The personnel of the Australian Defence Force have completed the Exercise IRON MOON 2013.

Exercise IRON MOON 2013 is a two-week Maritime Counter Terrorism training exercise. For this year, the exercise was held in the waters off Exmouth and Dampier in North West Australia. It is tailored to improve the ADF Maritime Counter Terrorism response capability in the most realistic environment possible.

"The ADF, and in particular our Special Forces, has a long history of exercising on and aroundAustralia's Offshore Energy Installations since the early 1980's, but the multi-agency aspect of more recent exercises is important in sharpening our joint security response skills. This year's exercise, held in the maritime zone around theNorth West, rehearsed a range of scenarios focused on maritime disruption and recovery operations in the event of a significant threat against offshore resource interests," Commodore Peter Lockwood, Senior Defence Officer Western Australia, explained.

Cdre Lockwood emphasised how essential the IRON MOON 2013 is in developing ADF's capability of supporting Australia's national interest.

"The ADF plays a very important role in Australia's national security and exercises like IRON MOON enable us to maintain and continually develop our capabilities so that we can effectively respond to and resolve potential threats related to Australia's off-shore interests," he stated.

"I would like to thank local residents, businesses and industry for their cooperation and support during this important training," Cdre Lockwood added.

Photos:

The Australian Defence Force finishes the Exercise IRON MOON 2013 North West, Australia (Credit: defence.gov.au)
The Australian Defence Force finishes the Exercise IRON MOON 2013 North West, Australia (Credit: defence.gov.au)
The Australian Defence Force finishes the Exercise IRON MOON 2013 North West, Australia (Credit: defence.gov.au)
The personnel of the Australian Defence Force have completed the Exercise IRON MOON 2013 (Credit: defence.gov.au)

Meanwhile, on Oct 1, ADF was also recognized as a leader in work health and safety at the recent 2013 Comcare Work Health and Safety Awards.

"This is a wonderful result that Defence can be especially proud of. This success in the Commonwealth arena showcases Defence's commitment to ensuring risks to health and safety and wellbeing are identified and actively managed. In particular, I am delighted to see that Defence had three finalists in the category for solutions to address safety hazards this year. This demonstrates that Defence is honouring its commitment to reduce risks to workers throughout our complex work environment," Director General Work Health and Safety, Lindsay Kranz, stated.

The winners will have the chance to compete nationally for the 9th Annual Safe Work Australia Awards on 2014.