By Derek Royal  

Flying special ops for the Australian Federal Police includes deployments Australia-wide and overseas, often to some of the world’s most dangerous hot-spots. Derek Royal takes a look at the Feds’ aviation wing and discovers a small but crucial cog within the federal bureaucracy.

TROUBLE IN PARADISE
On 22nd December 2004, Australian Protective Services (APS) officer Adam Dunning, aged 26, was on a night patrol in a vehicle in the Solomon Islands’ capital of Honiara. The vehicle came under fire in a targeted ambush, and Dunning was killed by two shots fired from a high powered rifle.

Immediately after the killing, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji deployed hundreds of extra troops and police to Honiara, an action that created some anxiety between locals and peacekeeping forces alike.

In 2006, the election of an unpopular Prime Minister and alleged heavy-handedness of the Australian Federal Police’s Operational Response Group (ORG) sparked violent scenes on the streets of Honiara. During the rampage, buildings and vehicles were torched in scenes that shocked the world.

As part of the policing arm of RAMSI (Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands), the ORG justified their actions, claiming the rioters endangered lives; while Solomon Islanders and other eye-witnesses accused RAMSI of being everything from culturally insensitive thugs to just plain incompetent.

The ORG is a part of the AFP’s International Deployment Group (IDG) – which provides the Australian government with a standing to deploy Australian police domestically and internationally to contribute to the maintenance of regional security and support for police capacity development in vulnerable nations. Nations such as the Solomon Islands, East Timor, Tonga, Nauru, Vanuatu, Sudan, Afghanistan, Cambodia and Cyprus.

“The ORG is part of the IDG and is a dynamic, professional capability providing AFP specialist tactical policing services, both off shore and domestically,” an AFP spokesperson told Aviator.    

APS officer Dunning’s murder and the civil unrest and rioting in Honiara are just two examples of the inherent dangers associated with the AFP’s peacekeeping role. But after the negative press the ORG received following the riots, the organisation has worked hard to revise its training systems and to make positive changes to its culture in order to meet the needs of an ever-changing world.

The ORG’s charter requires it to maintain a workforce in a high state of readiness for deployment. This means maintaining a stringent training and preparation regime to ensure that all members are able to respond immediately to requests for assistance. This means the group is able to provide a range of specialist services across a broad spectrum of operations at all times.

AIR SUPPORT UNIT (ASU)
To provide such services, within the ORG is the Air Support Unit (ASU), which is a team that provides specialist aviation support to the IDG and the wider AFP. The scope of this support includes specialist deployments and transportation, operational planning and specialist advice.

“Currently the IDG has in place an aviation contract that provides support to the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI),” the AFP spokesperson says.

“The contracted aircraft perform a 24 hour emergency response capability inclusive of Aero-Medical Evacuation (AME), search and rescue, quick response deployments, and transport of personnel. In addition, the aircraft provide support for targeted operations and logistical support to the mission.”

Despite having an aviation presence, the IDG does not own, nor permanently lease, any aircraft in Australia. Nor does the IDG employ any pilots, as pilots are provided as part of aircraft contract arrangements.

“The IDG contracts aircraft in support of its policing function or to assist with training in general and specialist aviation skills,” the spokesperson says. “This allows a level of flexibility for aircraft to be contacted suitable to the particular operational or training situation.” Aircraft utilised by the AFP include the Bell 212, Bell 412, Eurocopter Super Puma and a fixed wing type, each of which plays an important operational role in a variety of missions.

The ASU supported the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) during the 2010 Solomon Islands election, assisting in the maintenance of law and order, and ensuring the protection and wellbeing of members of the public.

“The ASU role included the delivery of general and emergency supplies, movement of personnel, search and rescue response, responses to critical incidents and regular active patrolling,” the AFP spokesperson says. “This activity was conducted in and around the capital of Honiara, as well as regular medium to long range sorties across the vast and various islands.”

The elections proceeded without drama and while the excited locals indulged in tooting horns, shrilling whistles, and blaring music, the violence of the previous campaign remained a distant memory. Chaos ensued but peace reigned, thanks largely to the presence of 1100 local police, the RAMSI Participating Police Force (PPF), and around 57 members of the ORG. 

Apart from peacekeeping duties in the Solomon Islands, the ASU has also been busy in other areas. The unit recently supported the NSW State Emergency Services following a request for an ASU-qualified helicopter rescue crewman (down the wire man) to work with a BK 117 helicopter operating in support of the Queensland flood crisis. The provision of a rescue crewman enabled the NSW SES to use a fully capable winch rescue helicopter. This helicopter conducted a number of evacuation and resupply missions to isolated Queensland and NSW properties in the vicinity of Texas, Mingoola and Bonshaw.

