Exercise LONGREACH (Virtual) began today at the Grand Pacific Hotel with an opening remark by Commander Joint Taskforce 637, Major-General Jake Ellwood, DSC, AM from the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The exercise included officers from the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF), ADF, and personnel from various government agencies in Fiji.
The exercise will help identify actions to be taken ahead of the 2020/2021 High-Risk Weather Season (HEWS) and also to prepare bilateral support between the Australian Defence Force and RFMF in response to a natural disaster or an emergency.
Speaking during the event, ADF Major Scott Dove of the Headquarters 1 Division stated that the exercise will allow the ADF and RFMF to work on improving their response to a natural disaster.
“During the next few days, we will be talking about the lessons that we have learned (previous natural disasters) and to better understand how we both operate, and also identify some problems that we had so that we can learn from it in the future.” Major Dove stated.
Furthermore, Major Dove also mentioned that the Vuvale partnership forged by Australia and Fiji especially during the deployment of the Bula force to Operation Bushfire Assist earlier this year.
The event will take place for two days and will allow all participants to take part in preparing various response strategies to international and national requests for assistance.
