Image Gallery 2009
17 February 2009
400km arduous journey to home base in Tarin Kowt
With their mission well ahead of schedule and Afghanistan’s essential Highway 1 reopened, the soldiers of the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force, began the arduous 400km journey to their home base in Tarin Kowt.
The soldiers travelled from Zabol Province to Kandahar Air Field – a journey that saw them utilising both of the bridges they had rebuilt. Whilst at Kandahar the convoy took the opportunity to refurbish essential stores before heading northwards to Uruzgan Province and their home in Camp Holland.
During parts of the journey Canadian, American and Dutch allies supported the Australian Troop movements.
| 20081219ara8502859_0226 With essential reconstruction missions complete in Zabol Province, Bushmasters from the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force travel south along Afghanistan's Highway 1, enroute to Kandahar Air Field and then home to Uruzgan Province. (Date taken: 19 December 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081219ara8502859_0497 Warrant Officer Class Two Ken Nelliman, is an Australian Light Armoured Vehicle Commander from the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force (MRTF-1). (Date taken: 19 December 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081219ara8502859_0524 An Australian Light Armoured Vehicle escorts local contractors through a Romanian check point in Zabol Province, southern Afghanistan. (Date taken: 19 December 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081219ara8502859_0556 Highlighting the long history of Afghanistan, an Australian Light Armoured Vehicle (ASLAV) passes Alexander's Tower, a monument purportedly built during Alexander the Great's incursions into ancient Afghanistan. (Date taken: 19 December 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081219ara8502859_0560 An Australian Light Armoured Vehicle moves along Afghanistan's Highway 1, as an Australian mission returns from Zabol Province in southern Afghanistan. (Date taken: 19 December 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081219ara8502859_0566 The Australian 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force convoy moves south, leaving Zabol Province and entering the Kandahar region enroute to Kandahar Air Field, prior to the long drive home to its base in Tarin Kowt, Uruzgan Province. (Date taken: 19 December 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081221ara8502859_0011 An Australian Light Armoured Vehicle (ASLAV), manned by Darwin based 2nd Cavalry Regiment soldiers drives through the outskirts of Kandahar City in southern Afghanistan. (Date taken: 21 December 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081221ara8502859_0017 A 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force Australian Light Armoured Vehicle scans for threats as diggers move through Kandahar City in the dawn light. (Date taken: 21 December 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081221ara8502859_0021 A world away from the rural environment in which they normally operate, an Australian Light Armoured Vehicle negotiates its path through Kandahar City, as a 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force convoy moves north to the Australian base in Tarin Kowt. (Date taken: 21 December 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081221ara8502859_0046 In the dramatic light of an Afghan dawn, Australian Army vehicles move through Kandahar province enroute to their normal area of operations in Uruzgan Province, southern Afghanistan. (Date taken: 21 December 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081221ara8502859_0153 The dust rises from an Australian 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction task Force convoy, as it moves north towards its home base in Uruzgan Province, southern Afghanistan. (Date taken: 21 December 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081221ara8502859_0287 Even though the Australian convoy stretched for several kilometres and was made of impressive machinery, the sheer scale of the Afghan countryside still dwarfed the procession, as the soldiers made their way home from a two week mission. (Date taken: 21 December 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081221ara8502859_0306 The most ancient and modern forms of transport pass each other, as an Australian Light Armoured Vehicle (ASLAV) patrols towards its home base in southern Afghanistan. (Date taken: 21 December 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081221ara8502859_0319 Captain Craig Cunningham watches the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force convoy as it snakes through the valley below his Bushmaster. (Date taken: 21 December 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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