Exercise Kangaroo

[1] The military units involved included the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne (R21), which took part in the exercise in the Coral Sea, before returning to Sydney.

[2] In October 1976, Melbourne participated in Exercise Kangaroo II, before sailing to her namesake city for the carrier's 21st birthday celebrations, then returning to Sydney on 5 November.

The exercise next took place in 1992, with over 12,000 Australian and American personnel taking part.

[4] When Lieutenant General John Sanderson became Commander Joint Forces Australia (CJFA) in the early 1990s, his main task was to plan the Kangaroo series of exercises.

At one stage of Kangaroo '92 in the space of 30 minutes, two ships, one with a battalion of infantry embarked, were 'sunk' for lack of air cover.