Operation Yasi Assist
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Operation Yasi Assist was a multi-Service activity by the
Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the Armed forces, military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia and its national interests. It consists of three branches: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and the Royal Aus ...
(ADF) as part of the response to Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi. Coordinated to aid civilian emergency response efforts, at Federal inter-departmental level it was managed by Emergency Management Queensland. It comprised units and personnel from the
Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...
(RAN),
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 ...
, and
Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...
(RAAF) operating as Joint Task Force 664 (JTF 664). The operation was initially commanded by Brigadier Stuart Smith, based at
Lavarack Barracks Lavarack Barracks is a major 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 Ai ...
in
Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...
.


Activities

JTF 664 was established on 2 February 2011 to command the ADF units responding to the cyclone. The RAAF provided aeromedical evacuations for 255 patients in Cairns Base Hospital and Cairns Private Hospital on the night of 1–2 February. The operation was described by Queensland Premier
Anna Bligh Anna Maria Bligh (born 14 July 1960) is an Australian lobbyist and former politician who served as the 37th Premier of Queensland, in office from 2007 to 2012 as leader of the Queensland Australian Labor Party (Queensland Branch), Labor Party. ...
as the largest aeromedical evacuation in Australia's history. By 9 February, one week after the cyclone, the ADF had deployed 1,200 personnel to affected regions with another 400 outside those regions providing air transport and aerial survey. An AP-3C Orion configured for
Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation The Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation (AGO) is an government of Australia, Australian government intelligence agency that is part of the Department of Defence (Australia), Department of Defence responsible for the collection, analy ...
aerial survey mapped the damage across a wide area of Queensland. The Army Aviation Corps deployed four S70A-9 Black Hawk, one CH-47D Chinook and three
NH90 The NHIndustries NH90 is a European medium-sized, twin-engine, multirole military helicopter. It was the first production helicopter to feature entirely fly-by-wire flight controls.Perry, Dominic"Rotor club: Our top 10 most influential helico ...
helicopters. Army engineers deployed to coastal towns by LCM-8 and
LARC-V LARC-V (Lighter, Amphibious Resupply, Cargo, 5 (V) ton), is an aluminium-hulled amphibious cargo vehicle capable of transporting 5 tons. It was developed in the United States during the 1950s, and is used in a variety of auxiliary roles to ...
landing craft as roads were blocked by debris. Engineers cleared 230 km of roads in the first week. The hydrographic survey ship HMAS ''Benalla'' surveyed the port of
Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...
for submerged debris, allowing the port to reopen three days after the cyclone. The Landing Craft Heavy, HMAS ''Brunei'' under the command of LCDR Carl Jordan, RAN was Force Assigned immediately after the cyclone had made landfall and sailed from Cairns to Townsville to embarked Army engineers and equipment for offload at Mourilyan Harbour in support of Disaster relief operations. The heavy landing ship HMAS ''Tobruk'', in dry dock for major repairs, was rushed back into service to assist in logistic support.


See also

*
Operation Queensland Flood Assist Operation Queensland Flood Assist was a complex, multi-Service activity by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) as a contribution to the response to the 2010–2011 Queensland floods. Coordinated to aid civilian emergency response efforts, at Fed ...


References

{{reflist Yasi Assist 2011 in Australia Military history of Queensland