MUJA 2009
Muja 2009
In 2009 the designated MOUT training was conducted at the Verve Energy Power Station at Muja. The Muja Power Station, is one of Verve Energy's biggest power stations, is situated 225 kilometres south east of Perth and 22 kilometres east of Collie. The coal-fired power station is capable of producing 854 megawatt (MW) of electricity or enough energy to power about 300,000 homes.
Fortunately for the battalion two of the four turbines are currently being stood down which effectively made half of the Power Station free to conduct an activity in. Liaison with Verve Energy started lasted year, in which the facility was going to be used, however the gas explosion in the NW resulted in the whole power station being reactivated and therefore it became unavailable.
However in 2009 Verve was contacted again and Mr Hans Dophiede, the Muja Power Station Manager was willing to let us visit. The initial liaison work was done by WO2 Bosworth and then finished off by WO2 Boon and Sgt Beitz. A large effort was made by the members of the Battalion for all personnel to become compliant with the safety requirements of site. This required a viewing of a video and written test.
The Battalion consolidated on the Friday Night on the site, including a platoon of Officer Cadets from WAUR. The Saturday morning included bullring training on moving in an urban environment, breaching and stairway drills, shooting techniques and manoeuvring as a platoon. Concurrently the PLCOMD received orders and started to conduct their appreciations for the task the following morning. It was a particularly steep learning curve for the young OCdt Smythe the PLCOMD from WAUR. Nonetheless she put in an excellent effort.
Once the training was concluded the Platoons moved back to their firm base in order to receive orders and conduct final battle preparation.
From the umpires perspective the attack started decisively with a lot of aggression. There was a false start when Cpl Hunter in the enemy shot the Medical Team up twice!! Not satisfied with that he spent the rest of the night looking for a Padre to slot . just so his war crimes trial had the full house.
Some valuable lessons can be learned from the assault by the Blue Force.
" Do not move across open ground with no covering fire . umpires kill you.
" When conducting a feint or diversion ensure that it is concert with the rest of the Company. Not to your own random timeline, whilst it does confuse the umpires it may not confuse the enemy. Well done Cpl Van Andel.
" Always arrange to go forward before you fire the 40mm to clear en position, not afterwards. The enemy may return.
" Don't stand in the cones of death - Stairs and doors. You die.
" If two of your comrades are lying dead on the stairs, because they stood in the cone of death, don't stand looking at them. This is a killing ground; chances are you are going to get zapped next.
" If you kill the enemy do not turn around to brag to your mates, there may be more than one enemy.
" If your partner gets killed tell someone.
" If your Platoon is getting wiped out, tell the COY COMD so he can push through the reserve. Do not rely on the umpires to take mercy and bring them back to life. Well done Lt D'Sylva
" Don't go around a corner by yourself just to see what's there. That's why we work in pairs and bricks. If you have a stoppage you may not die.
" Try not to get assigned to LCpl Scott's brick they tend to die around him.
" Try not to shoot your mates, in particular during the battlefield clearance . tough luck Pte Haisma.
" Done properly battlefield clearance can not be rushed and security must be maintained.
" Current issue webbing for MOUT is rubbish.
This sort of activity allows all commanders to learn something. This can be the only opportunity for CHQ and PHQ to work with each other. The opportunities for PLSGTs to work with the CSM and Coy 2IC come rarely and should be grabbed at every opportunity.
The skills and experienced gained on weekends such as these, need to be passed on to the incoming junior soldiers and retained for the future. Overall the junior leaders did a good job; the biggest short coming was the effective passing back of information to higher command. The passage of information is how we win battles. Without this the senior commanders are blind and can not fight effectively. The junior leaders became so focused on the task in front of them they failed to pass information behind them. If this had been for real a whole Platoon would have been slaughtered with no real information passed back to CHQ.
This is also paramount in the taskings of Platoons, Sections and Bricks. Effective control measures have to be implemented and sitreps have to made up the chain. It was obvious that this was not happening.
Nonetheless this was an excellent weekends training. It was well attended and the men attacked it with enthusiasm. The WAUR OCdts were rapt with the opportunity to work with an infantry company and see the men they may perhaps one day have the privilege to command. Despite the lack of sleep all the men were smiling and it didn't rain that much.
Big thanks to Verve Energy who were outstanding in their support of the Australian Army.
Bring on MOUT 2010!!