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From the SA Branch;
This is being run by the wife of one of the 7RAR diggers presently in Afghanistan.
I think it is a great idea, and SA is going to be behind it wholeheartedly.
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Corporal Daniel Keighran from 6RAR wins Victoria Cross for Afghanistan courage
Cpl Keighran, VC picture with the Governor General today in Canberra
AUSTRALIA’S newest Victoria Cross recipient is now a part-time soldier working in the mines of Western Australia.
6RAR Corporal Daniel Keighran received the nation’s highest military honour today for repeatedly drawing enemy fire during a 2010 battle in which one of his mates was killed.
He said his company faced at least 100 insurgents during the battle at Derapet, in Oruzgan province, Afghanistan.
“Training took over,” Corporal Keighran said. “There was a situation and that’s the way I reacted.”
The VC citation says Corporal Keighran’s actions were instrumental in ensuring Australian and Afghan troops involved were able to withdraw without further casualties.
“Corporal Keighran, with complete disregard for his own safety, broke cover on multiple occasions to draw intense and accurate enemy fire to identify enemy locations and direct return fire from Australian and Afghan fire support elements.
“During one of these occasions, when his patrol sustained a casualty, he again, on his own initiative and in an act of exceptional courage moved from his position of cover to deliberately draw fire away from the team who were treating the casualty.
“Corporal Keighran remained exposed and under heavy fire in order to direct suppressing fire and then assist in the clearance of the landing zone to enable evacuation of the casualty.
“These deliberate acts of exceptional courage to repeatedly expose himself to accurate and intense enemy fire, thereby placing himself in grave danger, ultimately enabled the identification and suppression of enemy firing positions.”
Well done that man.
THE Digger killed by a makeshift bomb in Oruzgan on Sunday has been named as 24-year-old Corporal Scott James Smith, who was on his second tour of Afghanistan.
Defence today released the details of Australia’s 39th casualty during the conflict, with Corporal Smith described as “an exceptional soldier who possessed all the qualities and charisma of a great junior leader”.
AN Australian soldier has been killed in Afghanistan.
The Australian Defence Force has confirmed that an Australian solder was involved in an incident in Southern Afghanistan.
While not confirmed by Australian authorities, coalition forces have announced the unidentified allied soldier was killed by an improvised bomb.
Defence has notified the soldier’s next of kin.
The soldier’s death brings to 39 the number of Diggers killed in Afghanistan since 2001.
UPDATE: More details
450 Adelaide-based soldiers from the 7th Battalion RAR Task Group prepare to leave for Afghanistan at the Edinburgh RAAF Base. Picture: Chris Mangan Source: Sunday Mail (SA)
THE largest group of Australian soldiers have been farewelled at Edinburgh RAAF base, bound for what is described as a place of sand, snow and violence
Four hundred and fifty troops, from the 7th Battalion, are bound for Afghanistan to work as advisors to the Afghan National Army 4th Bridgade.
Friends, familiy and loved ones of the Adelaide-based soldiers held back tears as a brass band played Waltzing Matilda at the farewell ceremony, held this morning at the RAAF Base at Edinburgh, just north of Adelaide.
Corporal Daniel Trevena, a father of two, was among the soldiers embarking on the eight-month journey.
“I feel proud to be going back over – it’s my second trip – but what we’re going to be doing over there has changed a lot,” he said.
He said leaving his family was the hardest part of the deployment.
In June 2010, Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith of the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) was nearing the end of his fifth tour in Afghanistan when his troop left Camp Russell at the multinational base at Tarin Kowt in Uruzgan province to strike Taliban insurgents. Roberts-Smith was second-in-command of an SAS patrol, up to five of which make up an SAS troop. In turn, the troop was part of the 60-strong SAS quadron that, together with a commando company of about 160 men, formed the Special Operations Task Group at Camp Russell. Both the SAS and commandos mentor a provincial response company of Afghan police that operates with them.
In January 2011, Australians learned that Roberts-Smith’s actions on that June day had made him the second Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in Afghanistan. Trooper (now Corporal) Mark Donaldson, also of the SAS, had been awarded the first, two years earlier. Like Donaldson, Roberts-Smith has generously given his Victoria Cross on permanent loan to the Australian War Memorial, where it is displayed in the Hall of Valour. In this interview, he speaks at length publicly for the first time about the circumstances that led to the award.
Five Australian soldiers killed in two separate incidents in Afghanistan last week were returned home to their families and comrades today, at moving ceremonies at RAAF Base Richmond in Sydney and RAAF Base Amberley in Brisbane.
At RAAF Base Richmond, Lance Corporal Mervyn McDonald and Private Nathanael Galagher were received by their families and members of the Australian Army, led by Chief of the Defence Force, General David Hurley, AC, DSC and Special Operations Commander, Major General ‘Gus’ Gilmore, DSC, AM.
