Somalia through a veteran’s lens

Army veteran Alex Tessieri with Somali citizens during Operation Solace

May 2023 marks the 30th anniversary of Australia’s completion of its UN peacekeeping missions to Somalia. We spoke with Alex about the life lessons he brought home.

Tell us about your Army career.  

I’ve always wanted to be outdoors and had a keen interest in all things ‘military’ growing up. I enlisted in 1987 as a general infantryman, and my first posting was at Townsville in Delta Company, 1st Battalion. I ended up in signals platoon, and then became a sniper. By the time I was deployed to Somalia, I was a Lance Corporal in Charlie Company, 9 Platoon. 

I served 19 years in the regular Army before transitioning to the Reserves to start a new career as a park ranger, which I’ve done for 10 years now. I’m currently planning a move into the Standby Reserve. This year is monumental for me because it’s the 30th anniversary of my deployment to Somalia. 

What was Operation Solace and why was it important? 

In 1993, I was 22 years old and just married. I never thought I would be deployed overseas because at the time, Australia hadn’t been anywhere since Vietnam, so being sent to Somalia was a bit of a shock. We were part of Operation Solace, Australia’s mission within Operation Restore Hope (the international forces’ overall mission). The Americans had done a lot of tactical work before we arrived, so we were based in Baidoa and tasked with restoring order so a more successful humanitarian program could be implemented there. This involved going into the countryside to ensure non-government and aid organisations could safely and effectively deliver food and medical relief to those in need.  

How did your experience in Somalia shape you? 

One of the things that struck me was that Somalia was a very well-developed country at one point. There were constant reminders of how grand it once was, but a lot that remained was infrastructure that had been pulverised to rubble. Looking back, we were trained and experienced in handling situations in complex environments, but we weren’t psychologically prepared for the devastation and desperation we were faced with.  

I’ll never forget the day a man approached me at a food distribution point. He looked dishevelled and was carrying only a stick. We exchanged a few words, and he passed me his ID card from when he was working as a factory executive. In the photo, he was dressed in a suit, well-groomed. In that moment, I realised that it doesn’t take much to go from one point to another; we’re only ever on a thin edge. 

Did you document this important chapter of your life? 

I took many photos of kids in the aid and refugee camps where we did our distributions, to capture the fact that unfortunately, they were the ones being caught in all the disruption. It was hard to cop back then, but being able to show these photos today and tell the story outside my mateship and family circles is excellent. That’s why I was happy to share them publicly in the Point & Shoot Veteran Photography Exhibition. While they are now snapshots in time, it’s been a good opportunity to talk about it. 

What would you like the public to learn from your story? 

Many people don’t know about Australia’s involvement in Somalia because it’s not captured much in literature or memorials. Yet, it played a significant role; when we arrived, there was ugliness and death, but when we left, there was colour, vibrancy and confidence. Without fighting any big battles, we achieved our goal of restoring dignity and a path to normality there. On reflection, a constant theme is how lucky we are in Australia. It hits home that we’ve got to stop, think and preserve the good that we have here. 

Point & Shoot exhibition 

One of Alex Tessieri’s photos was selected for the Point & Shoot photography exhibition in 2022. Image submissions for this year’s exhibition are open until 28 May and those selected will be on display in Brisbane and Townsville during October. Learn more.

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