Image Gallery 2009
18 June 2009
Deputy Commander joins his troops on the ground in southern Afghanistan
There is an old military adage that time spent in reconnaissance is time not wasted and during his recent visit to the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force (MRTF – 1), Deputy Commander of Australian Forces in Afghanistan, Brigadier John Caligari, took the opportunity to gain a first hand experience of the world in which his soldiers operate.
Having joined the Battle Group on a mission “outside the wire” to participate in the opening of the Australian built Sorkh Morgab Basic Health Centre, the Brigadier joined MRTF – 1 Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Shane Gabriel and the soldiers from one of his Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams on a foot patrol of the surrounding region.
The area has seen serious engagements with the Taliban during the eight month deployment of the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force.
The Brigadier experienced first hand the complex urban and rural environments in which his soldiers have had to operate and the oppressive heat of the Afghan summer. Brigadier Caligari also got to meet the local people who are benefiting from both Australian lines of operation, the mentoring of Afghan soldiers and the reconstruction of much needed infrastructure in the rural province.
| 20090609adf8185016_0123 An Australian soldier from the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force patrols through the Australian built Sorkh Morgab Bazaar during the opening stages of an Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team patrol with the Deputy Commander of Australian Forces in Afghanistan, Brigadier John Caligari. (Date taken: 08 June 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090609adf8185016_0161 Corporal Philip Tisdall steps off on a patrol with his Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team during the visit by the Deputy Commander of Australian Forces in Afghanistan, Brigadier John Caligari, to the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force in southern Afghanistan. (Date taken: 08 June 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090609adf8185016_0191 Deputy Commander of Australian Forces in Afghanistan, Brigadier John Caligari (right), meets with some Afghan National Army soldiers that are being mentored by an Australian Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan. (Date taken: 08 June 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090609adf8185016_0199 An Australian Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team receives its final patrol orders in the Sorkh Morgab region of Afghanistan. (Date taken: 08 June 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090609adf8185016_0202 An Australian Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle provides security with an Afghan National Army Ranger as a Dutch Chinook helicopter approaches their shared Patrol Base in Uruzgan Province. (Date taken: 08 June 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090609adf8185016_0207 Corporal Chad Dobbs checks communications as he prepares to step off on patrol with the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force in the Sorkh Morgab region of Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan. (Date taken: 08 June 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090609adf8185016_0211 Flanked by the Australian soldiers and vehicles he commands, Deputy Commander of Australian Forces in Afghanistan, Brigadier John Caligari, steps off on a patrol with the soldiers of the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force. (Date taken: 08 June 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090609adf8185016_0215 A newly arrived member of the 2nd Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force discusses operations with Bombardier Daniel Nicholls (centre) from the outgoing 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force during a familiarisation patrol in Uruzgan Province. (Date taken: 08 June 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090609adf8185016_0226 Lieutenant Jacob Kleinman leads a joint Australian and Afghan patrol during operations in southern Afghanistan. Lieutenant Kleinman is the Team Leader of one of the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force’s Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams. (Date taken: 08 June 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090609adf8185016_0234 Soldiers from the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force move through the green zone of their Area of Operations in southern Afghanistan. The soldiers are members of an Australian Mentoring and Liaison Team who conduct these patrols with their partners from the Afghan National Army. (Date taken: 08 June 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090609adf8185016_0260 Brigadier John Caligari, Deputy Commander of Australian Forces in Afghanistan, moves through a poppy field in Uruzgan Province. The Brigadier joined his soldiers from the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force during a recent visit to their base in southern Afghanistan. (Date taken: 08 June 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090609adf8185016_0273 Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team Leader, Lieutenant Jacob Kleinman discusses the patrol route with Brigadier John Caligari, during a brief halt in a joint Australian and Afghan patrol in Afghanistan. (Date taken: 09 June 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090609adf8185016_0277 Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team Leader, Lieutenant Jacob Kleinman discusses the patrol route with Brigadier John Caligari, during a brief halt in a joint Australian and Afghan patrol in Afghanistan. (Date taken: 09 June 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090609adf8185016_0278 Deputy Commander of Australian Forces in Afghanistan, Brigadier John Caligari, joins his soldiers from the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force as they patrol through the browning Afghan landscape in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan. (Date taken: 09 June 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090609adf8185016_0286 Lieutenant Colonel Shane Gabriel, Commanding Officer of the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force joins the soldiers from one of his Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams during a recent patrol in southern Afghanistan. (Date taken: 09 June 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090609adf8185016_0298 Lieutenant Colonel Shane Gabriel (left) and Lieutenant Jacob Kleinman (centre) take a knee with Brigadier John Caligari (right) during a foot patrol through the Sorkh Morgab region of Uruzgan Province. With the officers is the Regimental Sergeant Major of the incoming 2nd Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force, Warrant Officer Class One Darren Murch (rear). (Date taken: 09 June 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090609adf8185016_0300 Lieutenant Colonel Shane Gabriel (centre left) and Lieutenant Jacob Kleinman (centre) take a knee with Brigadier John Caligari (centre right) during a foot patrol through the Sorkh Morgab region of Uruzgan Province. With the officers is the Regimental Sergeant Major of the incoming 2nd Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force, Warrant Officer Class One Darren Murch (rear). (Date taken: 09 June 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20090609adf8185016_0321 Brigadier John Caligari, Deputy Commander of Australian Forces in Afghanistan, meets a young Afghan during a foot patrol with his soldiers from the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force. (Date taken: 09 June 2009) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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