This was a special event as a Vietnamese naval ship visited Australia to participate in Exercise Kakadu 2024, hosted by the Royal Australian Navy, for the first time.
Notably, a number of Vietnamese officers on board had studied at Australian schools within the framework of the Vietnam-Australia bilateral defense cooperation program that began 25 years ago.
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Colonel Mick Jansen, Australian Defense Attaché to Vietnam, and some Vietnamese officers who once studied in Australia in a joint photo |
Paul O’Grady, Royal Australian Navy Commodore and the Exercise Kakadu 2024’s Chief held that the most important thing in defense cooperation is the people-to-people relationship, adding that the crew-members of Ship 18 and the Vietnamese delegation are present in Australia to enthusiastically partake in the program and be ready to share. He has witnessed what they did, thereby understanding more about Vietnam and the Vietnam People’s Navy. He also noted that Ship 18’s long sea journey to Darwin proved its maritime capacity while its staff officers also showed their competence during the exercise.
In addition to the wholehearted support of the host country, the Vietnam People’s Navy could join all activities within the framework of the Exercise Kakadu 2024 and achieved good results in all categories thanks to the good command of English, understanding of culture and the military, especially the knowledge learned from schools in Australia by crew-members. Senior Captain Nguyen Viet Anh, Deputy Chief of Staff of Naval Region 2, graduated from the Command and Staff course in Australia in 2004 and then the Defense Strategy course in Australia in 2012. He is the Head of the Vietnamese delegation on Ship 18. According to him, the courses were expanded on many fields and requested all trainees to get more knowledge beyond the given books. He himself learned much from the courses and could apply what he has learned to reality, including this Exercise Kakadu.
There were also many crew-members who used to study in Australia. Good competence, in combination with good English command, helped them feel confident during the exercise. Colonel Mick Jansen, Australian Defense Attaché to Vietnam shared that he had opportunity to meet some officers who once studied in Australia. He was also pleased that they are holding important positions on the occasion, such as planning and executing tasks in the exercise. It was his pleasure to get to know how they apply their acquired knowledge in Australia to the participation in Exercise Kakadu 2024.
At Exercise Kakadu 2024, Vietnamese naval officers had an array of opportunities to show their competence. Although taking on tough tasks and working in the multinational environment, they impressively completed their missions, contributing to the success of the exercise. Colonel Jansen stressed that Vietnam should be proud to have crew-members participating in this exercise on ships and at the wharf, demonstrating their own capabilities in particular and the capabilities of the Vietnam People’s Army in general.
According to Colonel Jansen, Ship 18’s visit to Australia to participate in the Exercise Kakadu 2024 is on the occasion marking 25 years since the two countries established defense cooperation relations. To date, more than 4,000 Vietnamese officers have participated in courses in Australia. He thought that it was time for both sides to have more practical and meaningful activities like this exercise. This was an opportunity not only for Vietnam to learn from Australia, but also for the host country to learn from Vietnam. He underlined that this was the spirit of Exercise Kakadu, showing that the participants could work together to achieve a greater goal.
Along with the development of the partnership between Vietnam and Australia, after 25 years, the bilateral defense cooperation relationship has been boosted in many other fields, such as U.N. peacekeeping operations, navy, air force, military medicine... These are important milestones in the bilateral defense cooperation relations with meaningful and practical results.
Translated by Minh Anh