The primary role of RAMSI’s military contingent, known as Combined Task Force 635, is to provide support and assistance to RAMSI’s Participating Police Force as it works to strengthen the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force.
RAMSI's military contingent is currently led by Lieutenant Colonel Campbell Smith, with soldiers from four nations – Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga all serving in Solomon Islands.
Initial work
In the initial period following RAMSI’s arrival in 2003, the key role of RAMSI’s military was to provide protection for the PPF and other parts of the Mission, necessary due to the serious law and order situation and the large number of illegally-held weapons present in the Solomon Islands community at the time.
The key focus
The key focus of RAMSI’s military now is to deter destabilising elements within the country, and support RAMSI’s Participating Police Force efforts to strengthen the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force capacity to maintain law and order and provide a stable security environment.
Case study:
RAMSI military support in West Guadalcanal
Patrols alongside the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force and RAMSI Participating Police Force are a core part of the work of RAMSI’s military. In April 2010, the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force, together with support from RAMSI’s military and RAMSI Participating Police Force, conducted a twelve-day extended patrol to the remote West Guadalcanal region.
Operating from a disused fish processing facility in the village of Lambi, the patrol visited twenty villages to support the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force’s ‘high-visibility’ policing activities, and to conduct community awareness activities about crime prevention and the role of RAMSI. In the remote and unforgiving terrain that characterises much of west Guadalcanal, many villages could not be accessed by vehicle or foot and required the patrol to use banana boats to reach communities.
Speaking through the Paramount Chief of the region, Simon Pahini, village chiefs reported that incidents of drunkenness and anti-social behaviour were virtually non-existent after the arrival of the patrol in the area. Patrol members routinely received warm greetings from local villagers on their arrival at communities, as well as being met by villagers who felt safe enough to come forward and offer information on criminal activities in the community.
Corporal Ryan Black, a 38-year old Australian Section Commander and Solomon Islands pijin specialist on his second tour of duty in the Solomon Islands, said that by working alongside the Participating Police Force, the RAMSI military was providing an environment where the community could feel safe, and see the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force back in action.
“It is great to see the look on people’s faces when they see us working together to support the local police,” said Corporal Black. “It’s a good feeling knowing that our support is helping the police and the community get back on top of things.”
“What has also been positive is that with the patrol around, they feel safe enough to speak freely about issues in the area and provide information to help the community and local police deal with the problem together.
“It has certainly kept the local police investigators with us busy – and the military linguists, too,” added Corporal Black with a smile.
The impact of the patrol on law and order in West Guadalcanal was outstanding. As a result of information received from the local community and investigations conducted by the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force members, twelve arrests were made and seventeen outstanding police cases were able to be cleared.