More than 27,000 military personnel from Australia, Canada and the United States participated in Exercise TANDEM THRUST in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland, Australia, from 3-29 May 2001.

Canadian naval and air units participated in TANDEM THRUST primarily as opposition forces.  The Canadian frigates HMCS Regina (FFH 334) and HMCS Vancouver (FFH 331) in formation during a naval gunfire exercise with the USS Gary (FFG 51). Photo by PH1(SW/NAC) Spike Call, USN

TANDEM THRUST is a combined task force exercise that trains service members in crisis action planning and gives them the chance to practice working together in a free-playing scenario. 

TANDEM THRUST was conducted primarily in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area and the waters of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.  This was the third time TANDEM THRUST has been held in this large joint venue and the second time in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area.

TANDEM THRUST focused on training, safety, environmental protection and management.  The exercise included naval, air and land operations. Canadian Navy and Air Force units acted as the opposing forces, while elements of U.S. and Australian Defence Force units provided the friendly forces.  Service members from the different nations spent the first weeks of the exercise getting familiar with each other, their equipment and their distinctive military styles.