My name is Lieutenant Colonel Mick Rizzoli and I’m the commanding officer of the North West Mobile Force, or more popularly known as Norforce. We’re one of Australia’s most unique and diverse units in the Australian Army. We have about 700 soldiers spread over 1.8 million square kilometers which covers the entire Northern Territory and the Kimberly local government area. We have, approximately 100 full time personnel the balance being part-time soldiers. But, unlike the usual Army Reserves that most Australian are familiar with some of our soldiers work up to 200 days per year, which is quite a lot. Our main role is supporting the national surveillance plan as part of border protection. It’s a whole of government approach of which Defence is one of those government departments and within that Defence support to border protection we provide the Army’s contribution, so we provide land based reconnaissance and surveillance operations that covers all of that area plus, up to about 24 nautical miles off the Australian coastline.
The work that NORFORCE does in that water surveillance plan includes activities like manning observation posts, mounting vehicle based patrols using a variety of off road and 4WD vehicles, we also use a range of vessels to get to many of those inaccessible places in the coastline. What we are asked to look for in border protection is the big trans-national crime stuff. So, it includes things like illegal arrivals, so folks coming to Australia that haven’t gone through the normal ports of entry, we’re looking and supporting the detection of foreign fishing vessels, smuggling, narcotics, flora, fauna. Those sorts of trans-national crime activities.
Ah, quite often Defence is called on to support the civil community in times of disaster or emergencies. The Defence policy for that is called Defence Aid to the Civil Community, it allows Defence, when asked by the civil authority to provide them some support. The support ranges from things like fires, floods, earthquakes, storm and tempest, and other things that might otherwise put a strain on the civil infrastructure. Up here in Northern Australia with the very remote communities and sparse population means that sometimes Defence gets a little more involved in supporting a community in a disaster or emergency situation, a little more routinely than in other parts of Australia.
NORFORCE was the, provided the bulk of the Australian Defence Force’s contribution to the whole of government intervention into the Northern Territory communities. 73 communities in all throughout the territory, and what NORFORCE’s role within that contribution was pretty well limited to life support. Those things to make specialists and people from outside of the territory a little more comfortable, help them get around and as you are aware there’s enormous distances and not a lot of infra structure, so we provide transport communications, camping equipment, meals, fuel to a variety of specialists. The specialists included doctors, nurses, medical practitioners, we’ve supported veterinary programs and sporting groups and a whole lot of people that are helping the community.
NORFORCE has been the pinnacle of my military career. I’m immensely proud of the men and women that comprise this diverse regiment. And what I find particularly inspiring is that their hearts, and their minds are fully engaged to being the best soldiers they can in our environment, and that’s the Northern Territory and the Kimberly area.