Re: Alice-Darwin and East Timor

[David Bromage <dbromage@omni.com.au>]

Les Brown wrote:
> 
> Since it is now pretty certain that Australia is going to lead the
> United Nations peace keeping force in East Timor, Darwin seems to be
> the departure point for traffic in that direction.

The Department of Defence concluded about 20 years ago that rail to
Darwin was not vital to their needs. The 1st Armoured Regiment, part of
the 1st Brigade, is now based in Darwin instead of Puckapunyal. The 3rd
Brigade is based in Townsville. If one had to reinforce the other, the
railway they need still wouldn't be there.

The other problem is that much of the army's equipment is out of gauge.
The Centurion tanks were only slightly oversize, but the Leopard tanks
are even bigger. 

Cheers
David