King Cobra DPR/TV/1558

A tropic sea and the fabled island of Bali Hai - what better setting for a two-week cruise away from home? But for a group of Australians, this month, the 'cruise ship' was a naval frigate; the shipboard comrades were soldiers of the 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment; and the calm of the scene was shattered by RAAF aircraft making simulated attacks. The tri-nation defence exercise just finished on the east coast of West Malaysia had the complete inter-Service flavour. The exercise, called King Cobra, was for units of the Singapore-based 28th ANZUK Brigade. The mixing of Services began immediately with a company of Australia's 6th Battalion boarding the New Zealand frigate, HMNZS Taranaki, in Singapore, for the voyage up the West Malaysian coast to Pulau Tioman. Mock air strikes on the ship by RAAF Mirages, from Butterworth, gave the soldiers another view of inter-Service mixing. A more welcome visitor from the air was the ANZUK Force Commander, Rear Admiral D. C. Wells, who was winched to the deck of Taranaki from a Royal Navy Wasp helicopter. Off Pulau Tioman, the island featured as Bali Hai in the film South Pacific, the infantry platoon commanders and senior non commissioned officers had a final briefing from their company commander, Major Peter Langford of Bencubbin, Western Australia. Then the assault boats - crewed by British sailors of the 28th ANZUK Field Squadron - were prepared for the landing. Over the side and heading for the beach! But the landing was unopposed - soldiers of the battalion's anti-tank platoon had been put ashore from a submarine the previous night and cleared the beach-head. The following day, the company moved to its final location for exercise operations. Transport this time was provided by Wessex helicopters of 103rd Squadron, Royal Air Force. The helicopters lifted the heavily laden troops from the island to the mainland, there to begin the task of clearing jungle and swamp of the "enemy", soldiers of the 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. And, on hand again to see the Australians on their way, was Rear Admiral Wells. Also identified: Private (Pte) Trevor O'Malley of Coonamble, NSW; Pte Gary Deane-Freeman of Surrey Hills, Vic; OC A Company, Major Peter Langford of Bencubbin, WA.