The Mount Bundey Training Area (MBTA) is a military training area in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

of Australia.

History

Formerly a

cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...

, the property was acquired as a Defence Training Area in 1988. An Urban Operations Training Facility was constructed in 2005. The MBTA has been heavily used by the US

Marine Air Ground Task Force Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine current power * Marine debris * Marine energy * Marine habitats * Mar ...

since its first deployment in 2012. In mid-2017 the ADF held Exercise Southern Jackaroo at Mount Bundey with elements of the 1st Brigade –

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

, US Marine Rotation Force – Darwin (MRF-D) and the Japanese Ground Self Defence Force (JGSDF). In 2021, prime minister

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (born 13 May 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party and was ...

visited

Robertson Barracks Robertson Barracks is a major Australian Army base located in Holtze, an outer suburb of Darwin, Northern Territory, around east of the Darwin city centre. History Robertson Barracks was built between 1989 and 2001. The barracks was named ...

, where he announced a spend of million to upgrade the Robertson Barracks Close Training Area, Kangaroo Flats Training Area, Mount Bundey Training Area, and

Bradshaw Field Training Area The Bradshaw Field Training Area (BFTA) is a large Military training area, army training area located south of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is used for training by the Australian Army, and as ...

. This was part of a total of billion allocated for spending on defence installations in the Northern Territory.

Location and description

MBTA is a military training area located south-east of

Humpty Doo Humpty Doo is a town in Australia's Northern Territory, situated just south of the Arnhem Highway, approximately 40 km from Darwin. At the , Humpty Doo had a population of 4,313 people. Its local government area is Litchfield Municipality ...

, south of the

Arnhem Highway The Arnhem Highway is a 227 kilometre highway in the Northern Territory, Australia. It links the mining town of Jabiru, in Kakadu National Park, to the Stuart Highway Stuart Highway is a major Australian highway. It runs from Darwin, N ...

, between the Mary River and

Kakadu National Park Kakadu National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia, southeast of Darwin. It is a World Heritage Site. Kakadu is also gazetted as a locality, covering the same area as the national park, with 313 people recorded l ...

. The United States and Singaporean militaries both conduct joint tank exercises with Australian forces in the MBTA.

References

Australian Army bases Barracks in Australia Military installations in the Northern Territory {{NorthernTerritory-geo-stub