Media Room: Defence Speech

DEATH OF AUSTRALIAN SOLDIER ON OPERATIONS IN AFGHANISTAN

 

Chief of Defence Force and Minister for Defence press conference

Russell Offices, Canberra, 9:00am Sunday, 19 July 2009

 

 

E&OE

 

 

CHIEF OF DEFENCE FORCE, AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ANGUS HOUSTON AND MINISTER FOR DEFENCE, SENATOR JOHN FAULKNER:

CHIEF OF DEFENCE FORCE, AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ANGUS HOUSTON:

                        Good morning and thank you for coming out on a Sunday morning. Unfortunately, this morning, I'm here to announce that yesterday an Australian soldier serving with the Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force in Afghanistan was killed by an antipersonnel explosive device in the Baluchi Valley.

 

                        A second Australian soldier was seriously wounded in the explosion along with three Afghan civilians who were also injured, one of whom is believed to be an 8-year-old boy. This incident occurred during an operation against a compound of interest. All those wounded in the incident were provided immediate first aid and promptly evacuated by helicopter to the ISAF medical facility in Tarin Kowt.

 

                        The family of the soldier who was killed has been informed of his death and preparations are now under way to bring him home so his family can lay him to rest. This is obviously a very distressing time for them and I will not be releasing the personal details of this soldier today. To the family, I want to say how deeply sorry I am for their loss. They are in the thoughts of the ADF family and we will be supporting them in their time of grief. Their loved one was operationally experienced and highly skilled having previously served in East Timor. This was his first deployment to Afghanistan. He was a very professional soldier who served enthusiastically and with distinction. His career record speaks to a young man, very well trained, with an extraordinary array of completed courses. He was clearly dedicated to his career as a soldier and committed to the profession of arms. He died ensuring that terrorist groups do not have Afghanistan as a base from which they can plan and mount attacks.

 

                        Just this week in Jakarta we have been reminded that this is a real and present threat to the people of Australia. This fine, brave, and dedicated soldier was willing to risk his life so that his fellow Australians can be safer. He is the 11th soldier we have lost in Afghanistan. Today my thoughts are also with the wounded soldier and his family. He has undergone surgery for life-threatening wounds and is now in a stable condition. I wish him all the best as he recovers from his serious wounds. I also wish the innocent victims of this incident, the three injured Afghans, a speedy and full recovery. They were indiscriminately targeted by this device and we were able to provide them with aero medical evacuation and immediate medical care, including surgery.

 

                        Our soldiers in Afghanistan continue to face significant threats on a daily basis. In fact, as this particular operation is still ongoing, I won't go into a great deal of detail about the nature of the operation. I'm sure that you understand that I will not place the men and women of the ADF in Afghanistan in further danger by providing their adversary with information that could be used against them.

 

                        The minister will now say a few words before we take your questions. Thank you.

 

MINISTER FOR DEFENCE, SENATOR JOHN FAULKNER:

                        Thank you CDF. Ladies and gentlemen, I wish to add my condolences to those of CDF and on behalf of the Australian Government. I express my sincere condolences to this family who have suffered this great loss. Our thoughts and sympathies are with the family, friends and comrades of this young Australian. Our country has lost a brave and dedicated serviceman. But they have lost a loved one, a family member and a friend. The nation's gratitude and sorrow, heartfelt as it is, just cannot reach the magnitude of their loss. Our thoughts today of course are also with the injured soldier and his family and we wish him a very speedy recovery. As the Chief of the Defence Force indicated, in accordance with the wishes of the family, we will not be releasing personal details of these latest casualties at this time.

 

                        Ladies and gentlemen, this is our 11th fatality in Afghanistan. We are engaged with the international community in a very, very challenging campaign. And I should remind everyone that fighting will become more fierce as the summer progresses. Our troops in Afghanistan are doing a dangerous and difficult job. And, at times like this, the danger and the difficulty is brought home so very starkly to us all. For our troops in Afghanistan, these dangers are an everyday reality, and they face those challenges with the professionalism and the dedication that are the hallmarks of the Australian Defence Force, wherever they may be. The continued use of mines and improvised explosive devices by the Taliban is an insidious part of this insurgency. The devices by their very nature are designed to kill and maim indiscriminately. IEDs are responsible for a substantial number of civilian and ISAF casualties each month in Afghanistan. And this tragic loss again demonstrates the indiscriminate and callous approach shown by the Taliban for their fellow Afghans.

 

                        As difficult as this news is, we must not forget the direct impact that terrorists had in our own region and of course have had on the lives of fellow Australians. In the past, Afghanistan has been the training ground for terrorists that have killed innocent Australians in attacks such as Bali. That's why we remain committed to stabilising Afghanistan. Let me conclude by saying again that at this very sad time, our hearts are very much with the family of this soldier.

