Operation Slipper

history

Operation Slipper is the Australian Defence Force (ADF) contribution to the war in Afghanistan. The operation commenced in late 2001 and is ongoing. ADF participation included two major activities centred on Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf.

Afghanistan

First phase

 Australian participation in Afghanistan included a Special Forces Task group and two Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Boeing 707 air-to-air refuelling aircraft from No. 33 Squadron. These aircraft and associated support personnel operated from Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan and provided support to coalition aircraft operating in Afghan airspace.

Two RAAF AP-3C Orion aircraft flew maritime patrol missions in support of maritime interdiction operations in the Persian Gulf. These aircraft were temporarily retasked to Operations Falconer and Catalyst in 2003.

RAAF C-130 Hercules transport aircraft were also involved in providing logistic support for deployed forces. The Special Forces were involved with the establishment of the US-led coalition's first Forward Operating Base (Camp Rhino) southwest of Kandahar in November 2001, followed by the capture of Kandahar International Airport in December 2001. The initial ADF commitment in Afghanistan concluded in December 2002 when the Special Air Service Task Group was withdrawn. Following this date until 2005 Australia’s total contribution to efforts in Afghanistan was a single officer attached to the Coalition’s mine clearing force.

Australian SAS Squadron deployments

All three squadrons of the Australian Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) were deployed to Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002. The dates of these deployments were:
  • 1 Squadron Group, SASR – (October 2001–April 2002)
  • 3 Squadron Group, SASR – (April 2002–August 2002)
  • 2 Squadron Group, SASR – (August 2002–November 2002)

A Troop from the New Zealand Special Air Service was attached to each Australian SAS Squadron Group. It’s unclear whether the New Zealand SAS Troop was rotated at the same times as the Australian units.

Second phase

An Australian Special Forces Task Group was re-deployed to Afghanistan in August or September 2005. This Task Group consisted of elements from the SASR, 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (Commando), the Incident Response Regiment and logistic support personnel. As well as heavily modified land rovers, the Special Forces Task Group was also equipped with some Bushmaster infantry mobility vehicles. A detachment of two CH-47 Chinook helicopters from the 5th Aviation Regiment was deployed to Afghanistan in March 2006 to support the Special Forces Task Group. The Australian Special Forces Task Group was withdrawn from Afghanistan in September 2006 and the helicopter detachment returned to Australia in April 2007.

Third phase

A Reconstruction Taskforce based around the 1st Combat Engineer Regiment with protective elements from the 5th/7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment and 2nd Cavalry Regiment began arriving in OrÅ«zgÄn Province in southern Afghanistan in early September 2006. The Australian Reconstruction Taskforce forms part of a Dutch-led Provincial Reconstruction Team. The Dutch force in the province is designated Task Force Uruzgan.

A 300 strong Special Operations Task Group was deployed to support the Reconstruction Taskforce in April 2007. In addition to radar crews, logistics and intelligence officers, and security personnel, this brought the number of Australian personnel in Afghanistan grew to 950 by mid-2007, with further small increases to 1000 in mid-2008, 1,100 by early 2009»Australia to double Afghan force. bbc.co.uk. Date: 2007-4-10. Accessed: 2007-4-12. and 1,550 by mid-2009. With the addition of a small Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team, the RTF was renamed the Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force in early 2009. Another 800 personnel are based in the Middle East in support of Operation Slipper but are based outside of Afghanistan.

Opinion polls indicate that public support for Australia's deployment to Afghanistan is decreasing. A poll released in September 2008 found that a majority of those surveyed were opposed to Australia's continued military involvement in the country.

On 16 January 2009, Trooper Mark Donaldson, a member of the SASR, was awarded Australia's highest gallantry medal, the Victoria Cross for Australia. Donaldson was awarded the medal for exposing himself to enemy fire to protect injured Australian troops and then rescuing an Afghan interpreter under heavy enemy fire during a contact on 2 September 2008.

