Australian air and naval forces joined U.S. Amphibious Squadron Eleven (PHIBRON ELEVEN), 7-12 March1998, in the combined Australian-U.S. military training exercise VALIANT USHER 98-1 at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area in Queensland, Australia.

VALIANT USHER 98-1 was a joint naval, air and amphibious exercise. Australian Navy and Air Force personnel joined nearly 4,500 U.S. sailors and Marines, under the direction of the Commander, Amphibious Force Seventh Fleet, Rear Adm. R.C. Chaplin, who was embarked on the USS Belleau Wood (LHA-3).

VALIANT USHER 98-1 enhanced mission training of all Australian and U.S. forces involved. Among the participating naval forces were the Belleau Wood Amphibious Ready Group and the embarked Thirty-First Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable). Other U.S. amphibious ships participating were the USS Dubuque (LPD-8)and the USS Germantown (LSD-42) from Sasebo, Japan.

The Australian destroyer HMAS Perth (DDG-38) and the cruiser USS Vincennes (CG-49) joined PHIBRON ELEVEN for the exercise. These two ships significantly added to the exercise by providing air and surface defense-at-sea and naval surface gunfire support to Marines ashore.

Units from the Australian Defence Force maritime and air commands combined with the U.S. Forces in naval, air, and land training at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area, including a robust live-fire evolution from the air, land and sea. The training area allowed very realistic training for all participants.

The Royal Australian Air Force sent three F-111s up against the combined force, requiring the amphibious task force to exercise their emergency defense procedures. HMAS Perth and the USS Vincennes provided air cover.

Australian clearance divers embarked with U.S. Navy SEALs aboard a USMC CH-46 helicopter from the USS Belleau Wood for landing on Townsend Island. They and their Zodiac inflatable boats were dropped 20 km off shore to conduct beach reconnaissance and to call in airstrikes.

The Shoalwater Bay Training Area is in a pristine environmental area. From the beginning, consideration of the environment was part of the planning of virtually every aspect of the exercise. Planners and participants maintained close liaison with Australian federal and state environmental and cultural bodies to minimize any environmental impact.

On every level, the combined Australian-U.S. training conducted in Exercise VALIANT USHER 98-1 cemented a long-established allied relationship and friendship between the two countries' armed forces.