| Australia's armed forces are scattered far and wide across the world -- from Iraq to the South Pacific. But one regiment is much closer to home -- Norforce, a reservist unit, protects the vast wilderness regions of northern Australia. 澳大利亚的武装部队遍布全球——从伊拉克到南太平洋。但是有一个组织离家乡很近的，这就是“非武力组织”。“非武装组织”是一个预备役军人组织，它保护着澳大利亚北部的大面积的野生丛林。 Many of its recruits are Aborigines -- the indigenous people who are in many respects disadvantaged in Australia. But in Norforce a number of Aborigine men have found a new sense of direction and self respect, as Nick Squires has been finding out: 团中的大部分人员都是土著人——就是那些在澳大利亚处于弱势的本土人。但是在“非武力组织”里，这些土著人找到了他们的方向感，找到了他们的自尊，正如尼可·斯奎尔斯所说： It's another sweltering day in the savannah woodland of northern Australia and I'm sitting in the back of a dusty Landrover waiting to meet members of one of the country's most unusual military units.在澳大利亚北部丛林的一个炎热的夏日里，我坐在一部满是灰尘的越野车的后座上，等待着同这个国家最非同寻常的一个组织的领导人见面。 I hear them before I see them -- their presence betrayed by the faint crackle of dry leaves, which carpet the forest floor. A six man patrol emerges quietly from the bush. They're carrying rifles and enormous packs. Their faces are smeared in camouflage cream and they're drenched in sweat. But, they're surprisingly cheerful. 他们人没到声音倒先到了，铺满地面的枯树叶劈啪的声音告诉我，他们来了。六个巡逻者从丛林里悄然出现。他们手持步枪，还背着很重的背包，脸上涂了一层油作为伪装，而且浑身是汗。但是，他们的情绪却十分高涨。 "I joined up because I wanted to learn navigation and leadership skills," says Lance Corporal Shaun Evans, smiling through the fatigue. "Plus, I like being in the bush." Evans is a soldier in Norforce, a reservist unit whose job it is to patrol northern Australia looking out for poachers, gun runners, illegal fishermen and, potentially, terrorists. “我参加这个组织的目的是为了学习航空知识和领导才能”，一等兵肖恩·依凡斯说话时脸上显露出疲倦的微笑，“而且，我喜欢生活在丛林里。” 依凡斯是“非武力组织” 的一个成员。该组织的主要任务是在澳大利亚的北部丛林中巡逻，寻找偷猎者，持枪者，非法渔民以及潜在恐怖分子。 What makes the regiment unusual is that around two-thirds of its 600 soldiers are Aborigines. That stands in stark contrast to the regular Australian army, which has very few indigenous troops. “非武力组织”的与众不同之处就在于它的600多个成员中有三分之二都是土著人。这种情况和澳大利亚的普通部队形成强烈的对比，因为普通部队中很少有土著人。 Unlike the weekend warriors of other reservist units, Norforce soldiers can serve for up to 150 days a year, and many do. They use Landrovers, planes and inflatable boats to patrol a massive area of desert, scrub and coastline. 和其他那些预备役部队里那些只有周末出来活动的人不同，“非武力组织”的战士每年可以工作150天，而且很多人就是工作150天。他们乘着越野车，飞机和气垫船对澳大利亚北部的广大沙漠，灌木丛和海岸线进行巡逻。 It stretches more than 2,000 kilometres from Western Australia to Queensland, and reaches deep into the red desert around Alice Springs. 他们的巡逻路线从澳大利亚西部到昆士兰州，而且深入艾利斯泉城地区的红色沙漠，长达2000公里。 Aboriginal troops are held in high esteem for their tracking abilities, their stealth and their instinctive knowledge of the land. "You won't get a better set of eyes than an Aboriginal soldier in the north," says Captain Jack Olchowik, a white Norforce officer in charge of training the unit. Their bushcraft and their foraging skills are second to none." 这个土著部队由于跟踪能力很强，行动秘密，而且十分了解这个地区的地理情况，所以很受尊重。“没有人比这个地区的土著人眼睛更好使的了。”杰克·奥尔乔维克上尉——一个负责人员训练的白人军官这样说道，“他们的追踪能力和寻找食物的能力是天下最棒的。” Those foraging skills include looking for bush tucker whenever there's an opportunity. Corporal Tommy Munyarryun is a Norforce veteran of 15 years and a respected elder in the Wanguri tribe. 寻找食物的手段包括在任何有机会的时候寻找丛林中的猎物。托米·穆雅云下士是一位有着十五年经验的倍受尊重的一个老兵。 He grins as he lists the food which can supplement his normal army-issue rations: wallabies, turtles, witchetty grubs, wild oysters. "The white fellas teach us army stuff and we teach them what bush tucker they can eat when we're out on patrol," Tommy told me. 他微笑着列举了一些能够充当部队配给粮食的食物：小袋鼠，海龟，木蠹蛾幼虫，野牡蛎。“我们巡逻的时候，白人教我们一些部队的知识，我们教他们什么样的丛林食物是可以吃的。” 托米这样对我说。 |
