Jason Rogalewski-Slade - East Timor

Providing armoured support for Timor

My initial role prior to Rwanda was war fighting. We thought we were going to do one thing. We didn't. We did some minor form of, armoured vehicles are essentially protection for the contingent in Rwanda, from that and because it was such a unique deployment, we were sort of brought into the mix of, "Right, if this thing ever happened again, what would we do?" and learned a lot of lessons from that and it was the first armoured UN deployment ever by Rwanda small troop, so the sort of lessons learned about how do we integrate Australian armour into an operation like that with the basis of potentially future operations and then jump, fast forward to 1999 when East Timor was to be supported by Australians to establish itself as a new nation or a country, we then went in as the first push into East Timor.

So again, we were under the expectation, the potential, because we were deemed as INTERFET not UN, it became UN after the fact of INTERFET, which is what I was part of, virtually came in, stormed the beaches, like Normandy, landed and then moved out to the borders, and then internally the country started to build itself with the help of the military and then, finally, the UN with other nations coming in and supporting.

A rapid deployment to Timor

It was a sort of a rapid thing that occurred. Obviously they apply for independence to Indonesia. It given the country well East Timorese independence and they decided the date when they were going to leave from that date rapidly our military got stood up to head over. We got the word to initially send what was supposed to be the full squadron.

A Squadron is, you know, up to 56 vehicles. Initially we sent two in the quick reaction force, so they were on 24 hours" notice. They flew in with a company of infantry to secure the airstrip, the airport at Dili. Then we got a notice to send a troop. So we sent a troop a week later and then we got a signal saying and, ironically, I answered the phone at Squadron and they said, "What are you doing there?", you know, "What do you mean? We've sent a troop over." and he said, "No, the whole squadron was supposed to go, you've got to week to go."

So I told the OC, "We're all going". And off we went and packed up and quickly moved to Darwin and, and then boarded the ship, the boat that was the cat, the one that we sort of hired and painted grey, the Jervis Bay and put vehicles on that and the rest of them put on ships and went straight over, 10 hours later we landed in Dili …

No idea about the history of it. Um, we quickly learned about the historic from 1975 to everything from the Australians that were killed in Balibo through to the independence and how it all came about and Indonesia was controlling it, and fast forward to a week's notice and you're going.

The ferry trip to Timor

It was great, to be honest. We went on a ten-hour trip overnight. It was literally a civilian catamaran, which they used to use. The ferry crossing in Tasmania, painted grey, still had the seats, the televisions, then it had a bar, didn't have any alcohol in it, but had a bar, and it was as if we were doing a ferry crossing but in this nice comfortable thing with the armoured vehicles underneath where normally the cars and things would go.

So yeah, we just loaded our armoured vehicles in there and whatever we could put in there and just went straight across and it was ferrying back and forth constantly.

Landing in Dili

It was quite sort of surreal as we got there, places were on fire, infrastructure was damaged, the TNI did a lot of work to say, "Well, this was our country, now that we don't need any more". There was a lot of damage done, powerlines etc. You had the militia fighting who were probably supportive of the TNI or the Indonesian military. So they were still an element at large.

But in short once we landed, yeah, everything was ablaze. Fire. Dili itself, started to be secured by that company and other armoured vehicles that were there and we virtually pushed straight out to the border. So down near Balibo we were initially posted there and then we moved out to our own separate area of operations down in Marko and we used to open and close a what we call Junction Point Bravo … I mean there was still things on fire still, you know, it was a place of disarray.

However, we had to get out to, imagine, well I won't say imagine the border, it's a very short creek line as far as you to me away, was a line drawn in the sand as far as this is now East Timor and that's West Timor which is, West Timor was Indonesian. So yeah, we, it was quite surreal. Ironic too the TNI were driving out, or elements of them were, when our guys had already landed as well. So following them out to the border and off they went back to the West Timor and that creek line was the difference between two countries.

Monitoring the militia

We'd do everything from go and check on the schools to patrol down to the border. Halfway through my time there I was to be the headquarters. So we centralized in a place called Marko in an old police station. So we slept and worked out of the police station which was abandoned and we'd stay there and then centralized all our patrolling from there and coordinate it.

Halfway through the six-month deployment, I went and was the acting troop sergeant for our reconnaissance cell, which was about seven armoured vehicles. And then we positioned, I moved down to the actual junction Point Bravo, which we opened and closed each day with the Indonesian military across the creek, which was about knee high, and we'd go down daily and then walk in the middle of the creek.

I'd shake hands and we'd say, "Right, how many coming through today?" And they'd say, "1100 with cattle, small trucks, children, the lot". And then we'd have our armoured vehicles at the creek line. They'd come through and we'd sort of vet and keep an eye on who they are. So just so that the militia weren't melting in with the civilian population, we did see some come through and we stopped them, funnily enough, black T-shirts and carried machetes and that, no arms.

