NORTHERN TERRITORY, Australia -- The outback in Australia's Northern Territory is usually home to crocodiles, snakes, and all kinds of unusual animals. However, for three weeks in October, it was also home to a trilateral team of soldiers from the United States, Australia, and China taking part in Exercise Kowari 2014, the inaugural environmental survival training exercise that brought the three countries, represented by five 25th Infantry Division Soldiers, five U.S. Marines, 10 Australian Army soldiers, and 10 Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers, together for the first time in an effort to enhance security cooperation in the Pacific.
"The exercise demonstrates the willingness of Australia, China, and the United States to work together in practical ways," said Senator David Johnston, the Australian Minister for Defense.
On a big picture level, the exercise was about making connections between the three countries, but that was also a goal on the soldier level as well.
"What we were doing there was establishing connections with the Chinese army," said 1st Lt. Chris Jones, B Co., 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th ID. "Those guys, at a basic level, are individuals just like everyone else. We all have the same basic needs. That is the first gap getting bridged, understanding each other on an individual level. Once you break through the political ideology, the Chinese Soldier is no different than the American soldier. This was that icebreaker moment. It was like, 'This is the U.S. Army. This is the Australian Army. This is the Chinese Army. Nice to meet you.'"
"Working with the Australians, working with the Chinese, you just kind of realize everybody is the same across the board," said 1st Lt. Jordan Ritter, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th ID. "No one is different regardless of race or gender or where you come from. When you're out there surviving, everybody is part of the same team. You have to meet your basic needs and that's what it's really all about."
Ritter also felt that the exercise wasn't just about him making these individual connections.
"It was about our nations talking to each other for the first time, and Australia facilitating that," he said. "This exercise had huge political implications, but, at the same time, it had huge implications for 30 soldiers who are working at the individual level and the knowledge gained from that."
The core of what happened in the outback had little to do with the political dynamic between the three countries, however. The three weeks of Exercise Kowari, Oct. 7-25, were about learning how to survive as much as they were about making connections. The international group of soldiers joined the Australian 2nd Division's North West Mobile Force who taught them what it takes to live in the "bush."
The exercise was divided into three phases. The first was a team-building phase where the participants met and got used to working with one another. The second phase moved everyone out to the bush and left modern life behind. They learned many skills including how to make tools, build shelters, purify water, and feed themselves, as well as tell time by the position of the sun, and navigate the land using the stars at night and the sun during the day. Phase three, the survival phase, is when they were divided into two 15-person teams, dropped off in a remote area of the outback, and left to fend for themselves.
"You were down to a bare minimum," said Jones. "Each person had 10 meters of fishing line, two hooks, a knife, a multi tool, and a water bottle or canteen, and that was it."
They did have a radio in case of a medical emergency, and each team had a shooter assigned to it.
"We weren't allowed to go near the water without a shooter," said Ritter. "There were five-meter crocodiles and some six-meter crocodiles, crocodiles that will literally swallow you whole. A three-meter crocodile will attack a person and rip off an arm or a leg. A four-meter crocodile will eat a person. A five-meter crocodile will swallow you whole and still look for more food."
The survival phase was divided into two parts: an inland phase and a coastal phase. The inland location was first.
"The most challenging thing in the bush was probably food," Jones said.
"I've never been hungry like that where I was not sure that I was going to get food," said Sgt. 1st Class Axel Nieves, platoon sgt. from A Co., 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 2nd SBCT, 25th ID. "I've been hungry, but knew I was going to get an MRE later on. Not, 'Hey! The kangaroo got away,' or 'That fish didn't bite.'"
"We were all united in trying to get something to eat, especially the Chinese," said 1st Lt. Daniel Strickland, A Co., 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd BCT, 25th ID. "They were very [lean]. They were fit, but had no body fat. That did not play in their favor."
Ritter said his main job during the survival phase was fishing, but he has some success at hunting at the inland location.
"That's where I caught two kite hawks using fishing line and fishing hooks as a snare," said Ritter. "I put them in the trees and used part of the fish that I'd caught [from the stream]. They'd swoop down to get the fish and get stuck with the hooks. I'd come through and dispatch them pretty quickly. Then we'd cook them up and eat them."
On day four, they were "rescued" from their inland location, only to have their helicopter "crash" in a coastal location. Here survival was still the focus, but the methods were a little different.
"The coastal area was a little bit harder but the fishing was easier," Ritter said. "Just outside of our fishing lines, there were crocodiles lined up like cars at a car show trying to take fish from us. There were some big boys out there. Thankfully, we had barriers made so a crocodile couldn't run up and just grab you and go back in the water."
Jones added, "In the coastal phase, it was the heat. There was a small amount of shade, and the sun was extremely hot over there. The humidity was pretty bad too. And we were up against a brackish river, so we had to desalinate water. We had to be very smart on balancing the work-to-rest ratio to make sure we were accomplishing the work that needed to get done and also not over exerting ourselves and sweating out all of our water."
Once they were finally "rescued" and had a chance to look back on their experience, everyone found it to be overwhelmingly positive.
"Throughout the exercise, I discovered the Chinese are pretty skillful soldiers," Nieves said. "They operate pretty much the same way we do."
Strickland added, "For me, it was about working with those other forces and learning about their culture. Learning about working with other people. How they learned things. How they did things. How they communicated."
"Overall, the whole exercise was a great experience," said Ritter. "I loved going down there. I loved working with the other soldiers."
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