Current order of battle

As of February 2010 approximately 1,550 Australians were deployed to Afghanistan.
  • National Command Element
    • Mentoring Task Force 1 (MTF-1)
      • Headquarters, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6 RAR)
      • 3 x Combat Teams including infantry, cavalry, engineers and offensive support
      • Detachment, 20th Surveillance and Target Acquisition Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery (operates ScanEagle UAVs)
      • Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams (embedded with Afghan Army battalions)
      • Logistics and support units
    • Special Operations Task Group
    • Rotary Wing Group (including two CH-47D Chinooks helicopters).
    • Detachment, 4th Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery (16 gunners attached to the British Army)
    • RAAF Control and Reporting Centre (Kandahar International Airport)
    • Two AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and three C-130 Hercules transports
    • Personnel embedded with various coalition units
    • Force Level Logistic Asset (Kandahar International Airport)

Persian Gulf

in January 2002]] Since October 2001 the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) has maintained a continuous presence in and around Iraqi territorial waters as part of Operation Slipper and subsequent operations. There were four major rotations of RAN ships to this area of operations between December 2001 and March 2003. The primary focus of these rotations was to conduct Maritime Interception Operations as part of a US, Australian and British force enforcing United Nations Security Council resolutions against Iraq. The first rotation consisted of Her Majesty's Australian Ships (HMAS) Sydney, Adelaide and Kanimbla. These ships were followed in February 2002 by HMA Ships Canberra, Newcastle and Manoora and again in July 2002 by HMAS Arunta and Melbourne. Detachments from the Army's 16th Air Defence Regiment provided point defence to the Kanimbla and Manoora during their deployments. One of the final Operation Slipper rotations was in November 2002 with HMA Ships Anzac and Darwin. HMAS Kanimbla departed from Sydney, Australia on the 20 January 2003 again bound for the Persian Gulf under the mission objectives of Operation Bastille. On arriving in Bahrain on 16 February she reverted to the original mission objects of Operation Slipper (that of enforcing UN Sanctions against Iraq). On the 20 March 2003, HMA Ships Kanimbla, Anzac and Darwin participated in the combat phase of the 2003 Iraq War, codenamed Operation Falconer.

During these operations the Australian ships pioneered a number of techniques that increased the effectiveness of Maritime Interception Force operations leading to them intercepting and boarding about 1700 vessels during the period. Four Australian naval officers commanded the multinational force at various times during the course of the operation.

Diego Garcia

A detachment of four Australian F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft provided air defence for the US military base on the island of Diego Garcia during the campaign against the Taliban. The initial detachment was provided by No. 77 Squadron RAAF between December 2001 and 10 February 2002. This detachment was replaced by a detachment from No. 3 Squadron RAAF which was deployed between 10 February 2002 and 20 May 2002. No further Australian units have been deployed to Diego Garcia.

Casualties

Operation Slipper is further notable for the first Australian combat deaths since the Vietnam War.

11 Australian soldiers have been killed during operations in Afghanistan, ten since October 2007, whilst another died whilst serving with the British Army. As of 26 September 2009, 83 Australians have been wounded in Afghanistan.

  1. Andrew Russell, 33, was an Australian Special Air Service Regiment Sergeant. On 16 February 2002, Russell was travelling through southern Afghanistan with four other Australian soldiers when their patrol vehicle struck a land mine, severely injuring him. He was taken to a US military hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds.
  2. David Pearce, 41, was the second Australian fatality in Afghanistan. Pearce, a Trooper from the 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment, was killed while serving in OrÅ«zgÄn Province. Pearce was driving an ASLAV on 9 October 2007, when an improvised road-side explosive device detonated, killing him and injuring a passenger.
  3. Matthew Locke MG, 33, was an Australian Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) Sergeant. On 25 October 2007, Locke, who was serving a second tour of duty in Afghanistan, was engaged in a firefight with members of the Taliban militia, when he was injured in the chest by small arms fire. Other soldiers in his unit provided first-aid care prior to and during evacuation to a medical facility, where he died a short time later. Gurkha Lance Corporal Agnish Thapa, serving in the 1st Royal Gurkha Rifles, British Army was awarded the Military Cross for running through enemy fire machine gun and RPG fire and extracted Locke by physically dragging him back to cover. Locke was killed while serving in OrÅ«zgÄn Province. During his first tour of duty, Locke had been awarded the Medal for Gallantry.

  1. Luke Worsley, 26, was a Private serving with Special Operations Task Group. He was shot and killed by small arms fire on 23 November 2007 during an attempt to take a heavily defended Taliban position.

