account of what may have happened in the days leading up to one of the most dramatic chapters in our history.

 

 

To the participant, this file is used to record emergency contacts, previous training details, specialisations and course progress records.

 

Each candidate is also asked to do a paper on a political or military issue. Although candidates are told the topic may be of their choice, it is up to the instructors to guide them into doing a paper on a topic of relevance to ADF interest, all done with very gentle persuasion though.

 

Many don't even realise they've become part of an intelligence collection exercise.

 

 The CF provides excellent information on the persons mindset, political inclinations, attitudes to ADF and local allegiances, information which would prove useful if you were planning a military operation.

 

 Unknown to the participants these files are made available to Australian forces in time of "need" and before us on the desk were 3 such files. We read and digested the information.

 

As part of military planning, it is vital to know who your friends are and who you may be up against.

 

The Fijian military has a reputation as a fierce fighting force. The treatment that the mutineers received is evidence of this. You mess with them and they will come at you hard and loaded. Their officers are highly trained and very able. These guys are the real deal.

 

To fight them on their soil would be a tough assignment, we knew this. But to be prepared is half the fight so we had to do our planning and be prepared for the unexpected. A large part of this was to invite their officers to defence courses and training exercises. This way we could understand their way of thinking and develop a rapport with the people we could possible be matched against.

 

In return, our boys toured Fiji every so often to participate in joint training exercises, mainly jungle warfare courses. There was no one better to teach us jungle warfare, then the Fijian boys. But it wasn't all friendly exercises. While the Fijians were not looking, we would duck out with our GPS's and our cameras for some tourist shots in front of some of their "landmarks" such as the Parliament building, the airports, the ports, Telecommunication facilities and Police barracks.

 

I remember one of the FMF boys asking us why we wanted to take photos of the Parliament house.

 

" Theres nothing there bro" he said. "Only a building, lets go some place better aye", as he laughed.

 

 I laughed with him. But we knew that the Parliament House would be the focal point of any major unrest as had been in the past. It was vital we saw it first hand and took some "holiday snaps" of entry and exit points, layouts, the type of material used in construction in case we had to force entry, possible LUP's and so on.  To be cont….