Image Gallery 2009
25 February 2009
Insurgent caches located
The 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force is successfully identifying and removing insurgent caches throughout its area of operations.
One such discovery was as the result of a patrol conducted by members of Combat Team Tusk, supported by Engineers from the 1st Field Squadron. The patrol searched a number of abandoned buildings, discovering a significant collection of ordnance, which was later destroyed by the engineers.
The discovery and removal of such caches takes dangerous weaponss out of the hands of the insurgents, denying them the opportunity to use the weapons against coalition and Afghan forces and also removing a dangerous threat to the local national population.
| 20090112ara8502859_0238 Private Brendan Bottalico, manning a F89 machine gun provides cover as members of his platoon move out to check ruins suspected of containing insurgent weapons caches, during Operation Tura Ghar in the Baluchi Valley, southern Afghanistan. (Date taken: 09 January 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090112ara8502859_0242 Private Brendan Bottalico mans his F89 machine gun, as Royal Australian Engineers conduct a search as part of Operation Tura Ghar in southern Afghanistan. (Date taken: 09 January 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090112ara8502859_0268 An Australian soldier secures his patrol perimeter during operations in the Baluchi Valley, southern Afghanistan. (Date taken: 09 January 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090112ara8502859_0277 An Afghan camel train passes an Australian patrol during an operation in the Baluchi Valley, Uruzgan Province. (Date taken: 10 January 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090112ara8502859_0286 Sapper Trent Goodwin (centre) prepares the report, after he and his fellow Royal Australian engineers uncovered a weapons cache during Operation Tura Ghar. Sapper Goodwin is a member of the 1st field Squadron, the engineer component of the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force. (Date taken: 10 January 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090112ara8502859_0301 Sapper Troy 'Strawbs' Croton sits with his Explosive Detection Dog 'Scuba', after their teamwork uncovered a significant insurgent weapons cache in the Baluchi Valley, during Operation Tura Ghar. (Date taken: 10 January 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090112ara8502859_0305 Sappers Sam Barber and Christopher Mitchell, take a break after their extensive search of ruins in the Baluchi Valley. (Date taken: 10 January 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090112ara8502859_0312 Sapper Trent Goodwin, from the Darwin based, 1st Combat Engineer Regiment, is a member of the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force in southern Afghanistan. (Date taken: 10 January 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090112ara8502859_0313 Sappers Zachary Hurst, Sam Barber, Christopher Mitchell and Garret Mazurek, take a well earned rest during Operation Tura Ghar. (Date taken: 10 January 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090112ara8502859_0325 Sergeant David "Aussie" Austin, an engineer who specialises in explosive ordnance, carefully checks an insurgent weapons cache discovered in the Baluchi Valley, southern Afghanistan. (Date taken: 11 January 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090112ara8502859_0328 Sergeant David Austin, maintains cover behind his armoured Bushmaster vehicle, while he and fellow Explosive Ordnance Disposal Engineers render an insurgent weapons cache safe, prior to further investigations of the find. (Date taken: 11 January 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090112ara8502859_0334 Sergeant David "Aussie" Austin works inside an Afghan mud brick house where an insurgent weapons cache was discovered by Australian engineers. (Date taken: 11 January 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090112ara8502859_0342 Sergeant Danny Payne, carefully opens the tubes discovered in an insurgent weapons cache during Operation Tura Ghar. Sergeant Payne is one of a number of Explosive Ordnance Specialists who are working with the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force. (Date taken: 12 January 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090112ara8502859_0343 Sapper Thomas O'Connor prepares the explosives which Australian engineers will use to destroy an insurgent weapons cache they uncovered during Operation Tura Ghar in the Baluchi Valley, southern Afghanistan. The engineers supported Australian combat soldiers during the operation which was one of the largest to date. (Date taken: 12 January 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090112ara8502859_0346 The platoon from Combat Team Tusk, takes cover, as Australian engineers prepare to "blow in place" an insurgent weapons cache that had been uncovered during Operation Tura Ghar, in the Baluchi Valley, southern Afghanistan. Combat Team Tusk is the Force Protection element of the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force. (Date taken: 12 January 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090112ara8502859_0370 Weapons that could have been used against Australian soldiers are destroyed in an impressive blast in southern Afghanistan. The blast, conducted by Royal Australian Engineers, destroyed a significant insurgent weapons cache uncovered by soldiers from the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force, during Operation Tura Ghar in the Baluchi Valley, southern Afghanistan. (Date taken: 12 January 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090112ara8502859_0386 Australian engineers move in to confirm the destruction of an insurgent weapons cache they had just blown up during operations in southern Afghanistan. The engineers are members of the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force. |
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