War games at Tekapo

Press, 9 March 1982, Page 7

War games at Tekapo

More than 1800 soldiers from five countries will gather in the Lake Tekapo area later this month to take part in a two-week field exercise. . About 570 infantrymen from Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Britain will combine with 1245 soldiers of the 2nd — Ist Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, based at Burnham, and other New Zealand Army units for the exercise. Called Southern Safari 82, the exercise will start on March 22 and end on April 1, 1982. It is the third land exercise to be held under the auspices of the Five Power Defence Arrangement. Previous exercises have been conducted in Australia and Malaysia. According to the Minister of Defence (Mr Thomson) the aim of the exercise is to

develop the capability of the partners in the agreement to work together on land. It will involve companysized groups from each country working beside one another as a Battalion Group, he said. During the combined field training exercise to be held in a conventional warfare setting in open country, the multi-national battalion will have ground and air support provided by the New Zealand Army and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Southern Safari will be divided into three phases: advance, defence, and night withdrawal. The “enemy” for the exercise will be the New Zealand Army. The director of the exercise will be Colonel L. G. Williams, commander of the New Zealand Army’s 3rd Task Force Region.