The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has deployed forces to Exercise Croix du Sud 2025 in New Caledonia as well as Wallis and Futuna. Led by the French Armed Forces in New Caledonia, Croix du Sud is a multinational combined field training exercise and the South Pacific’s largest Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise. Exercise Croix du Sud will conclude on 4 May 2025.
The Australian contingent consists of around 70 personnel, including a C-27J Spartan aircraft and crew, an Australian Civil-Military Centre team, combat engineers, military police, health teams and planning personnel.
Chief of Joint Operations Vice Admiral Justin Jones said the ADF was pleased to support the latest iteration of the exercise. “The ADF’s continued support to French-led Exercise Croix du Sud demonstrates the importance we place on collective action and cooperation in response to disasters and security incidents. The Pacific has a proud record of working together across common security concerns, which will continue long into the future,” Vice Admiral Jones said. “The specialist staff deployed to New Caledonia will strengthen our interoperability with partners and work to improve regional resilience to HADR events. We look forward to continuing our commitment to multi-national exercises and regional security.”
Australian contingent commander, Captain Mark Sirois, RAN, said the ADF contingent was excited to engage with Pacific partners and make new friends. “I’m proud to deploy alongside men and women from across the services who each possess a specific skillset honed through experience and high-quality training,” Captain Sirois said. “We look forward to working alongside the Croix du Sud participant nations to provide core and specialist input into multi-national and multi-agency planning for HADR response scenarios.”
MRF-D 25.3 joins Exercise Croix de Sud
The Marine Rotational Force – Darwin (MRF-D) 25.3 Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) has deployed forces from its Logistics Combat Element (LCE) to Exercise Croix du Sud 25 in New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna. Led by the French Armed Forces in New Caledonia, Croix du Sud is a multinational combined field training exercise, and the South Pacific’s largest Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise. The planned events will allow a combined and joint force to exercise logistics and sustainment capabilities in a forward deployed environment, nested within a realistic training scenario. The 2025 iteration runs from April 23 to May 4 and includes participation from 46 countries across the Indo-Pacific region.
The MRF-D contingent from the logistics combat element—comprising approximately 50 Marines and Sailors from Combat Logistics Battalion 1 (CLB-1)—includes a headquarters element, a recovery platoon, a support platoon and a stabilization platoon. While the headquarters element commands and controls operations from New Caledonia, each CLB-1 platoon will rotate forward to Wallis and Futuna to execute different facets of the HADR mission set. In addition to field operations, the MRF-D team will engage in subject matter expert exchanges, interoperability challenges and demonstrations designed to strengthen multinational logistics capabilities.
“Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief are core capabilities of the Logistics Combat Element,” said Lt. Col. Tara Patton, commanding officer of CLB-1. “Training in environments like New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna ensures our teams are ready to support regional allies and respond effectively when crises arise.”
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