[Australia]: Message to the United States [SEC=SECRET]

[Owen]

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CHIEF OF NAVY​

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: SECRET (ENCRYPTED)​

2 June 2005

Dear Admiral Porter, One of the most important relationships I have the honour of maintaining as Australia's Chief of Navy is with the Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet. As you may be aware, Australia is uniquely in a position to have direct access to the Pacific, Indian and Southern Oceans, the only nation with that privilege. Whilst Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia are able to have access to both the Indian and Pacific Oceans, as far as our Defence Intelligence is aware we are the only nation that maintains a significant naval presence on both, with fleet bases on both sides of the country including naval air bases. We're also the only nation to maintain a sophisticated defence communications network with the ability to communicate across the Pacific and Indian Oceans through the Australian Defence Force Modernised High Frequency Communications System. As apart of this network we maintain the Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt near Exmouth, Western Australia. This site is the most powerful transmission station in the Southern Hemisphere with a transmission power of 1 megawatt. It has the ability to communicate with ships and submarines across the western Pacific and eastern Indian Oceans. With a frequency of 19.8kHz it provides a very low frequency ability to be able to communicate with submarines deep in the ocean. Originally it was constructed by the United States as U.S. Naval Communication Station North West Cape, since 1974 we have maintained a joint operation on the facility and since 1993 only the Royal Australian Navy uses the facility. I would like to see a U.S. presence returned to the facility. We've also highlighted the site for potential construction of space surveillance facilities in the future. I would like it if I could visit Hawaii and visit the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in order to sit down and discuss these many areas of cooperation between our two navies which we think will benefit both of us quite strongly, particularly in light of evolving regional challenges. Yours sincerely, Vice Admiral Russ Crane.

Russell Offices, CANBERRA, ACT 2600 Telephone: (02) 6144 9190​

Protective Marking:	Business Impact Level:	Compromise of Information Confidentiality:	Required to be Encrypted:
UNOFFICIAL	No Business Impact	No damage. This information does not form part of official duty.
OFFICIAL	Low Business Impact	No or insignificant damage. This is the majority of routine information.
OFFICIAL: Sensitive	Low to Medium Business Impact	Limited damage to an individual, organisation or government generally if compromised.
PROTECTED	High Business Impact	Damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
SECRET	Extreme Business Impact	Serious damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
TOP SECRET	Catastrophic Business Impact	Exceptionally grave damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

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OFFICE OF THE COMMANDER OF THE U.S. PACIFIC FLEET​

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ENCRYPTED MESSAGE​

TO: Vice Admiral Russ Crane, Chief of the Royal Australian Navy ( Owen )

FROM: Admiral Thomas Porter, Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet

Vice Admiral Crane,

I have spoken with the Secretary of The Navy, and he agrees with me that a visit by you to Pearl Harbor would likely be very productive for both of our navies, and our countries.

Once of President Sinclair's first official acts as commander-in-chief was to ensure that the United States would once again have a global naval presence. While that is still a work in progress, preliminary steps have already been taken. It has become quite clear to the Federal Government, and several of our partners around the world, that a lack of presence by the United States Navy is not a benefit to global stability. With that being said, I would be very interested to talk to you about the naval facilities that you mentioned, as well as Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt. In addition to those items, we can also discuss the possibility of future joint operations, regardless of the size, between our navies so that we can work together as regional partners.

I look forward to meeting you in person.​

Very Respectfully,

Thomas Porter
Admiral, Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet
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​

 

[Owen]

The Vice Admiral would cringe as he read the top line addressed to "Chief of the Royal Australian Navy", as the service branch chiefs were known as Chief of Navy, Chief of Army and Chief of Air Force and in a foreign context would have it prefaced with "Australia's" or followed by ", Australia".

​

CHIEF OF NAVY​

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: SECRET (ENCRYPTED)​

2 June 2005

Dear Admiral Porter, Thank you for your timely response. I shall be arriving in the coming days. Yours sincerely, Vice Admiral Russ Crane.

Russell Offices, CANBERRA, ACT 2600 Telephone: (02) 6144 9190​

Protective Marking:	Business Impact Level:	Compromise of Information Confidentiality:	Required to be Encrypted:
UNOFFICIAL	No Business Impact	No damage. This information does not form part of official duty.
OFFICIAL	Low Business Impact	No or insignificant damage. This is the majority of routine information.
OFFICIAL: Sensitive	Low to Medium Business Impact	Limited damage to an individual, organisation or government generally if compromised.
PROTECTED	High Business Impact	Damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
SECRET	Extreme Business Impact	Serious damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
TOP SECRET	Catastrophic Business Impact	Exceptionally grave damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.

The Chief of Navy, while not usually entitled to Royal Australian Air Force VIP aircraft, would have a Dassault Falcon 7X granted for his use for this trip due to their extended availability and the overseas nature of it. He would be accompanied by Aide-de-Camp's and the aircraft would travel from RAAF Base Fairbairn in Canberra to Hickham Air Force Base in Hawaii. He would be greeted by the Australian Consul-General in Honolulu, Mrs. Jane Hardy and Mrs. Sally Timbs the Australian Defence Liasion in the State of Hawaii.

​

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

Secret​

Vice Admiral Russ Crane would land safely with his entourage in Hawaii at Hickam Air Force Base. Once the aircraft had landed, it was directed to the appropriate taxiway and gate so that they could deplane. Waiting for them would be senior officials from the U.S. Pacific fleet as well as representatives from the State Department. The Australian representatives were escorted to U.S. Pacific Fleet headquarters at Pearl Harbor, and eventually to the office of Admiral Porter who was wearing his dress white uniform. Admiral Porter welcomed Vice Admiral Crane into his office and, if he was willing, would shake his hand.

"Admiral, welcome to Pearl Harbor. We'll have something more formal tonight, but I like getting down to brass tax before dealing with formalities and parties. I hope that you don't mind us getting down to business after your plane flight - I've had a long day myself," he said as he poured both of them a glass of ice water. Porter offered Crane a seat in his office, on a sofa across from another sofa, which had a coffee table in the middle. He would seat on one couch while Crane was welcome to sit on the other.

Owen

 

[Owen]

Vice Admiral Russ Crane would also be wearing his white dress uniform, the Officer Summer Non-Ceremonial Day Dress variant, which included short-sleeved but long pants with insignia on the shoulders. The Vice Admiral would reach out for a handshake.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Admiral. Let me introduce to you my Aide-de-Camp, Commodore Harry Nixon and the Australian Defence Liasion in the State of Hawaii, Mrs. Sally Timbs.

We are keen to discuss business." He would wait for the door to close.

"I think it's been highlighted as a priority by both of our governments to see closer cooperation between our Navies. This is the largest ocean in the world and it is highly contested. We have numerous threats to freedom of navigation and shipping lanes. Europe's trade with Asia rests solely on the Singapore Straits and the Strait of Malacca. As you can imagine Admiral.... there are a few problems in that vicinity. Australia also projects itself as an Indian Ocean power, which always seems to find itself in trouble, particularly around the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf end. A vast continent with multiple gateways to multiple bodies of water is certainly one that the United States Navy would see potential in and we want to unlock those potentials."

Odinson