Media Room: Defence Speech

MEDIA CONFERENCE BY CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCE, AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ANGUS HOUSTON REGARDING THE DEATH OF AN AUSTRALIAN SOLDIER IN AFGHANISTAN

 

 

E&OE

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

Well first of all, good morning and thanks for coming out so early this morning.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is with deep regret that I inform you that we have lost one of our own on operations in Afghanistan.

 

Members of the Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force, together with their Afghan National Army colleagues, were conducting a patrol near Kakarak - 12 kilometres north of Tarin Kowt - yesterday afternoon Australian time.

 

Initial reports indicate that they were engaged by a group of around 20 Taliban insurgents who were using small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades.

 

The patrol returned fire. Sadly, an Australian solider was killed as a consequence of this engagement. No other Australians were wounded in this incident.

The soldier's family has been informed of his death, and my highest priority is to ensure they receive the care and support they need during this difficult time.

 

On behalf of our nation, and the Australian Defence Force, I convey our deepest sympathies to his loved ones.

I realise that no words can comfort them nor lessen their grief. But I want them to know that all Australians mourn this soldier's loss.

 

It's a sad day for our nation, and Australia will be forever indebted for his sacrifice. He was a fine, professional, and courageous soldier.

 

At the request of the soldier's family, I'm unable to share with you any of his personal details.

 

I'm sure you will understand that his family, mates, and colleagues need time to come to terms with his tragic death.

 

This brave young man is the ninth Australian soldier we have lost in Afghanistan.

 

Without question, it remains a very dangerous place.

Our people continue to proudly serve our nation, and remain committed to fighting terrorism at its source.

 

I assure you, the loss of this outstanding soldier makes our people on Operation Slipper even more determined to achieve their tasks.

 

To our people deployed in Afghanistan, I admire your strength and resolve, and I share your pain.

 

At this time, you can understand that as ADF and Coalition operations are ongoing, I'm limited in the amount of information I can release on the incident itself.

 

I'm very conscious of the need to protect Australian Defence Force and Coalition soldiers still engaged in operations in the field, and I will not jeopardise their safety.

 

However, as is the normal process, the Australian Defence Force will conduct an inquiry into this soldier's death, and the public will be informed of its findings.

 

I'll now take questions; however, please remember that we need to respect this soldier's family; and give them the privacy they so rightly deserve in these tragic circumstances.

 

Thank you.

 

QUESTION: 

Were any Afghan National Army or Taliban injured or killed in this incident?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

No Afghan National Army or Coalition soldiers were killed, other than our soldier.

 

In terms of wounding, there's still some doubt as to the casualty state with the Afghan National Army elements; and I have no idea in terms of the Taliban.

 

All I know is there was a very intense fire-fight, and we were not in a position to have a look at the results of that engagement, because of the need to evacuate the member that was initially hit by gunfire - to get him out of there and get him to hospital.

 

QUESTION:

Were the Australians surprised by this Sir? Indeed, would you characterise it as an ambush or not?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

I would characterise it as, they were patrolling. One of the things that we're doing, as part of the Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team activities, is patrolling in the areas that the Afghan National Army are holding. So we go out and we do patrolling.

 

As they were patrolling they were engaged by the insurgents, and they returned fire, and that's when the casualty occurred.

 

QUESTION:

Were they on foot?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

They were on foot, and they were working in the green belt, close to this village, 12 kilometres to the north of Tarin Kowt.

 

QUESTION:

…details such as the soldier's rank and whether he was actually hit by gunfire or RPG?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

I'm not prepared to go into any details about the soldier. The family are particularly insistent on that.

 

But in terms of the cause of the casualty, he sustained a very serious gunshot wound.

 

QUESTION:

Are you able to tell us anything like where he was? Was he out ahead of the rest, or with the main group, or?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

I haven't got that information at this stage.

 

QUESTION:

There's been a series of Coalition troops killed in recent days. I think there were a couple of British soldiers killed the other day - is there something going on in terms of some sort of offensive on the part of the Taliban at the moment?

             

ANGUS HOUSTON:

Yes, ISAF did have a number of casualties over the weekend, and, we've now lost an individual.

 

I think the way I would characterise it is that as the weather improves there will be more fighting. That's the pattern we've seen over the last few years; and we're probably seeing more Taliban activity now than we did through the middle of the winter.

 

But, having said that, we will continue to patrol; we will continue to conduct our operations, and we'll continue to do it in a way which mitigates the risks to the maximum extent possible.

 

QUESTION:

Were there any civilian casualties or injuries as part of this incident?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

No, there were not. It was what we refer to in the military as - well, it was an engagement; troops in contact; a very intense fire-fight; and that's when the incident occurred.

 

QUESTION:

What time of the day was it; and are you able to tell us what the [indistinct]?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

The contact started at 09.29 in the morning, Afghanistan time, which was, one minute to four yesterday afternoon Australian Eastern Time.

