ArMy PreSence in South AuStrAliA - Defence SA

8. Opportunities for Army. Noting the strength
of the State’s compliance to the Defence
White Paper basing principles,
the Study identified that the following
units/capabilities have synergies with
existing and planned ADF capabilities in
South Australia that warrant consideration
for relocation to Horseshoe Barracks:
• HQ 6th (Command Support and Intelligence,
Surveillance, Target Acquisition and
Reconnaissance (CS&ISTAR)) Brigade (from
Victoria Barracks, Sydney),
• 16th Air Land Regiment (from Woodside),
• 20th Surveillance andTarget Acquisition
(STA) Regiment (from Brisbane), thereby
concentrating ADF Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles (UAV) assets and exploiting
nearby training areas,
• Army Electronic Warfare (EW) capability,
including 7th Signals (EW) Regiment
(from Cabarlah), thereby concentrating
ADF EW capabilities,
• additional elements of the 1st Brigade
(from Darwin),
• elements of 16th (Aviation) Brigade (from
Darwin, Townsville, Brisbane, Sydney and
Oakey, and
• elements of the Land Warfare Development
Centre (LWDC) (from Puckapunyal).
9. CUTA. The Study also identified that finalising
the expansion of CUTA is fundamental
not only to continued retention of existing
Army presence, but also to the attraction of
further Army activity and units to the State.
This expansion has occurred much more
slowly than desired or anticipated and so
the Study devotes an entire chapter to this
issue. Nonetheless, to enable the remainder
of the Study to proceed, it is premised on
the expectation that the expansion of CUTA
will be completed in 2012 and the approved
development completed in 2013.
10. Other Initiatives. In addition, other initiatives
that would support these moves would include
establishing an EEP at the Baxter site within
CUTA and the establishment of a Combined
Arms Fighting System (CAFS) Integration
Centre and a Defence Technology Institute
in Adelaide. With an anticipated increase
in US armed forces presence in Australia,
the expanded CUTA and the WPA offer
unique opportunities for joint and combined
exercising including live firing. Supporting
the Army Reserve and cadet programs in
schools are further areas in which South
Australia as the Defence State, can promote
the Army’s interests.
11. Supporting Infrastructure. Supporting these
initiatives would capitalise on the potential
which South Australia has to offer, including an
evolving joint environment, a well-equipped
state-of-the-art Army garrison at Horseshoe
Barracks, an adjacent C-17 capable airstrip
and supportive and accommodating local
communities. Combined with the use of the
electronically quiet WPA and the Proof and
Experimental Establishment (P&EE) at Port
Wakefield these offer impressive options for
Army in South Australia.
12. Financial Implications. This Study necessarily
focused on operational issues but clearly
each of the recommendations has an impact
on Defence resources and needs to be more
deeply analysed. Preliminary subjective
analyses suggest however, that the overall,
long term impact of the proposed initiatives
on Defence resources will be positive and
well worth pursuing through thorough
investigation and the development of
individual business cases.
9 Army Presence in South Australia Maintaining the Momentum 2012