TRAINING
As part of a government funding injection of some $1 billion over five years, a $2.8 million training complex was opened at Majura, near Canberra, in 2005. The complex recreates the environments that police might experience when deployed on overseas missions. Located on almost 200 hectares of land, the facility is designed to reflect the streetscape of a small overseas township, enabling true-to-life scenario training to help prepare police for the unknown and sometimes dangerous challenges that await them. The facility incorporates a variety of different buildings and structures, including a corner store, town hall, police station, local school and marketplace; and even includes farm animals common to the rural locations to which personnel are deployed.

A Bell 412 ‘Huey’ is based at Majura to help train personnel to a suitable standard of skills necessary to operate safely and efficiently in an aviation environment.

"The AFP has been participating in peacekeeping and regional support missions for more than 40 years,” said former AFP commissioner Mick Keelty. “In recent years we have seen the benefits of a collaborative approach in helping to restore law and order in the Solomon Islands and working with the Royal Solomon Islands Police (RSIP) to enhance capacity and achieve long-term law enforcement objectives. The success of missions like RAMSI relies on the delivery of first class pre-deployment training which has led to the development of this new facility.”

FEDERAL FLYER
Andrew Vintner was a member of the AFP for 18 years. He worked as a detective in drugs and fraud, was an instructor at the AFP College, a general duties senior constable and a member of two peacekeeping missions to East Timor and the Solomon Islands. Andrew enjoyed the challenge of police work but deep down his passion was flying helicopters.

Andrew started flying choppers in 1991 and throughout his police career grabbed every opportunity he could to moonlight as a commercial helicopter pilot in Canberra or Sydney. Then in 2006 he received the break he’d been waiting for when the IDG decided to utilise a Canberra-based ‘Huey’, primarily for training purposes.

Andrew offered his services to pilot the aircraft and to his surprise, the powers-that-be agreed. He was in. The 18-year AFP veteran would finally get the opportunity to achieve his dream of flying for a living.

In May 2006 Andrew resigned from the federal police and joined Helicorp, the aviation contractor used by the AFP to provide air solutions to complex and specialised missions. Excited by the fact that he’d be flying the only Huey in Australia capable of carrying passengers, Andrew mainly flew training missions with IDG personnel in and around Canberra and the Snowy Mountains. 

“As the Huey was only single engine and not IFR we were a little restricted in what we could do and where we could go,” the 41-year-old Careflight pilot tells Aviator.

“But the role of the helicopter for the AFP was quite diverse. It was used as a troop transporter for the IDG, it was used as a surveillance platform, it had a winch, a nitesun (20 million candle power light) and was fully capable of flying in day and night in bad weather conditions. The aircraft weighed about five tonnes fully loaded, has just over three hours worth of flying time and could carry around 12 people and their equipment. If required, the Huey could also be fitted out to be a fire bomber and can sling up to one tonne of cargo.

“The AFP contract (with Helicorp) was for two-pilot ops and also a crewman, with casuals to fill in as required. We worked very closely with IDG personnel, as they were the ones employing our asset. Later on the ORG got more involved, particularly when the 412 came on line.”
 
Did Andrew’s crew always fly with the same IDG/ORG personnel?

“Generally, yes,” he replies. “They were only a small unit of aviation-trained personnel who had predominantly come from other Police Airwings, originally not for the AFP Air Support Unit (asu) but to be members of the IDG on deployment overseas. We (the contract crew) were particularly close with the IDG because they were providing the majority of our taskings.”

So even though he has been out of the AFP loop for a couple of years now, what advice would Andrew give to pilots with ambitions to fly AFP operations?

“Having a multi-engine background would be helpful; having at least 1000 hours and all the other ticks in the box - IREX, ATPL subjects, etc,” he says. “Being a member of the AFP or another Police force would also be a desirable attribute as well. (During my time) captains required 3000 total hours, 500 multi-command, CIR, winch and sling endorsements and NVG with time on the 412 or 212.”

Is a police background necessary?

“The full-time pilots I flew with did not have police backgrounds, but some did have military history,” he says. “The ORG guys are all sworn AFP members so they all had to have certain clearances to operate. I had an excellent foundation because of my experience in the AFP. And a lot of the areas that tasked us I knew quite a few of the personnel involved ... so it made for a smooth transition.”

The Aviation Support Unit is indeed a small but crucial cog within the Australian Federal Police. And while former fed flyer Andrew Vintner is busy flying important missions for Careflight Queensland, he still remembers his days in Canberra with the fondness of a kid in a candy store.

“I enjoyed the flying, it was great to be able to provide a platform to the AFP which was not previously available,” Andrew tells Aviator. “But for me, the best part was flying the Huey!”