Watching over the Freshwater Beach landing were Exercise Director, Brig. Peter Kilpatrick, and Deputy Director Brig. Gen. Gordon Nash. Brig. Kilpatrick is Commandant of the ADF Warfare Centre at Williamtown. Brig. Gen. Nash is the Commanding General of the U.S. 3rd Marine Division in Okinawa. Direct control of the Shoalwater Bay Training Area activities fell to the Combined Exercise Control Group, based at the Defence Corporate Support Office, in nearby Rockhampton.
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Australian Army Brig. Peter Kilpatrick, exercise director, and U.S. Marine Brig. Gen. Gordon Nash, the deputy director, observe the successful combined field training exercise between the forces of these longtime allies. |
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"The welcome and comradeship with our Australian allies really brings us to why we are here today," Brig. Gen. Nash said. He revealed that his father served in U.S. submarines out of Brisbane in 1942-43, and that he had told his son, when he joined the Marines, that "if you go anywhere, you need to get to Australia."
"I finally made it this year, and everything he said is true," said Brig. Gen. Nash, adding that Australia had opened a national asset for the U.S. Marines at Shoalwater Bay to train in during Exercise CROCODILE 99 FTX East. "It’s an environmental asset for Australia and one of the few places in the Pacific Rim that we can conduct all facets of our training," he concluded.
