Australian Army
The
Australian Army is
Australia's military land force. It is part of the
Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the
Royal Australian Navy and the
Royal Australian Air Force.
The Army is commanded by the Chief of the Army (CA), who is responsible to the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF).
As well as ground troops, approximately 100
Leopard tanks and artillery, it also operates helicopters:
Blackhawk,
Chinook, and has taken delivery of the first of 22
Eurocopter Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters (with the last of the
UH-1 Iroquois serving with distinction in
Aceh for humanitarian relief after
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake before removal from service). Recently plans have been announced to procure 59
M1A1 AIM Abrams tanks and 7 M88 Hercules II armoured recovery vehicles.
Australian soldiers have been involved in a number of minor and major conflicts throughout its history, but only in
World War II did Australian territory come under direct attack.
The history of the Australian Army can be divided into two periods:
*1901-47, when limits were set on the size of the
regular army, the vast majority of peacetime soldiers were in the
reserve army units of the
Australian Citizens Military Force (also known as the CMF or Militia), and
Australian Imperial Forces were formed to serve overseas, and
*post-1947, when a standing peacetime
infantry force was formed and the CMF (known as the Army Reserve after 1980) began to decline in importance.
The army has been involved in many peacekeeping operations, usually under the auspices of the
United Nations. The biggest one began in 1999 in
East Timor. Other notable operations include peacekeeping on
Bougainville and in the
Solomon Islands, which are ongoing as of May 2004. Humanitarian relief after
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake in
Aceh Province,
Indonesia,
Operation Sumatra Assist, ended on
24 March 2005.
Organisation
The Australian Army is currently organised around two Division headquarters. The Deployable Joint Force Headquarters/1st Division has responsibility for the majority of the regular army, while 2nd Division is the main home defence formation, containing Army Reserve units. The regular army is organised around the six battalion
Royal Australian Regiment - three of these are standard light infantry, with two of the others roled as paratroops and mechanised infantry. The final battalion is a specialised commando unit class as special forces. The
Royal Australian Armoured Corps has four regular regiments, one of main battle tanks and two light cavalry (formation reconnaissance). The fourth consists of a single squadron and is used in the armoured personnel carrier/light armoured role. These forces, together with the associated combat support (artillery, engineers, signals) and combat service support (logistics, maintenance etc) are based around two deployable brigades,
1 Brigade, which is primarily a heavy mechanised formation, and
3 Brigade, which is a light, air deployable formation.
7 Brigade is an integrated Regular/Reserve formation that would primarily be used in conjunction with DJHQ were it ever to be deployed overseas.
Statistics
Current deployments
The Australian Army currently has significant forces deployed on four major operations:
*
Operation Catalyst - Australia's commitment to the Coalition forces in
Iraq. The army's contribution includes:
**
Overwatch Battle Group (West); this is a
battlegroup consisting of a headquarters, infantry company, armoured squadron and training team, with a total of 450 personnel. This has two tasks:
***Provide support to local Iraqi security forces
***Assist in the training of local Iraqi Army units so that they are able to take over the internal and external defence of their country
**Australian Army Training Team; this encompasses 55 personnel providing logistic training to the
new Iraqi Army.
**Embassy security detatchment; this provides security protection and escort for staff at the Australian Embassy in
Baghdad, and consists of 100 personnel.
*
Operation Slipper - Australia's commitment to the
War on Terror. The army contribution is primarily concentrated in
Afghanistan and consists of two deployments:
**
Special Operations Task Group; personnel drawn from the
Special Air Service Regiment,
4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment and
Incident Response Regiment deployed on counter insurgency duties.
**
Reconstruction Task Force; attached to the Dutch led
Provincial Reconstruction Team in
Baghlan Province, this consists of 200 personnel from 1st Combat Engineer Regiment, and 45 from the
6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment.
*
Operation Astute - Australia's commitment to
Timor-Leste. This constitutes the largest overseas deployment of Australian forces. These include:
**Headquarters; HQ
3 Brigade and 3 Combat Signals Regiment
**Infantry battalion group; based around the
3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, this is the army's largest single unit in the country, numbering approximately 1300 personnel.
