By
CPL Simone Liebelt and Leesha Furse
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Outgoing
Surveillance and Response Group commander AIRCDRE Graham
Bentley inspects the troops with the parade commander WGCDR
Karl Holzmann.
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Photos
by LAC Euan Grant.
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New commander AIRCDRE Tim Owen.
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Photo
by PTE Jodie Richter
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SRG’s
new commander is AIRCDRE Tim Owen.
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AIRCDRE
Owen has set three challenges: visit everyone
in the Group, develop SRG’s concept of operations
and deliver capabilities.
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“A
LOT of the really big challenges start now,” says the Surveillance
and Response Group’s new commander, Air Commodore Tim Owen.
He rolls off the list (by no means comprehensive): preparing for
the introduction of Wedgetail and for new ground-based radars;
ongoing upgrades to AP-3Cs; upgrading the air traffic control
system; continuing development of the Jindalee over-the-horizon
radar network; and delivering these systems for network-centric
operations.
As the Air Force’s newest Force Element Group – at just under
a year old – and with responsibility for the majority of the ADF’s
airborne surveillance and maritime response assets, SRG is focused
on the future, but there’s plenty to do now.
First, SRG needs to meet its new commander, who took over from
AIRCDRE Graham Bentley on January 31.
“I’ll be out on the road within the next 3 to 4 months, not only
visiting our units in Australia, but our detachments overseas,
including our units operating out of Butterworth as well as the
operations in the Middle East. So by the middle of the year, I
should have seen everybody in every unit,” AIRCDRE Owen said.
That’s about 2100 people to meet and greet across 12 locations.
The headquarters is at RAAF Base Williamtown.
There are three wings – 92, 41 and 44.
“The most inspiring aspect of this job in the short time I have
been in command is the quality of the personnel within the Group.
We have people deployed all over the world on operations ... and
in training for the introduction of new capabilities, and all
I ever hear is comments of how outstandingly we are being represented
and the excellent work that our people are doing ... I am proud
to be given the opportunity to work with them to deliver what
will be one of the most exciting expansions in capability that
the Air Force has seen.”
During his initial period in command, AIRCDRE Owen says he will
focus on developing SRG’s emerging concept of operations.
“What that will effectively involve is understanding or looking
at how we will put all the capabilities we are taking into this
FEG together in a coordinated fashion to deliver a coherent ISR
[intelligence surveillance response] capability...
“The third challenge is to deliver all the new capabilities we
have coming into the ADF now. Wedgetail begins delivery in 2006
and is a huge capability upgrade for the Air Force and its introduction
will present a number of challenges. There are also new groundbased
radars that are just about to reach their operational test and
evaluation stage, and there’s Project Vigilare, which is a command
and control system, and the challenge is preparing ... for its
introduction over the next two years.”
There’s also Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, the continuing development
of AP-3C’s maritime response and overland ISR systems and network-
centric warfare (NCW) operations.
AIRCDRE Owen is confident of delivering a NCW system which will
be a cornerstone of the ADF’s NCW concept.
“It’s going to be challenging but you have to think that what
we’re doing is vitally important to how we deliver aerospace power.”
