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By Lieutenant Dave Schembri
From the moment INTERFET first landed on East Timorese shores, one of the hardest working assets were the four LCM8 Landing Craft. |
 A very bent Mack recovered by LCM8 |
 Marrying-up with the USS McCain |
176 AD Sqn began its first ever command of Army watercraft on the 6th of February 2000. This consisted of four LCM8s and four LARC V amphibious vehicles.
Initially, these assets and crews were part of the 36th Water Transport Troop (36 Tp) under the command of Lieutenant Paul Dunn. The LCM8s were initially heavily involved in fuel distribution due to the lack of a land based fuel farm. This consisted of marrying up with supply ships in Dili Harbour and having diesel pumped into a TTF in the well deck. This turned out to be a 24 hour a day job. It also provided it's fair share of amusement.
One of the better-practiced traditions in Dili Harbour was to graffiti the sides of ships that were visited with your own unit or craft logos. During a fuel transfer the Captain of a British ship decided to confront the "uppity colonials" who kept defacing his ship.
Climbing onto the deck of one of the 8's he bailed up the hapless Coxswain, SGT Colin "Spanner" Watts. The language that followed was colourful to say the least. The Captain berated Spanner for over five minutes on the "un-military behavior" concerning the artwork on his ship. What he couldn't understand was why the hell Spanner had a smile on his face the whole time.
Unbeknown to the Pommy Captain, during the whole time of his lecture, the rest of Spanner's crew was behind his back madly at work with Nikko pens and stickers. They covered as much of his ship as they could with Australian graffiti and stickers.
Score: Boaties 1 - Pommies Nil.
The crews of the LCM8s in Dili had one of the best working relationships with the visiting ships of any nation in East Timor. Quite often they were invited to tie up alongside a ship and have dinner and a night in a real bed. The skippers of the visiting ships were also highly impressed by the skill and professionalism of the crews.
 AB1058 during a Swimex |
After 36 Tp returned to Australia, the remaining barges came under the control of 3 DS Tp. Tass was finally released from a fate worse than death (working in Ops) to take over as Marine Supervisor. By this time, most of our operations concerned the transport of fuel and other supplies to Troop Contributing Nations at the eastern end of the island and in the enclave. One of the regular tasks was the weekly delivery of fuel to the Koreans at Com and the Thais at Karabella. The locals in Com were some of the friendliest people in the world. They looked forward to the boaties turning up every Monday. Whenever they saw the barge approaching, all of the village's kids would run to the wharf and set up stalls. They would sit and wait patiently for the unload to be completed and would then trade their shells, baskets and jewelry for whatever we could give them.
One of the more focal examples of United Nations bureaucracy was the permanent posting of an LCM8 in Oecussi for the personal use of the Jordanians. This resulted in Couchy taking his barge west, sitting 400 metres off the shore and receiving five or six tasks a month. Although the crew on station in the enclave almost went mad with boredom, it gave them plenty of time to work on their fishing skills. Just ask Robbo and he'll tell you about the four, no six, or was it ten kilo trevalli he caught. It also led to the infamous "Gaping Hole in Void Five" drama. But we won't bring that one up again. On return to Dili these guys and the rest of the crew, Woody, Higgo and Sparky, were decorated for their brave acts in the enclave. But more of that later…
The crazy Jordanians also provided their own form of entertainment. One of their ideas, for use when swimming, was to tie dozens of empty water bottles to themselves. I guess they must have left their floaties back home in Jordan.
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One thing the boaties in Timor were famous for was their day trips. These became so popular in fact that we floated a public company and sold tickets under the name of "Fantasea Cruises". Marty produced all the required advertising material, and Moff kept everybody happy with his special "Moff's Brews to You's". On the safety side of things, Frosty made sure that the threat of skin cancer was zero by personally applying loads of sunscreen to all pretty young female passengers who ventured aboard. Not to be outdone, Saundo kept everyone entertained with a high-dive show from the top of the Monkey Island.
The boaties who worked for 176 AD Sqn in East Timor are some of the best soldiers the Australian Army has to offer. They were professional, highly skilled and were only happy when they were working hard. It was a sad day for the Squadron when the barges had to be handed over to the Force Logistic Squadron.
 Marty in the Cogging Chair. |
 Moff trying to pull Frosty into line (again). |
MOFF'S BREWS TO YOU'S 1. First brew and cake free on entry to craft. All others supplied by the guests. 2. Remember to enjoy a chat with your friendly tour boat operators. Spanner and Company |
 The "Queen Mary". The crew in Oecussi used the local canoes to get to and from the shore. |
 Unloading at the RO-RO facility in Karabella. |
