Kumul force preparing to return home

THE Papua New Guinea Kumul Force 17 is set to return to the country tomorrow.
The contingent of 100 engineering personnel who were deployed to Victoria, Australia, early last month to assist control wild bush fires would be arriving on board the Australian Royal Air Force C130 at around midday.
The troops travelled to Townsville from their area of operation in Victoria last Thursday and went through a de-mounting process at the ADF 3rd Brigade Headquarters in Townsville for the last few days before their return to the country.
The Defence Council thanked the deployed soldiers, saying their significant participation, though small, made the country and the PNG Defence Force proud and would go down as the first time for PNG to help Australia and its people.
The council said Australia was always there to assist PNG through thick and thin and the Kumul Force 17 was a way to give back to them.
They added that PNG’s relationship with Australia went a long way back and had developed overtime from just being best friends and the assistance was more like assisting brothers, sisters and family members affected by the fire tragedy.
PNGDF Joint Operation and Force Preparation Branches met yesterday with ADF operation counterparts and finalised their extraction from Townsville to Port Moresby and on to Lae to be received by their mother units and families.
The troop is expected to be received by the prime minister.