CLEARANCE DIVING TEAMS IN EAST TIMOR

Although much of Operation Stabilise was portrayed as an army affair, the contribution from the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), in particular from the Navy’s Clearance Diving Teams (CDTs), nevertheless played a major role throughout the whole of the Operation.

The CDTs role in East Timor stems back even before Operation Stabilise began. Eight members of the CDT 4 were deployed two weeks prior to the INTERFET forces arriving, assisting in the withdrawal of the UN personnel from the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) when they were forced out of their compound by members of the Pro-Indonesian militia.

Once Operation Stabilise was underway, the RAN deployed the remainder of the Perth based CDT 4 to East Timor. An advanced party of CDT 4 flew in to Dili with the first wave of SF Troopers from the Australian and New Zealand SAS on Day One, tasked to clear Dili Dock of any Improvised Explosive Devices for the upcoming arrival of the main force. Once the water facilities were cleared, the team then had to conduct the more difficult task of clearing the underwater approaches to the wharf of mines and other obstacles that might have been left by the members of the Indonesian military. Alongside this, other members had to clear and survey nearby beaches for possible landing points for INTERFET landing craft.

Once the wharf and nearby beaches had been cleared, CDT 4 next task was to clear East Timor’s largest petrochemical facility. Strategically an important asset, the INTERFET command were taking no chances in the fear that the outgoing Indonesian military may have booby trapped the facility in anger to INTERFET’s intervention to the crisis.

During the next few months, CDT 4 was deployed throughout East Timor, clearing approaches and conducting beach surveys for INTERFET’s amphibious group. The most important and dangerous of all of these was the beach insertion into the Oecussi Enclave.

The Oecussi Enclave as the name suggests is separated from the main part of East Timor and was surrounded by Indonesian controlled West Timor. The only way to insert a large body of troops to secure the enclave was through a combined airmobile and amphibious insertion.

During the night prior to D-Day, clearance divers were inserted by RAN submarine and swam ashore to check and clear the landing site of mines and obstacles ahead of the mechanised infantry. The CDTs were operating in a high threat environment. Previous reports from Australian SAS recon teams who were in the enclave weeks prior to the arrival of the main body reported that militia activity was high within the enclave. A member of CDT 4 was awarded the Commendation for Gallantry for his actions during that mission.

Aside from IED disposal, surveying and clearing of beaches, the CDTs took on a number of other tasks throughout the operation including –

• Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) disposal of munitions left behind by the outgoing Indonesian military
• Explosive Ordnance disposal (EOD) of INTERFET munitions, and
• Searching for evidence of human right violations from the Militia and by the Indonesian military. There were many reports of bodies being dumped in lakes and rivers throughout the country. The CDTs conducted numerous dives to find and retrieve these bodies

In December 1999, CDT 4 returned to Australia and was replaced by the Sydney based CDT 1 who continued the work right through to the hand over to the UNTAET earlier this year.

The RAN Clearance Diving Teams proved to be a successful part of INTERFET’s success throughout the entire operation. They were able to provide the INTERFET command a valuable underwater warfare capability in which proved to be critical to the success of all amphibious landings the force conducted.

Bibliography -

• "Peacemakers - Internet's Liberation of East Timor", J.H Farrell, Fullbore Magazines, 2000
• Official Royal Australian Navy Website