In the Hills of Australia, Pacific Allies Are Training to Fight China

Text by Mike Cherney

Photographs by Ioanna Sakellaraki

In 2025, I was commissioned by The Wall Street Journal to photograph U.S. Marines, Australian Defence Force personnel, and Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force troops during the live-fire Southern Jackaroo exercise at Australia’s largest military base in Townsville. This annual trilateral training—now in its most expansive iteration—brought together over 3,000 personnel for a four-week deployment across North Queensland’s vast terrain.

The exercise featured force-on-force maneuvers and synchronized live-fire missions involving artillery, mortars, and mechanized infantry. Against the backdrop of rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific, Southern Jackaroo served as a strategic rehearsal for multinational cooperation and deterrence, underscoring the urgency of allied readiness in response to China’s growing military assertiveness.

What does 3,000 troops, dust, and live fire sound like from behind the lens?

My photographic documentation aims to capture these tensions—dust, noise, and machinery converging in a landscape shaped by geopolitical unease.

You can read the full artticle on The WSJ website here