But we would sort of make a point to isolate them because we could tell, they would shake hands with the Indonesian military on one side of the creek and everyone stayed away from them. So we knew straight away that we would sort of, you know, pay more attention to them and search them and just say, "Look, you can come back, but you can't do what you were going to do or what you think you're going to do" because we had patrols everywhere throughout East Timor …

Upon returning, now they would constantly come across and do mini raids and still be a bit of annoyance. But because we saturated with such a massive battle group, at the end it was very hard for them to move around to do any actions because we did have patrols in towns and villages and constantly moving around, which interfered with what they wanted to do potentially on behalf of certain other organizations that we sort of, you know, put a stop and curtailed what they thought they could do.

The armoured role in Timor

Pretty much locked into the same, so secure the border, secure as much of East Timor, it's quite large but and that's why my OCD decided to have a separate AO, area of operations. Normally we do work intrinsically with the infantry in support of each other. This time we didn't. He wanted to have his own area of operations and it was quite hard because not only do we maintain armoured vehicles, which is a constant thing we have to do, but also we do the patrol as well.

So it's quite taxing on my drivers to be doing the work in armoured vehicles all day and night and then also patrol, dismount and do vehicle checkpoints as infantry in support of that. So it was quite taxing in that realm in regards to working on our own independently from the infantry … armoured personnel carriers, a driver and a crew commander, and we had seven vehicles that we'd split up in four or three and then go off and do tasks and border checkpoints and border patrol.

The terrain in East Timor

It could be 30 or 40, 50 kilometres sort of, you know, move to an area to do something. It's quite mountainous and hilly terrain. So we, you know, even though it's not a long distance it would be, you know, you've got to go through massive flowing river and either float through it or try to work 200 metres up the, float to get the exit and find the exit to get to the next town or to go up the hills, etc.

I remember one time we had to take the recovery vehicle up because one, two of our armoured vehicles rolled off a cliff and I'm talking very steep cliffs. So, luckily they survived, but how they did I don't know because they rolled end over end and the crew survived. But yeah, that was interesting.

Reintegrating the East Timorese back to their homes

Evacuated, abandoned, initially a lot of people, I don't know, moved to or went to West Timor and then they obviously wanted to come home because we were telling them, "We've got a border protection now. So your country, new country is safe. Come back to your homes, your villages. We'll help police and patrol and secure the place for you".

So we wanted to reintegrate the East Timorese back to their place, those that wanted to come back and certainly, as I said, you know, we'd get 1100 maybe through a day, to come through and there'd be two or three times we'd open that border checkpoint during the day … and especially with, you know, you've got four, you know, between 14 people opening that border and letting those up, you know, and there was cattle, there was small trucks, kids, you know, you just open it up so they could come home … some of them had been through some pretty traumatic incidences prior to us obviously securing East Timor.

So, yeah, there's that factor in potentially being a bit nervous obviously because, you know, we're Australian soldiers in East Timor which, they're used to the Indonesians controlling it. So they were a bit apprehensive and that. But we certainly operate in a different way and wanted to secure their home and try and assist them. Our engineers started to come in and assist in road building, bridge building, to help them, so, to try and establish sort of normalcy in the country.

Good relations with the Indonesians at the East Timor border

The Indonesian officers and the Indonesian soldiers were pretty good. They stayed on their border with all their little Indonesian flags flying and we sat on our side of the border as well. You know, we had Australian flags and stuff, even though we were respectful of the East Timor country.

So we would literally go down into the water, shake hands and then he'd tell me in English, how many's coming through and we shake and walk back to our side of the creek and bring them through. So as far as that integration, that was about it really, because that was their country and we were in the new country.

The risk of playing the board game Risk

We were border side virtually day night just doing the job. Funnily enough we, I don't know if you know, but it's called Risk, it's a board game where you dominate and you throw all the dice and things. And I remember I had to ban the soldiers from having guns at the Risk table because people got heated when they got attacked by I a set of dice, so weapons were banned whilst playing Risk.

It's a good board game where you can just play it, go away for a day and come back and continue playing it. So yeah, that was something to sort of, you know, relieve the time that was a bit of fun and excitement sort of stuff. But that's about it really, to be honest. Other than that, we were just doing the job … there's no gyms. There was no, you know, you might get a swim in the creek if you've got time, that's about it.

Christmas in East Timor

So Christmas, because we were over Christmas period when we were there. We had the traditional Christmas put on by the BHQ but that was up in Balibo, so near where the four Australian journalists were murdered in Balibo House. We established a headquarters in the fort there, at Balibo Fort or the battalion did, the Second Battalion. So they put on, they had the cooks and a kitchen, so they put on a Christmas feed.

We sort of rotated patrols up there and had a Christmas feed. Mind you, my hair was out here because we hadn't had a haircut in five months. So we, yeah, went up had a Christmas feed and then went back out, back down to Marko and had our little area and stayed in for the rest of the time until we went back.

