Operation CATALYST: Image Gallery
04 June 2008
Removing the bar armour
Members of the Force Extraction Team (FET) based at Tallil Air Base in Iraq, are packing up the hundreds of thousands of items that have maintained the Australian Overwatch Battle Group as a fully-functioning military machine.
Generators, ammunition and other equipment are being catalogued and place in shipping containers for the long journey back to Australia.
The extraction team is made up of approximately 101 specialist personnel, will continue to pack and process all equipment at Camp Terendak throughout the drawdown.
The first leg of their journey home will take the soldiers to Australia’s main support base in the Middle East where they will conduct a rang of administrative checks before returning to Australia.
The Australian troops still in southern Iraq are well advanced on their pack-up and are on track to return to Australia mid-year, in line with the Government’s election commitment.
Some months ago the Diggers had handed over responsibility for security in Al Muthanna and Dhi Qar provinces to retrained Iraqi security forces. They have now handed over their residual "overwatch" and training responsibilities to soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.
| 20080529adf8143085_008 Combat Team Heeler's Trooper Scott Newman, from the the 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment, begins the task of removing "bar" armour from the ASLAV. (Date taken: 30 May 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080529adf8143085_015 Trooper Jason Jones lends a hand as Combat Team Heeler begins to strip its vehicles of their"bar" armour - fitted for defence against rocket propelled grenades. (Date taken: 30 May 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080529adf8143085_052 Trooper Benny Brown works hard to shift a bolt on a Combat Team Heeler vehicle's armour. (Date taken: 30 May 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080529adf8143085_055 Combat Team Heeler's, Trooper Benny Brown from Esperance and Lance Corporal John Fisher from Brisbane loosen a vehicle's bar armour in preparation for removal. (Date taken: 30 May 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080529adf8143085_061 Soldiers from Combat Team Heeler prepare their vehicle for transport out of Tallil Air Base in southern Iraq. (Date taken: 30 May 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080529adf8143085_064 Trooper Scott Newman (top) from the Gold Coast and Private Wayne Montgomery from Brisbane work together to remove their vehicle's "bar" armour. (Date taken: 30 May 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080529adf8143085_068 Soldiers from Combat Team Heeler begin to strip the vehicles of their "bar" armour in preparation for transport out of Iraq. (Date taken: 30 May 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080530adf8143085_009 A Busnmaster Infantry Mobility Vehicle is washed down in preparation for shipping, in the shadow of the 5,000 year-old Great Ziggurat of Ur. (Date taken: 30 May 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080530adf8143085_039 Townsvilles Warrant Officer Class 2 Kev Finmore, from the 9 th Force Support Battalion (9FSB) packs bar armour ready for shipping. (Date taken: 30 May 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080530adf8143085_050 Townsville's Warrant Officer Class 2 Kev Finmore, from the 9 th Force Support Battalion (9FSB) and his team, pack bar armour ready for shipping. (Date taken: 30 May 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080530adf8143085_056 Townsville's Private James Carrascalao, from the 9th Force Support Battalion (9FSB) manhandles vehicle bar armour into shipping crates. (Date taken: 30 May 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080530adf8143085_065 Newborough's [VIC] Private Brendan Shine, from the 9th Force Support Battalion (9FSB), slides armoured vehicle bar armour into a shipping crate in southern Iraq. (Date taken: 30 May 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080530adf8143085_077 Private Jason Cameron, 23, from the 10th Force Support Battalion (10 FSB) (fnt) and Lance Corporal Matt Kollar from 9FSB (rear) load equipment into a shipping container. Jason is from Townsville and Matt from Warnambool. (Date taken: 30 May 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080530adf8143085_084 Private Brendan Shine (fnt) and Private James Carrascalao (rear), both from the 9th Force Support Battalion (9FSB), load stores ready for the forklift to move to a shipping container. (Date taken: 30 May 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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