 

                        Ladies and gentlemen, as CDF has mentioned, we are both happy to take any questions you might have.

 

QUESTION:                CDF can you tell us, were these soldiers members of an OMLT? Are you able to tell us the rank of the soldier who was killed?

 

AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ANGUS HOUSTON:

                        The soldier was a private soldier. He was young. He was 22 years of age. He had been in the army for just over three years. He was a member of the Force Protection Combat Team. He wasn't specifically a member of an OMLT team.

 

QUESTION:    Were they in a vehicle or on foot?

 

AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ANGUS HOUSTON:

                        They were on foot and setting up a cordon so that they could do a search of a compound of interest. Indeed, during the subsequent search they detained six people, three of those were subsequently released, but three are still being held and being questioned.

 

QUESTION:

                        CDF, can you tell us more about the condition of the injured soldier? I noticed you mentioned life-threatening wounds. Is that soldier now expected to live? And could you also tell us more about the condition of the three civilians?

 

AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ANGUS HOUSTON:

                        In terms of the wounded soldier, he was taken very quickly by aero medical evacuation helicopter, an AME helicopter. He went from the time of the incident to being operated in hospital was less than an hour. He is now stable, but still seriously ill. Later today he will be moved to the slightly bigger and more capable health facility at Kandahar. Once he's fully stabilised there, he will be moved to Germany where he will go to the very big sophisticated hospital there to recover.

 

QUESTION:                Is he in Tarin Kowt? He is currently in Tarin Kowt. At the moment it's the middle of the night. During the daytime he will be moved to Kandahar before going on to Germany.

 

                        In terms of the three Afghan local nationals, I mentioned that one of them was a child. He required surgery. One of the others required surgery and the third I think was OK in that he didn't require surgery, but still had significant injuries.

 

QUESTION:    Are they expected to live?

 

AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ANGUS HOUSTON:

                        Absolutely. The prognosis for our soldier is good. He was very seriously ill when he was taken into the hospital, but following surgery he's in much better shape than he was. And the same is true of the Afghan local nationals. 

 

QUESTION:    Yet, despite what progress has been made, obviously the tragic reminder that terrorism is still with us two days ago, can you still look the families of these dead soldiers in the eye and say it's all worth it?

 

AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ANGUS HOUSTON:

                        Well, yeah. I feel very strongly that we saw what happened when the international community let Afghanistan, if you like, go its own way and we ended up with a Taliban regime which hosted al-Qaeda and hosted a vast array of training infrastructure that resulted in those attacks in the United States. The 9/11 attacks. And, indeed, we know that some of the perpetrators of the Bali bombings were trained in Afghanistan and certainly had strong links with al-Qaeda. We know now that the groups, the terrorist groups that operate to our north, some of them have links with al-Qaeda. So, it is very important that we sustain this very important fight against a terrorist threat. And there is absolutely no doubt if we were to walk away from Afghanistan and leave it to the Taliban again it would be almost certain that al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups would set themselves up and would be able to act with impunity on terrorist attacks wherever they chose to mount them around the world. So it is vitally important that we continue to stay the fight.

 

                        Certainly it is a sacrifice for Australia and my heart goes out to the family of this dedicated young man. He was a first-class, young, soldier and we mourn his loss and we regret the injuries to our people and the Afghans. But the very nature of this attack demonstrates what we are up against. Here we are, two of our soldiers, one killed, one seriously wounded, and three Afghan civilians, including a child, who are caught up in an improvised explosive device attack, which is totally indiscriminate in its effect. We've got to protect the Afghan people from this scourge, from this threat.

 

QUESTION:                Was it totally indiscriminate? I think you might have used “land mine” or a similar term. Was there some suggestion that the IED has been placed to protect the compound?

 

AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ANGUS HOUSTON:

                        We were setting up. It was a combined operation with the Afghan National Army and our people were setting up a cordon prior to a search. I don't know why the civilians were in the same location, but the fact of the matter was they were. And this device went off. This device was an antipersonnel device. We're not sure at this stage whether it was a mine or whether it was an improvised explosive device. But it was designed to kill people and nature of the weapon is such that it, by its very characteristics, it is indiscriminate in its effect. And this is what the Taliban are relying on. If you have a look at most of the deaths that we've had in Afghanistan in recent times, most of them are as a consequence of these indiscriminate weapons. Improvised explosive devices. And they operate against people on the ground. They also operate against vehicles that are travelling through on roads and so forth.

 

QUESTION:    CDF, for this device to have injured and killed so many people, it must have been some significant size? Or was it a particular type of device you can tell us about?

