US Army vehicles and equipment to be stored at Bandiana barracks

US Army vehicles and equipment soon will be transported to a new home at the Gaza Ridge North Barracks in Bandiana.

Australian Defence Force joint logistics officer Colonel Clare Kellaway said it was important for the Border community to see soldiers working alongside their US counterparts.

"Members of our community might be interested as to why there are lots of different types of military equipment making their way to East Bandiana, so it's important to let them know that it's part of our ongoing defence cooperation with the US," Colonel Kellaway said.

The US equipment consists of about 330 vehicles and trailers and 130 containers used in Exercise Talisman Sabre 23 in July and August.

This was a biennial multi-national, multi-service exercise Colonel Kellaway said, adding the agreement to store the equipment was a "positive for both nations".

"The US avoids extra time and money transporting the equipment for future exercises and operations, and it demonstrates the strong relationship between our two defence forces," Colonel Kellaway said.

"All of our Defence personnel are working together with their US counterparts to ensure the safe arrival and maintenance of their equipment."

"This has meant working together as a team, as logisticians, trainers and maintainers."

ADF joint logistics operations manager Major Matt Knight said this arrangement was mutually beneficial from a tactical perspective.

"We get to focus on the interoperability between the ADF and the US Army," Major Knight said.

"For example, this enables us to test the compatibility of our land vehicle systems with theirs.

"There's no impact to ADF readiness as the storage of the US materiel makes use of vacant space previously used during World War II."

The initiative is one of many collaborations Albury-Wodonga has witnessed between Australia and the US.

During World War II, the US provided funding to help build the warehouses where the US vehicles and equipment will be stored.

Major Knight said Joint Logistics Unit (Victoria) was working hand-in-glove with staff from Army Logistic Training Centre, which trains logistics personnel to ensure a seamless transfer and storage of the equipment.

"We are using recovery mechanics from the Army School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering to drive US wreckers and understand how our vehicles can operate with US trailers and other vehicles," he said.

To read more stories, downloa The Border Mail news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: