Photo By Robert Grabendike | RAAF Flight Sergeant Jason Savage speaks during an Anzac Day ceremony at Naval Base...... read more read more
On April 23 at Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu in Southern California, military and civilian members of the U.S. Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force gathered near the Pacific shoreline. Clouds hid Laguna Peak. Birds chirped. Waves pounded the sand.
They stood together to commemorate a century-old tradition: Anzac Day.
For Australians and New Zealanders, Anzac Day mirrors Memorial Day for Americans. It's a day to pause. To reflect. To remember those who never returned home.
"Anzac Day is a time of both sadness and joy, of remembrance and of celebration," RAAF Flight Sergeant Jason Savage said. "We remember those who have served their country and died for their country. And we celebrate that part of us that makes us truly Australian: the spirit of Anzac."
Anzac Day, officially observed April 25, marks the anniversary of the first major military action by Australian and New Zealand "Diggers," soldiers from both nations who fought together in World War I.
On the morning of April 25, 1915, they landed at Gallipoli, expecting a quick victory. Instead, they faced eight months of brutal combat. More than 8,000 Australians and nearly 2,700 New Zealanders died.
"The Anzacs were courageous," Savage said during the ceremony. "Although the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives, the Australian and New Zealand actions left us all with a powerful legacy."
Young men like PTE Alec Campbell carried that legacy forward.
At 16, he enlisted by lying about his age. He arrived at Gallipoli in October 1915, where he carried water, ran messages and dodged enemy fire. In 1990, he returned for the campaign's 75th anniversary. In 2001, Alec Campbell became the last living Anzac, the final heartbeat among more than a million who landed on Gallipoli's shores. When he died in 2002, that heartbeat stopped.
Gallipoli remains relevant not just for Australians and New Zealanders but also for the values it represents: courage, sacrifice, and mateship.
Three years later, those same qualities marched to the Western Front.
In 1918, Americans and Australians fought side by side for the first time at Le Hamel, a village in northern France, under Australian Gen. John Monash. It was the first time U.S. troops served under a foreign commander.
They have stood together ever since.
The alliance deepened through joint efforts in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf, Iraq, Afghanistan and the fight against ISIS in Syria.
More than 100 years of shared sacrifice now shape joint missions at Point Mugu. Uniforms change. Missions evolve. Australians still serve.
Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division's Airborne Electronic Attack Integrated Product Team has collaborated with their RAAF counterparts at Point Mugu since 2009. Uniformed RAAF personnel joined the team full time starting in 2014, marking 11 continuous years of daily partnership in electronic warfare operations.
The Australian footprint at Point Mugu seemed inevitable early on. It wasn't.
In 2013, Genesis Johnson faced an uncertain task. Now the NAWCWD chief of staff for operations, she remembers navigating endless delays to secure the agreements making Australia's presence permanent.
She joined the team in 2013 to lead cooperative development on the F/A-18 and EA-18G programs. Within months, she and her colleagues launched the Spectrum Dominance Working Group while delays stalled Australia's first EA-18G international agreement.
"Everything seemed challenging at the time. Coordinating across campuses, working with our sponsors, navigating the international process," Johnson said. "It all felt hard. But it was so worth it."
A decade later, the working group continues its mission, and news of Australians joining the Electronic Warfare Symposium or Gray Flag at Point Mugu reminds Johnson of the effort it took to get there.
"I literally pinch myself," Johnson said. "I'm so proud of what we accomplished back then because of the lasting legacy. But its enduring relevance for this key partnership is crucial."
When Johnson thinks of Anzac Day, one image comes to mind.
"The beautiful red poppies. They symbolize both the strength and fragility of life and the ultimate sacrifices made so we can enjoy the freedoms we have today."
RAAF SGT Peter Fitzgibbins, who spoke at the ceremony following Savage, always thinks about his grandfather on Anzac Day.
"Freedom is a value worth defending. Freedom is a value worth fighting for," Fitzgibbins said.
His grandfather served in the Pacific during World War II with the Australian Army. As a boy, Fitzgibbins would attend dawn services and parades with him. Those memories still hold strong.
"Luckily our allies, fondly referred to as 'the Yanks,' had our backs in confronting the Pacific threat. A friendship that still holds strong today."
That wartime bond evolved into formal policy in 1951, when the two nations signed the ANZUS Treaty. Australia reaffirmed that pledge three days after 9/11. The same promise resonates in shared systems, joint labs, and next-generation capabilities built for tomorrow.
Dave Mohler, NAWCWD's Airborne Electronic Attack International Programs lead, sees how closely the two nations operate and what that means for the mission.
"Every day, U.S. and Australian personnel work side by side to advance shared capabilities and mission data for platforms like the EA-18G and F-35. That collaboration gives both forces a decisive edge," Mohler said.
Mateship is one of the most important foundations when working together.
"The day-to-day partnership between the RAAF and U.S. teams continues to grow," Savage said. "The Electronic Warfare Data Systems team works together as one, utilizing each other's strengths to streamline existing processes while also creating new ones."
The partnership moved forward because people pushed it forward. People like Tony Douglas.
Douglas spent 15 years guiding U.S. and Australian teams at NAWCWD. As the Australian technical director, he helped launch the Advanced Passive Surveillance Capability, an upgrade that sharpened the F/A-18 radar warning receiver so pilots could spot threats sooner and fly home safe. His work set the stage for today's trusted partnership and interoperability on the EA-18G Growler and the Next-Generation Jammer.
In fact, Australia is the only country aside from the United States to operate the EA-18G Growler. The two nations also co-developed the Next-Generation Jammer, a system replacing the legacy ALQ-99. Both nations employ identical capabilities and share the burden of development and costs.
The partnership has roots in real places, real labs.
The Trans-Pacific Electronic Attack Research Laboratory, or T-PEARL, gives Australian personnel a secure workspace at Point Mugu. The lab supports collaboration on electronic warfare projects and signifies the long-term commitment both nations have made.
"It provides a crucial advantage in allowing us to present a united front and deter aggression," Mohler said. "Australia's location in the Indo-Pacific offers invaluable access and basing options, vital for projecting power in the region."
The next step is the Jamming and Countermeasures Center, or JCC.
Clint Stammer, F-35 Joint Program Office electronic attack and countermeasures lead, created the concept. Approved in May 2023, it reached early operational capability in July 2024.
Stammer says the JCC is more than a building. It's a concept. It's a handshake across oceans. The work began years ago, and soon Australian personnel will walk through its doors.
"We have already been working directly with the Australians. We talk to them almost every day. It's how we turn ideas into operational realities," Stammer said. "We are collaborating, we are developing, we have systems, they have systems, and all of it comes together at the JCC."
That momentum did not stay behind closed lab doors. In December 2024, it made noise.
The Royal Australian Navy destroyer HMAS Brisbane successfully launched a Tomahawk missile from the Point Mugu Sea Range. It was a seminal moment in the U.S.-Australia partnership. Australia became the third nation, alongside the United States and the United Kingdom, to demonstrate the capability under AUKUS.
Shared sacrifices have led to shared capabilities. They do not wear the same uniform. They do not need to. What they have built together is stronger than anything either nation could build alone.
"Mateship binds us together," Savage explained. "It's trust, mutual respect and loyalty. It shapes how we train, how we fight, how we support one another."
The ceremony had ended. The bugle's call, the Ode of Remembrance, the minute of silence were now behind them.
Chairs circled two long tables, where mates would soon meet eye to eye. A brown paper bag rested on each seat, each one tucked with a small Australian flag. Nearby, members of the Jamming Techniques Optimization team cooked a traditional gunfire breakfast with coffee, rum, bacon and eggs. The breakfast is a post-dawn service tradition that traces its roots to British troops and lives on today in Anzac Day commemorations across Australia.
The ceremony honored the past, but eyes are now forward. Australian and American mateship, born from battles past, remains ready for whatever the future holds. New Zealand service members share that watch across the Pacific, carrying the Anzac spirit wherever it is needed.
"The outcomes of our joint efforts play a vital role in shaping both regional and global stability," Savage said. "As we face an era where collaboration is essential, our bond continues to grow stronger, grounded in the understanding that neither of our nations can go it alone."
| Date Taken: | 04.28.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.28.2025 16:03 |
| Story ID: | 496368 |
| Location: | POINT MUGU NAWC, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 144 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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