Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Australian RTF Contact in Afghanistan

Australian soldiers with the Reconstruction Task Force (RTF) in Afghanistan were involved in a series of attacks with Taliban extremists in late August. No Australian soldiers were wounded in any of these incidents, but the Taliban was known to have suffered casualties. The soldiers protect the RTF worksite by patrolling throughout the area and maintaining a constant presence. Australia has deployed a Reconstruction Task Force (RTF), consisting of a combined arms team, to the Oruzgan Province in southern Afghanistan as part of Operation Slipper. The RTF is in partnership with the Netherlands Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) and forms part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. The RTF has a clearly defined role to work on reconstruction, improvement of provincial infrastructure and community based projects. The RTF also provides trade training to the local population and military engineering training to the Afghan National Army. This type of assistance is designed to benefit the people of Oruzgan Province well into the future and form building blocks of a stable and prosperous community. The RTF contains around 370 ADF personnel from predominately Queensland-based units. It includes elements to provide command, security, engineering, and administrative support and is equipped with Bushmaster Infantry Mobility Vehicles (IMV), Australian Light Armoured Vehicles (ASLAVs) and armoured engineer plant equipment.


































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