by LEUT Lauren Rago
The inaugural ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) Maritime Security Field Training Exercise commenced yesterday in and around Jervis Bay and the East Australian Exercise Area.
The exercise is first time that many ADMM-Plus nations have exercised alongside each other at sea and it is the flagship activity under Australia and Malaysia’s co-chairmanship of the ADMM-Plus Experts’ Working Group on Maritime Security.
The exercise is jointly commanded by Co-Exercise directors Rear Admiral Dato Nasaruddin bin Othman from Malaysia and Commodore Peter Leavy from Australia.
CDRE Leavy said the ADMM-Plus Maritime Security exercise is focused on building a common understanding. “The overarching goal is to promote information sharing and develop a baseline for communications at sea between ADMM-Plus countries.
“Force elements from Malaysia, Australia, Brunei, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam are participating.
“Participants have so far conducted successful air and boat boarding demonstrations viewed by members of the ADMM-Plus Experts’ Working Group on Maritime Security.
“Further multilateral, investigative boarding exercises, major ship manoeuvring, flying operations, communications testing and other seamanship serials will occur over next few days.”
Rear Admiral Dato Nasaruddin said the exercise was highly beneficial. “The exercise truly demonstrates the capacity of the ADMM-Plus framework to bring the region’s navies together to foster practical cooperation against shared security challenges."
The ADMM-Plus is unique among the region’s evolving ASEAN-centric security architecture because it has a mandate to specifically foster practical military cooperation against shared security challenges. By building habits of dialogue and practical cooperation, the ADMM-Plus promotes mutual trust and confidence through greater transparency and understanding of defence and security challenges.
The ADMM-Plus Maritime Security Field Training Exercise will lead in to the RAN International Fleet Review (IFR), which commemorates the arrival of Navy’s first fleet into Sydney and will occur from 3-10 October 2013.