This site will have regular updates from Afghanistan for families all over Australia. RTF3 will be providing pictures and an update. Deployment is from September 2007 to April 2008. Watch for updates.

Activity Update

RTF 3's tour of Afghanistan began with members being treated to stopovers at Darwin and then the Maldives, the natural beauty of which was only equalled by the expense of its duty free items, and where the runway threatened to be engulfed by a one metre-high tide at any stage (much to distress of everyone, who foresaw a nightmarish extended stay there). Finally we arrived in Kuwait - a land of sprawling deserts, military bases, military ranges, roving herds of wild camels and endless convoys, and began our final training before deploying to Afghanistan.

To avoid the unpleasant but relatively mild, by Kuwaiti standards, forty-five degree heat, we set out at 0430 hours to the range to conduct some basic shooting and to defend an entry control point from a complex attack, before beginning a package of close-quarter battle shoots pitting us against targets at ranges of 25 metres and below. The next day it was briefs on fratricide prevention from an almost incomprehensible Irishman from the 1st Royal Irish Guards (with Hahn Premium Light ads somehow featuring), then off to Mr Brent Cloud, a hyper-enthusiastic, ex-US Special Forces medic, and his collection of computerised breathing and bleeding crash-test dummies for some no-nonsense and highly realistic battlefield first aid training. The training continued with more close-quarter battle shooting culminating in room and house clearances in small teams, again led by feverish ex-US Special Forces contractors who had us shouting and grunting clich?US war cries before you could say "Hoo-ah".

While training was not occurring RTF members had full access to the smorgasboard of facilities that seem to accompany every US Base. All the major fast food chains were represented, along with coffee houses, pizza, Chinese, Harley Davidson stores, and a 'PX', as well as a store boasting the 'World's Best Cheesesteak', cooked in delicious peanut oil. Fortunately there was a gym on base too as well as a scenic running track around the perimeter.

Overall, the level of confidence in the Kuwaiti training package was extremely high with most, if not all personnel actively commenting on its realism and its relevance to the impending operation in Uruzgan Province. Comments also indicated the benefit of this sort of training across the Australian Defence Force, especially in line with the current operational tempo.