ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA HUMANITARIAN ENGINEERING A Tale of Two

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA HUMANITARIAN ENGINEERING A Tale of Two Floods. . And a Cyclone! Brigadier Peter Jeffrey

Scope Reserve commitment within a wider ADF commitment 11 th Brigade January 2011 Response Observations The Way ahead Reserve Military Engineers

Wider ADF Commitment Joint Task Force 637 was established Headquarters 1 st Division (initially) Headquarters 7 th Brigade 11 th Brigade provided forces to JTF 637 RAAF and RAN

11 th Brigade Queensland’s Army Reserve Coolangatta to Cairns 1950 part-time/150 full-time Infantry (3 x battalions – 1300) Logisticians (1 x battalion – 300) Engineers (1 x squadron – 100) Signallers (1 x small squadron – 40) Others (360) Keenness to help!

11 th Brigade Disposition CAIRNS TOWNSVILLE AYR MOUNT ISA MACKAY EMERALD ROCKHAMPTON GLADSTONE YANDINA BUNDABERG CABOOLTURE MARYBOROUGH BRISBANE GYMPIE LOGANLEA SOUTHPORT GATTON TOOWOOMBA WONDAI DALBY ROMA WARWICK STANTHORPE

January 2011 Floods Rockhampton Toowoomba-Grantham Brisbane TC Yasi North Queensland

Response � Northern � Command control � Liaison � Aviation � support (primarily helicopter) Southern � Workers! � Transport � Command � Liaison � Search � Security and control

Workload Prevention Preparation Response Recovery

An Engineer Tale � Theodore water supply � First solution: supplement with water purification unit � Second solution: rehabilitate town supply

Observations � Safety � Culture � Willingness � to help Leadership � Community ‘looks to Army’ � Every soldier a leader � Mobility � Vehicle � fleet/capable drivers Engineers � Force multiplier/skill sets

The Way Ahead Defence White Paper 2009 Army to re-balance Plan Beersheba To be finalised An embedded concept – Reserve HQs taking a more formalised responsibility for Disaster Relief

Reserve Military Engineers (in Queensland) 11 th Brigade Currently 1 x Engineer Squadron (NQ) Planned 1 x Engineer Regiment Comprised of: 1 x Headquarters (SQ) 2 x Squadrons (SQ) 1 x Squadron (NQ)

QUESTIONS

Varied role of Engineers in responding to and recovery from domestic disasters. Are there better ways for managing engineering resources to deliver improved humanitarian outcomes? What role is there for defence engineers in domestic disasters? Could the engineering community be better prepared to undertake recovery from domestic disasters Does the risk of disaster and cost associated with recovery demand an improved regime of preparedness of engineering capacity?