 

AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ANGUS HOUSTON:

                        I'm sorry, I do not have any detail on the size of the device. We are currently going through our post-incident analysis and, I guess, in the fullness of time, I will provide you with detail of that. But I'm not in a position to do that today.

 

QUESTION:                We've been in Afghanistan for eight years. 15 British troops killed recently...

 

AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ANGUS HOUSTON:

                        Yes.

 

QUESTION:                We have terrorist bombs going off in Jakarta in the last week. What evidence is there that there is any progress or that Afghanistan will be subdued any time in the near future?

 

AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ANGUS HOUSTON:

                        Well, I think if you look at what we are doing – and I will focus on what we are doing in Oruzgan. We have been making very good progress in Oruzgan. Unfortunately from time to time we suffer casualties. But we are well and truly focussed on training the Afghan National Army. The first MRTF, the Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force, has done a magnificent job in training the Afghan National Army, the 4th Kandak. They are progressing very, very well. And of course that work will be continued by the second Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force.

 

                        I think in the fullness of time we will be able to turn those Afghan National Army soldiers into first-class - into a first-class fighting force. I think eventually they will be able to take over the security of the province. Now, similar activities are going on right around the country - a lot of emphasis on training the Afghan National Army, a lot of emphasis on training the Afghan National Police and in the fullness of time, we will have a large security force that will be able to take care of the security in Afghanistan. At the same time, there needs to be an emphasis on improving governance and also a very strong emphasis on development. All of that is occurring. There is a very good, comprehensive plan to put that into effect. And with the greater number of American forces that are going in and an incredible effort on the training front, I think eventually things will become divisive and the place will be turned around.

 

QUESTION:                This is the first death under your watch. How difficult was it for you to deal with personally? How difficult was it for you to deal with personally?

 

DEFENCE MINISTER, JOHN FAULKNER:

                        It is obviously a very difficult time. There are heavy burdens and responsibilities on ministers, defence ministers, governments and this, of course, brings it home. But I would also say to you that I keep perspective, however heavy those responsibilities might be. It is at this time I'm thinking of a family who has lost a loved one. And I'm thinking of an injured soldier and his family as well. I think that is the important perspective today.

 

QUESTION:                You spoke about looking dead soldiers’ families in the eyes. Can you still justify what we are doing over there, given what's happened in Jakarta?

 

DEFENCE MINISTER, JOHN FAULKNER:

                        I can. As I said in my opening remarks, the Government has always acknowledged, and I have certainly always acknowledged that the fight in Afghanistan is difficult and dangerous. I do not underestimate the challenges we have in Afghanistan. But I firmly believe that it is in Australia's national interests to be there. I firmly believe that it is Australia's national interest to be part of the concerted effort with our allies and our international partners, the international community to bring peace and prosperity to Afghanistan. I believe, I firmly believe, that our strategy, particularly in helping to train the Afghan National Army, is the right strategy, the right approach.

 

QUESTION:                So, minister, have you gone from being simply a member of a cabinet engaged on this to being the minister in charge of it? Are you more optimistic about our likelihood of success in Afghanistan or more sobered by the size of the task?

 

DEFENCE MINISTER, JOHN FAULKNER:

                        As I said, I don't underestimate the challenges. I think even in the short time I've been Defence Minister of course I'm more aware of the close detail and have a greater understanding, as you would expect the Defence Minister have, of the nature of our involvement and our engagement. But I'm very much reinforced in my view over the few weeks I've been Defence Minister that our goal of strategic denial for terrorists so that they no longer can have Afghanistan as a safe haven, as a place where they can train, or as a place, an operating base for terrorist attacks against Australian citizens or the international community is a critically important strategic goal.

 

                        So, as I've said, I believe, and I'm reinforced with everything I have seen and heard since I've been Defence Minister that this is the right strategy and the right approach.

 

QUESTION:                CDF, there is a massive offensive under way in Helmand Province. Have you seen any indication that the Taliban or insurgents, generally, are moving out of Helmand into Oruzgan and have you seen an increase in activity or do you anticipate that will happen in Oruzgan involving our troops?

 

AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ANGUS HOUSTON:

                        No, we haven't seen any of that occurring. I know some of the commentators have mentioned that. But we haven't seen any evidence of it at this time.

 

QUESTION:                CDF, can you tell us anything about the location of this incident, relative to Tarin Kowt?

 

AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ANGUS HOUSTON:

                        It is about 25km to the north of Tarin Kowt in the Baluchi Valley, very close to one of our operating buses up there.

 

QUESTION:                What is the name of that operating base, by the way?

 

AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ANGUS HOUSTON:

                        COP [Combat Out Post] Mashal. OK, thank you very much and again our thoughts go out to the families and thanks for coming this morning. Thank you very much.

 

 

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