Ham and ice cream, breakfast, lunch and dinner

So sort of a funny note, it was around Christmas time, they sent us a soccer ball ham, like a large ham, which is wonderful, but we don't have fridges. So in addition to that, we got, someone thought it'd be good idea to give us 20 litres of ice cream. So we're in East Timor. Humidity is close to 90%, it's boiling hot and we've got no fridges.

So for like the next three days, breakfast, lunch and dinner was ham and ice cream, I made them eat it or throw it out, 20 litres of ice cream. So that was sort of a funny thing that, you know, who sends a soccer ball of ham and we've got no fridge or anything? So we had it breakfast, lunch and dinner. But yeah, there's funny little things like that and, but yeah, it was just a, you know, another deployment really.

Meeting Kylie, Doc and the PM in Timor

I remember, you know, we had a show for show on. So the touring group, one of my captains, Brad Kilpatrick, colonel now, but he used to be an actor in the TV series Brains prior to joining the military, joined as an officer. He's best friends with Kylie so he actually got hold of her parents via his parents. She wasn't coming out to East Timor and through the parents she said, "I'll come because he's there".

So she came over. We got to meet her, we got heaps of photos with the squadron guys, because of the lineage between her and Brad Kilpatrick and, yeah, that was great, you know, she's singing Santa Baby on a trailer with a guy with a bass and a drum, and that was just around Christmas time.

So that was really good. Dr. Neeson was there from the Angels. He sang as well. I think the East Timorese, in translation "Are you ever going to see your face again?" You know what comes out after those words? We understood it and we loved it. The East Timorese didn't understand, lost in translation. Another time that I remember, the Prime Minister came to visit, so John Howard, we had to get him up on an armoured vehicle and he had hurt his hip or something just prior to coming over.

And I still remember this, we had to build boxes up behind the armoured vehicle to bring him up. So in front of the media and the whole town, we gathered all the locals around, who could barely speak English. We got him out. They had a microphone very similar to this on the armoured vehicle.

I'm standing next to him, my driver's standing next to him. And he said to me, he said, "Oh, so when? When should I start talking?" And I said, "Well, you're the Prime Minister, Sir, you can talk whenever you want to talk" but, yeah, it was great meeting him as well.

An historic connection with World War Two

A lot of memories, too. From broken Translation, in talking to people and some of the people could speak English through their grandparents who were there and would talk to them. They would talk about the Japanese when they invaded the country and how they used to help the Australian commandos in World War Two that were situated in East Timor during World War Two.

My wife's grandfather flew a Beaufighter from Darwin and used to attack the same beach that I patrolled on Aidabeleten in World War Two to strafe Japanese barges and I remember him telling me that story in sort of 2000 about Aidabeleten, a lovely old guy. He had dementia, but he could remember exactly what he did on that flight.

He told me a story of flying Beaufighters so low that when he landed back in Darwin after striking the Japanese and going through the hills, there was a Japanese flag hanging on the underneath the plane because he'd hit a Japanese radar installation and hit the flag unbeknown to him and carried it back on the plane.

So stories like that that, you know, he used to do in what they call the whispering death, Beaufighters, it was great to hear his side of things and know that I was on the same beach that he was strafing, in World War Two.

The importance of pre and post deployment briefs

Ironically, one good thing out of my Rwanda deployment, it woke up the army about pre-deployment briefings, you know, what to expect. It was quite good and I learned a lot of lessons too, myself, and the biggest lesson, I suppose I learnt was support and advice to the families like this. Again, we'd had Somalia, we'd had Rwanda, and then we had this. Now the big deployment of East Timor.

So it was like, they said, "Look, we need to get the families in, we need to explain to them from little things, mowing lawns, to mum and dad are not there so the families need to be briefed a lot more. We had a psych team come in and do a pre deployment brief, you know, what to expect and family expectations and that which was quite good.

Unfortunately, the gentleman that dealt with me, and the idea was they dealt with us before we went over and then when we returned, the same person followed up, and unfortunately my guy committed suicide in the time that I was away overseas, the psych guy. So I spoke to a younger, another psych when I got back, but yeah, it was unfortunate for the poor chap, but at least we've learned lessons from Rwanda and to some extent Somalia to the point where we started, the military start to bring those things in.

So that was one good thing, if anything … so brief before we left and the families as well, so we start to get them involved and warn them about what it's going to be like or we know they're going away and potentially could be in harm's way and they might come home, just to fully prepare them. And the families tight knitted, bonded together and, you know, they had functions with the kids and that just, you know, so they could keep sort of a, you know, a family bonding military extension … a debrief when we got back, this sort of stuff didn't happen in Rwanda and certainly Somalia was the same.

So it's like lessons learned. The military finally said, "Look, we've got to look after this". And it's gotten even better, to be honest, since then from the other deployments I've done. As soon as we landed we had four days off to relax and then straight to work and then start debriefs. The team came in and debriefed my squadron.