An honour guard and bearer party formed by soldiers from Lance Corporal McDonald and Private Galagher’s unit, 2nd Commando Regiment, received and carried the caskets of their fallen mates from a Royal Australian Air Force C-17 Globemaster aircraft to their loved ones.
Thirty-year-old Lance Corporal McDonald and 23-year-old Private Galagher were killed in a helicopter crash in Helmand Province in the early hours of 30 August 2012, while serving with the Special Operations Task Group.
At RAAF Base Amberley, three soldiers killed in an insider attack were received by their families and members of the Australian Army, led by Chief of Army, Lieutenant General David Morrison, AO and Commander 7th Brigade, Brigadier Greg Bilton, CSC, ADC.
Lance Corporal Stjepan ‘Rick’ Milosevic, Sapper James Martin and Private Robert Poate were received by an honour guard and bearer party formed by members of their respective units—2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment, 2nd Combat Engineer Regiment and 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment—before their caskets were carried from a Royal Australian Air Force C-17 Globemaster aircraft to their loved ones.
Lance Corporal Milosevic (40), Sapper Martin (21) and Private Poate (23) were serving with the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR) Task Group on operations in Afghanistan when they were killed in an insider attack at Patrol Base Wahab in the Baluchi Valley region of Uruzgan Province on the evening of 29 August 2012.
Speaking at RAAF Base Richmond, General Hurley expressed his condolences to the families of the five fallen soldiers.
“Today we receive home five Australian soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation,” he said.
“The thoughts and prayers of the entire Defence community are with their families, friends and colleagues on this very difficult day.
“We are indebted to these men for their courage and selflessness in choosing a life of service and for the pride and honour with which they served.”
Speaking at RAAF Base Amberley, Lieutenant General David Morrison also expressed his condolences to the families.
“Today, Army mourns the loss of five fine soldiers, each of whom was outstanding in their own right,” he said.
“These men’s commitment to their chosen career as soldiers and to our mission in Afghanistan was unwavering, as was their loyalty to their mates and their love for their own families and their Army family.
“Their loss has been deeply felt across the Army and I offer my heartfelt condolences to their families, friends and colleagues.”
Media note:
The following arrangements have been made for media to access stills and video, when available, after the ceremonies:
Photos from the ramp ceremony at RAAF Base Richmond will be published on the Defence Image Gallery at http://images.defence.gov.au/12130830
There will be a pool feed of video from the ramp ceremony at RAAF Base Richmond.
Photos from the ramp ceremony at RAAF Base Amberley will be available on the Defence Image Gallery at http://images.defence.gov.au/12130831.
Video from the ramp ceremony at RAAF Base Amberley will be fed from Defence digital Media to the Parliament House Press Gallery.
Media contact:
Defence Media Operations – 02 6127 1999
AUSTRALIAN Defence Force officials have revealed the identities of three diggers killed by a rogue Afghan soldier this week at a patrol base in the Baluchi Valley.
The three were Lance Corporal Stjepan Milosevic, born in Penrith NSW in 1972; Sapper James Martin, 21, from Perth; and Private Robert Poate, born in Canberra in 1988.
“Planning for the repatriation of the fallen Australian soldiers has begun, although the date for their return to Australia has not yet been confirmed,” Defence said in a statement on Saturday.
The three were killed on Wednesday night.
Another two diggers killed giving us a total load of five for the day. The first three, from a Brisbane based unit (6 RAR?) were shot down while relaxing in base at the end of the day by a man dressed in the Afghanistan Army uniform.
Three soldiers from the 3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment were killed at a forward patrol base in Oruzgan province yesterday by a rogue Afghan soldier who fled the scene. A hunt is underway for the gunman, who opened fire on the Diggers from close range.
The report has it wrong. They are not from 3RAR. Later in the report it states;
The first soldier was a 40-year-old Lance Corporal posted to the 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment Queensland Mounted Infantry. He was on his second tour to Afghanistan and had previously deployed to Iraq.
The second soldier was a 23-year-old Private posted to the 6th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment.The third soldier was a 21-year-old Sapper posted to the 2nd Combat Engineer Regiment.
All three soldiers were based at Gallipoli Barracks in Brisbane.
The second two, listed as special forces, were killed when the chopper they were riding in crashed on landing.
“An individual wearing an Afghan National Army uniform turned his weapon against International Security Assistance Force service members in southern Afghanistan yesterday, killing three,” ISAF said in a statement.
“The incident is currently under investigation.”
Seventeen Australian soldiers have now been shot by rogue Afghan soldiers since May last year - seven of them killed and others badly wounded. So far this year, more than 40 coalition soldiers have been been killed in these so-called “green on blue” incidents.