  1. Jason Marks, 27, was a Lance Corporal from the Australian 4RAR. He was killed after an intense firefight with Taliban insurgents, when a RPG landed near the patrol vehicle he was taking cover behind whilst reloading his weapon. The attack occurred 25 km south of the Australian base at Tarin Kowt in OrÅ«zgÄn Province. Four other Australian soldiers were wounded in the attack. All five were flown to a nearby US military hospital, where the wounded were expected to fully recover.[http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23608613-5001028,00.html Digger killed in Taliban attack | The Daily Telegraph]»Afghanistan situation 'grim': Rudd - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
  2. Sean McCarthy, 25, was a Signaller in the SASR. He, two other SASR soldiers and a soldier from another country were wounded when the vehicle they were travelling in was attacked by a roadside bomb on 8 July 2008 during a patol in OrÅ«zgÄn Province. Signaller McCarthy died from his wounds after being evacuated to the SOTG's base at Tarin Kowt.. He was on his 2nd tour of duty in Afghanistan. The two other Australians wounded in the attack returned to duty on 11 July.
  3. Michael Fussell, 25, was a Lieutenant in the 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. As he and his team were conducting a dismounted patrol on 27 November 2008 they were struck by an IED, killing Fussell. Two other soldiers received minor wounds, but returned to duty a few days later.
  4. Gregory Michael Sher, 30, »http://www.gregsher.com was a Private in the 1st Commando Regiment, Australian Special Operations Command. He was killed in a rocket attack on a forward base in OrÅ«zgÄn Province on 4 January 2009.
  5. Mathew Hopkins, 21, was a Corporal in the 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. He was attacked and fatally injured on 16 March 2009 while on patrol as part of a mentoring and reconstruction taskforce patrol operating with members of the Afghan National Army, near a village 12 km north of Tarin Kowt.
  6. Brett Till, 31, was a Sergeant and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technician from the Incident Response Regiment. He was killed on 19 March 2009 while trying to defuse an improvised explosive device.
  7. Benjamin Ranaudo, 22, was a Private with 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, serving with MRTF 2. He was killed on 18 July 2009 by an anti-personnel explosive device during an operation against a compound of interest in the Baluchi Valley.»http://www.defence.gov.au/DefenceBlog/2009/0713_0719.htm#mourningRanaudo

Postscript: Stuart Nash, 21, was a Rifleman in The Rifles regiment, British Army. Nash was born in Sydney and was killed in action in Nad e Ali District, Helmand province on 17 December 2008. He is not counted in the list of Australian casualties above.

Timeline

{| class="wikitable" |2001 |
  • 11 September - Islamist terrorists attack New York and Washington, killing nearly 3,000 people.
  • November - The first Australian forces are committed.
|- |2002 |
  • 16 February - Sergeant Andrew Russell (SASR) becomes the first Australian killed in Afghanistan after his patrol vehicle struck a land mine.
  • March - Australian and coalition forces conduct a major offensive to clear the Paktia region along the border with Pakistan in Operation Anaconda. More than 500 Taliban are reported killed.Dennis et al (2008), p. 8.
|- |2006 |
  • July - During Operation Perth Australian special forces troops, working together with Netherlands Korps Commandotroepen, killed 150 Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters in nine days of fierce fighting in the Chora district, north-east of Tarin Kowt in southern Afghanistan. The fighting was the heaviest experienced by Australian forces since the Vietnam War and saw six Australians wounded in action.
|- |2008 |
  • 2 September - Nine Australian Special Forces soldiers are wounded, including three seriously, during a major ambush on their patrol by insurgents.
|- |2009 |
  • 16 January - Trooper Mark Donaldson (SASR) was awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia for gallantry under heavy enemy fire during a contact on 2 September 2008.
  • March/April - Australian troops from the Special Operations Task Group and the Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force killed 80 Taliban fighters in a major four-week operation in Helmand province. There were no Australian casualties.
  • Early May - A senior insurgent commander, Mullah Noorullah, was killed in a joint Australian operation after he and one other insurgent were tracked moving into a tunnel system by Special Forces in Oruzgan province. Noorullah was also understood to have been involved in the major battle with Afghan and Australian forces on 12 April in which up to four other insurgents were also killed by Australian soldiers.
  • October - Sabi, an Australian special forces explosives detection dog which was declared missing in action after the 2 September 2008 ambush, is recovered safe and well.
|}

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

home | This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. See full license termsIt uses material from the Wikipedia article "Operation_Slipper ". | compliance | March 19th 2010