**Commando Company; a company from the
4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment has responsibility for ensuring the security of the entry point (currently
Dili Airport) for follow on forces.
**Squadron from 3 Combat Engineer Regiment
**Elements of 3 Combat Service Support Battalion
*
Operation Anode - Australia's commitment to the Regional Assistance Mission Solomon Islands. The contribution numbers approximately 140 personnel, primarily consisting of a company from
1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, plus support elements. Also under Australian command is a company from 2/1st Battalion,
Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment.
*In addition to these, small numbers of personnel are deployed on various peacekeeping operations around the world, including the
Multinational Force and Observers and the
United Nations.
"Hardened and Networked Army"
On
15 December 2005, then Australian Minister for Defence,
The Hon. Senator Robert Hill announced that the Australian Army would be restructured and redeveloped. The policy of creating a 'Hardened and Networked' Army will see a major reorganisation of both the regular Army and Army Reserve. The overriding rationale for this is to bring about "A reduction in singular capabilities that can not be rotated, hence an 'Army of twos'"
[Hardened and Networked Army]. This will involve the army being organised so that it can deploy a number of
battlegroups, consisting of infantry, armour, artillery etc in the correct proportions relevant to each type of mission. For this, nine separate army units are being structured to act as battlegroup headquarters:
*
1st,
2nd, and
6th Bn,
Royal Australian Regiment are standard light infantry battalions, with
5/7 Bn as a mechanized battalion. The
3rd Bn is classed as a light infantry unit in the parachute role, though it is scheduled to convert to a mechanized battalion by 2011.
*
1st Armoured Regiment*
2nd Cavalry Regiment*
2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment (Queensland Mounted Infantry)*
1st Aviation RegimentThe 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment will be relocated from Sydney to Adelaide, converting from its current parachute role into a mechanised unit. This new 'battle group' will take on a similar role to 5/7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment which is the major mechanised battalion. By the end of this process in approximately 2015,
1 Brigade will be the army's major mechanised formation. The armoured units of the Army Reserve in 2nd Division will be restructured, with four becoming pure light cavalry and the fifth being utilised in the armoured lift role.
The ranks of the Australian Army are based on the ranks of the
British Army, and carry mostly the same actual
insignia. Other than the shoulder title "Australia", the
Officer ranks are exactly identical. The
Non-Commissioned Officer insignia are the same up until
Warrant Officer ranks, where they are stylised for Australia (e.g. using the Australian, rather than the British coat of arms).
*
Citizens Military Force/Militia/Army Reserve (1901– )
*
Australian commandos, 1941-
*
Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (1914)
*
Australian Imperial Forces
**
First Australian Imperial Force (1914–19)
***
Australian 1st Division***
Australian 2nd Division***
Australian 3rd Division***
Australian 4th Division***
Australian 5th Division**
Second Australian Imperial Force (1939–46)
***
Australian 6th Division***
Australian 7th Division***
Australian 8th Division***
Australian 9th Division***
Australian 10th Division***
Australian 1st Armoured Division*
New Guinea Volunteer Rifles/Papua New Guinea Volunteer Rifles (1939-73)
*
Pacific Islands Regiment (1944-1975)
*
Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (1962-1972)
*
South African War (Second Boer War)
*
World War I**
Military history of Australia during World War I**
First Australian Imperial Force**
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps*
World War II**
2nd AIF**
CMF**
Pacific War (1942–45)
*
Malayan Emergency*
Korean war**
Battle of Kapyong*
Indonesian Confrontation*
Vietnam war**
Battle of Long Tan**
Coral-Balmoral*
Gulf War*
U.S. invasion of Afghanistan*
2003 invasion of Iraq
*
CNN - Australian hostage freed in Iraq (June 15, 2005)
*
Department of Defence - Operation Falconer
*
Office of the Defence Minister - Australian troops to start coming home (April 17, 2005)
*
Military of Australia*
Conscription in Australia*Website: http://www.army.gov.au
*Recruitment: http://www.defencejobs.gov.au
*Defence Force Community: http://www.AusSpecialForces.com