 

QUESTION:

Can you tell us whether the Australian troops involved were all from the Mentoring Reconstruction Task Force Unit in that area? Were they supported by combat troops from Tarin Kowt as well?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

This was an Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT) patrol. It comprised Australian soldiers and also Afghan National Army soldiers.

 

There was a member who was, I suppose a member of the Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force that was assigned to the patrol. That is not unusual. If people are away or they're not available, we augment from the Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force in the normal way.

 

QUESTION:

Was he the only Australian present?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

Sorry?

 

QUESTION:

Was he the only Australian present?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

No, no, not at all. This was - this had several Australians present.

 

QUESTION:

How do you believe that the - was this one of the - was this an OMLT operation and how do you believe that's going?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

Yes, it was an OMLT operation and it was conducted by one of the OMLT teams. The OMLTs have been going for quite a while now and I've been very pleased with the progress that we've made but, again, I would stress that the environment that we're working in is a dangerous environment and, from time to time, we are going to come up against the insurgents and there will be engagements.

 

QUESTION:

CDF, at the time when the mentoring was announced there was a lot of discussion about increased danger for Australian soldiers, having to operate with Afghan national troops. Do you see that there is - this is a new level of danger for Australian troops, doing this mentoring job?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

No, I don't and the reason I say no, I don't, is we have for some considerable time now conducted similar patrols in similar areas with the, first of all, the Reconstruction Task Force and now the Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force and we've done those as Australian patrols and in the past, as you've seen, with some of the footage we've released, we have had troops in contact on those patrols.

 

So we will have contacts with those sorts of activities. Regrettably, from time

to time, we are going to sustain casualties. We've said all along from the time we went into Afghanistan that the threat was high. High threat means that we expect to take casualties from time to time.

 

QUESTION:

And this is the first loss of life though in mentoring - a mentoring capacity?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

Since we formed the Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force this is the first soldier that we have lost from that formation.

 

QUESTION:

CDF, those Australian soldiers in the forward operating base, which do patrol into Kakarak where this incident has occurred, told us when we were there, just a couple of weeks ago, they had concerns about the adequacy of the Afghan soldiers they were patrolling with.

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

Yes.

 

QUESTION:

And also that they would like more infantry support for some of these patrols. Did you take those criticisms on board a couple of weeks ago and did you accept that these soldiers may not have had the adequate support they needed?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

Look, I'm satisfied that, in these circumstances, these soldiers had all the support that they needed, given the circumstances that they came up against.

 

I mentioned earlier on, we came up against 20 insurgents who were in, I suppose, good position, and we gave a good account for ourselves.

 

Now, if you're up against 20 people who are well armed and are engaging you with rocket propelled grenades, small arms, there is going to be considerable risk associated with what you're doing.

 

What they did after the initial engagement, they called in reinforcements and an AME, and the two Apaches were despatched from Tarin Kowt. The Apaches were used effectively and, eventually, they were able to break contact.

 

So, from that point of view, they had fire support that was there fairly quickly.

 

QUESTION:

How many Australians were part of this patrol? Are we talking just five or six up against 20 Taliban?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

Look, I don't have the precise number. All I know is that it was a combined patrol. It included the officer commanding the OMLT, and I'm satisfied at this stage that there's nothing unusual about what happened here. It just reflects the high threat of the environment that we're working in.

 

QUESTION:

How long did the fire fight last?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

It was - it went on for a long time and, essentially, I said 09.29. It went on for a considerable period of time and other elements…

 

QUESTION:

How long?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

Well other elements came in afterwards - reinforcements, coalition reinforcements - and I'm informed that there was continuing contact with the insurgents after that.

 

QUESTION:

Was the soldier killed instantly, and may I also ask - NATO asked Australia for more troops. There's some speculation that that could mean more Mentoring and Reconstruction troops. Is that correct?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

Look, I'm not going to speculate about, you know, when the soldier died. Suffice it to say, when he arrived at the hospital at Tarin Kowt, he was declared dead on arrival. And that's the formal way that we do it.

 

Sorry, your other question?

 

QUESTION:

This - NATO has asked Australia for some more troops. There's some speculation that that could involve more Mentoring and Reconstruction troops. Could you comment on that?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

Well, I think NATO - we, along with all other nations that contribute to ISAF went to a force generation conference on 14 January, and all nations were asked to consider contributions for the elections.

 

Obviously, we went away from that, and as Foreign Minister Smith said the other day, we're still considering, you know, what might be required there.

 

QUESTION:

Does the family's request for privacy even extend to the extent of revealing whether he was married or had children?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

I - at this stage, I respect their requirements, which are absolutely no details at all. So I'm sure those details will come out in the fullness of time, but it's my job to look after the interests of our people.

 

What - Brendan…

 

QUESTION:

The…

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

Okay. Well, I thank…

 

QUESTION:

Dutch troops involved in the operation?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

Operations were ongoing and, in terms of those operations yesterday, through the night, or through our night, through yesterday, yes, Dutch soldiers were involved. But afterwards, not directly involved in the incident that I've just referred to.

 

Thank you very much.

 

 

 

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