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1RAR spread far and wide
By Capt Al Green

Edition 1162, March 22, 2007
 
Up-gunned: WO2 Stan Albert, Army History Unit, presents Nick Fletcher, Australian War Memorial, with some of the items included in the four trunk-loads of weaponry captured in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Photo by LS Yuri Ramsey
ELEMENTS of Townsville-based 1RAR are making a world of difference with concurrent service in Timor-Leste, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The deployment of more than 600 troops puts 1RAR’s professionalism on display in some very diverse operating environments.

CO Lt-Col Andrew Gallaway said the range of tasking involved was indicative of 1RAR’s adaptability and capability to meet a variety of challenges in complex security environments world-wide.

“I’m very confident in all my soldiers; they are very well trained, we’ve had a lot of time to prepare for these operations and they’re very well equipped,” he said.

Sub-units are filling varying needs in three different operations:

A Coy make up the Secdet in Baghdad that provides protection and escort for Australian Government personnel working in the embassy in Iraq.

D Coy will provide security for combat engineers with RTF2 based in Oruzgan Province, southern Afghanistan.

Led by Lt-Col Gallaway, the remainder of the battalion has deployed with the Anzac Battle Group.

The deployments are an example of the Hardened and Networked Army concept of battle grouping, where assets are matched to a particular mission. Synchronising the rotations has definite pluses, according to Lt-Col Gallaway.

“It’s to our advantage to deploy in one hit so that we come back together at the end of the year and continue our training and continue to support other operations,” he said.