“WITHOUT US COMBAT TEAM CHARLIE STOPS”

The Motorised Platoon officially became its own Platoon in December 2010. Its creation allowed all of Combat Team Charlie’s Bushmaster crews to come under the one platoon for command and control and for the effective administration of the platoon and maintenance of the vehicle fleet.

Combat Team Charlie is broken up into 4 main groups, being the Engineers, the OMLT's (Operations Mentor and Liaison Teams), Force Protection Platoon and Company Headquarters. All of those elements have to be transported safely around the Area of Operations (AO) safely and in one piece. The Motorised Platoon provides that capability with the added benefits of armoured protection against Improvised Explosive Devices, a stable weapon platform and Infantry vehicle crews.

The majority of the vehicle crews have a Mechanised back ground which has allowed for a smooth integration with the dismounted call signs and the high standard of the vehicles which has enabled the completion of all tasks so far.

Some of the tasks the Motorised Platoon carries out on a regular basis are route clearances, convoy escorts; resupply escorts for the Combat Team and Afghani National Army, the insertion and extraction of Australian soldiers within the AO. At this stage the Motorised Platoon can proudly say that we have conducted these tasks in a highly professional manner and we haven’t had to say to the Officer Commanding that we cannot achieve the task.

As the rest of the Combat Team rests the Motorised Platoon is up early preparing for the days task, ensuring that their vehicle, communications and weapons are ready for the upcoming task. When our mates need us we are there, whether it is to insert them for a task, or a resupply of ammunition, water and rations we are there. At the end of the day whilst the Combat Team is resting the Motorised Platoon is still working ensuring that the vehicles are ready for the next day and the next task.

Some of the other call signs jokingly call us the Royal Corp of Transport as all we seem to do is drive people around. We all would love to be out on the ground as dismounts doing the job, but we understand that this is our job. We know that things will start to heat up and we will hopefully get the chance to support our mates in a more aggressive nature.

The Motorised Platoon is commanded by SGT Powell who takes care of the administration which allows us to get on with the job. CPL “Boots” Wellington is the back bone of the platoon and is the “middle man” between the Boss and the rest of the platoon. He is known for a couple of things, one being that he knows how to motivate the crews in the platoon, and secondly, his passion for the job. The rest of the platoon is made up of a number of characters, who although different in character have one thing in common, they are professional soldiers who maintain the vehicles to a very high standard and willingly help out their mates.

Motorised Platoon knows that there are many more tasks to come in the days ahead and that those days will be long and tiring, however the Mot Pl will continue to maintain their professionalism and help out their mates.
 

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