Operation CATALYST: Image Gallery
31 January 2008
Middle East Task Force command team returns home
The 30 Australians assigned to the command group of Task Force 158 have completed a five months deployed to Iraqi territorial waters in the North Arabian Gulf. Their home during this period was initially a barge moored to Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT), followed by a spell in new accommodation and workspace modules on the terminal itself.
The Royal Australian Navy has chalked up another successful mission in the North Arabian Gulf following the completion of the Australian command of Task Force 158 (TF158).
TF158 consists of a Coalition flotilla and marine security forces charged with protecting Iraq’s territorial waters. The Task Force’s principle role is the defence of Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT) and al Bakr Oil Terminal (ABOT). The oil that flows through these two offshore platforms generates some 90 per cent of Iraq’s GDP, and as such are crucial to Iraq’s ability to fund reconstruction and provide for its future. During the Australian’s five months of command some US$17 billion worth of oil was loaded onto 110 tankers at the two platforms. The Australians handed over command of TF 158 to the US Navy on Australia Day 2008 (January 26).
Commander TF158 Commodore Allan du Toit RAN said the Task Force was very much a Coalition operation. "We have ships from the US, the UK, Australia and increasingly from Iraq," he said. "This is the third time Australian’s have led TF158, and it was a great honour and a privilege as an Australian to lead the team."
The Australian command group’s deployment to TF158 was conducted as part of Operation CATALYST, the Australia Defence Force’s contribution to the Multi-National Force’s efforts to develop a secure and stable environment in Iraq and assist with national recovery programs.
| 20080118adf8267338_074 Official Navy Artist Bob McRae is pictured working on a portrait of Commodore Allan du Toit RAN at the Task Force 158 (TF158) Headquarters on Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT). Bob was part of a Navy History Unit visit to the Middle East which also included HMAS Arunta, while Commodore Allan du Toit RAN was the Commander of TF158. (Date taken: 18 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080118adf8267338_115 Commodore Allan du Toit RAN, the Commander of Task Force 158 (TF158) is pictured on Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT), home to the headquarters of TF158. (Date taken: 18 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080118adf8267338_132 Commodore Allan du Toit RAN, the Commander of Task Force 158 (TF158) is pictured on Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT), home to the headquarters of TF158. (Date taken: 18 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080119adf8267338_097 The oil tanker Major Dhan Sing Thapa PVA is loaded with 200,000 barrels of oil at Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT), home to the headquarters of Task Force 158 (TF158). (Date taken: 19 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080119adf8267338_169 Warrant Officer Kevin Hooper, of the Task Force 158 Command Group, stands ready to haul baggage up onto Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT), home to the headquarters of Task Force 158 (TF158). (Date taken: 19 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080119adf8267338_177 Warrant Officer Kevin Hooper, of the Task Force 158 Command Group, hauls baggage from a waiting small craft up onto Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT), home to the headquarters of Task Force 158 (TF158). (Date taken: 19 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080119adf8267338_191 The shoulder patch of the Australian command group for Task Force 158 (TF158). (Date taken: 19 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080119adf8267338_199 An Iraqi Marine stands by a tarpaulin-draped heavy machinegun on Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT), home to the headquarters of Task Force 158 (TF158). (Date taken: 19 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080119adf8267338_212 Royal Australian Navy information systems specialist Leading Seaman Matt Cattrell looks out over Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT), home to the headquarters of Task Force 158 (TF158). The platform was badly damaged during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. (Date taken: 19 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080119adf8267338_213 A view out over a section of Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT), home to the headquarters of Task Force 158 (TF158). The platform was badly damaged during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. (Date taken: 19 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080119adf8267338_218 Royal Australian Navy information systems specialist Leading Seaman Matt Cattrell stands on a walkway on Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT), home to the headquarters of Task Force 158 (TF158). The platform was badly damaged during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. (Date taken: 19 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080119adf8267338_227 Royal Australian Navy combat systems manager Warrant Officer Kevin Hooper stands in front of a destroyed building on Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT), home to the headquarters of Task Force 158 (TF158). The platform was badly damaged during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. (Date taken: 19 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080119adf8267338_230 An Iraqi Navy Predator-class inshore patrol craft departs from Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT), home to the headquarters of Task Force 158 (TF158). (Date taken: 19 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080119adf8267338_232 An oil platform employee pauses from his fishing to watch the departure of an Iraqi Navy Predator-class inshore patrol craft from Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT), home to the headquarters of Task Force 158 (TF158). (Date taken: 19 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080119adf8267338_240 US Navy Mobile Security Detachment Commander Lieutenant Darrin Faller (left), responsible for coordinating the on-board defence of the oil platforms with Iraqi Marines, answers a radio call while Lieutenant Commander Rick Westoby, of the Task Force 158 Command Group, watches on. (Date taken: 19 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080119adf8267338_250 An Iraqi Marine watches over the departure of the oil tanker Major Dhan Sing Thapa PVA, which has been loaded with 200,000 barrels of oil at Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT), home to the headquarters of TF158. (Date taken: 19 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080119adf8267338_259 An Iraqi Marine watches over the departure of the oil tanker Major Dhan Sing Thapa PVA, which has been loaded with 200,000 barrels of oil at Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT), home to the headquarters of TF158. (Date taken: 19 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080119adf8267338_261 An Iraqi Marine watches over the departure of the oil tanker Major Dhan Sing Thapa PVA, which has been loaded with 200,000 barrels of oil at Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT), home to the headquarters of TF158. (Date taken: 19 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080119adf8267338_264 An Iraqi Marine watches over the departure of the oil tanker Major Dhan Sing Thapa PVA, which has been loaded with 200,000 barrels of oil at Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT), home to the headquarters of TF158. (Date taken: 19 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080119adf8267338_276 The oil tanker Major Dhan Sing Thapa PVA is loaded with 200,000 barrels of oil at Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT), home to the headquarters of Task Force 158 (TF158). (Date taken: 19 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080119adf8267338_292 The view of Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT) from a Royal Navy Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB) as the evening winter sun sets over the Platform. KAAOT is now the home to the headquarters of Task Force 158 (TF158). (Date taken: 19 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080119adf8267338_319 The evening winter sun sets over Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT), home to the headquarters of Task Force 158 (TF158). (Date taken: 19 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080120adf8267338_029 Royal Marines enjoy an early morning run to Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT)on a Royal Navy Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB) from HMS Campbelltown. KAAOT is home to the headquarters of Task Force 158 (TF158). (Date taken: 20 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080120adf8267338_037 Chief Petty Officer Tim Calister, a member of the Australian command group for Task Force 158 (TF158), studies the radar plot of the North Arabian Gulf surrounding Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT) and al Bakr Oil Terminal (ABOT). KAAOT is home to the headquarters of Task Force 158 (TF158). (Date taken: 20 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080120adf8267338_053 Chief Petty Officer Tim Calister, a member of the Australian command group for Task Force 158 (TF158), is bathed in the blue light of the Task Force 158 Operations Room. Behind him is the radar plot of the North Arabian Gulf surrounding Iraq’s Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT) and al Bakr Oil Terminal (ABOT). KAAOT is home to the headquarters of Task Force 158 (TF158). (Date taken: 20 January 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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