Niche Wars Australia in Afghanistan and Iraq, 2001–2014
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NICHE WARS AUSTRALIA IN AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ, 2001–2014 NICHE WARS AUSTRALIA IN AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ, 2001–2014 EDITED BY JOHN BLAXLAND, MARCUS FIELDING AND THEA GELLERFY Published by ANU Press The Australian National University Acton ACT 2601, Australia Email: [email protected] Available to download for free at press.anu.edu.au ISBN (print): 9781760464028 ISBN (online): 9781760464035 WorldCat (print): 1224563694 WorldCat (online): 1224563779 DOI: 10.22459/NW.2020 This title is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). The full licence terms are available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode Cover design and layout by ANU Press. Cover photograph: Special Operations Task Group – Operation SLIPPER by Department of Defence. This edition © 2020 ANU Press Contents Foreword . vii Maps, figures and images . ix Acknowledgements . xiii Maps . xv Contributors . xxi Glossary . xxix Introduction . 1 John Blaxland Part 1: Policy and strategy 1 . A minister’s perspective . 21 Robert Hill 2 . A departmental Secretary’s perspective . 31 Ric Smith 3 . A Chief of Defence Force’s perspective . 47 Chris Barrie Part 2: On operations in Afghanistan and Iraq 4 . Australia’s intervention in Afghanistan, 2001–02 . 65 Dan McDaniel 5 . Air Operations Control and Reporting Centre . 81 Chris Westwood 6 . Conventional stability operations at the battle group level in Iraq . 91 Anthony Rawlins 7 . Maritime operations . 127 Peter Jones 8 . Embeds . 149 Jim Molan Part 3: Joint forces, enablers and partners 9 . Command and control . 155 Michael Crane 10. Intelligence in Afghanistan . 173 Mick Lehmann 11 . Civil and humanitarian assistance . 187 Alan Ryan 12 . The military and the media . 201 Karen Middleton 13 . The Australian Federal Police in Afghanistan, 2007–14 . 213 Col Speedie and Steve Mullins 14 . AusAID stabilisation . 229 David Savage 15 . The gender dimension . 249 Elizabeth Boulton Part 4: Lessons and legacies 16 . Lessons and legacies of the war in Afghanistan . 271 William Maley 17 . American and British experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, 2001–04 . 285 Dan Marston 18 . Lessons and legacies of the use of force . 295 Peter Leahy 19 . The Official History of Australian Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Australian Peacekeeping Operations in East Timor . 313 Craig Stockings 20. Final reflections . 325 John Blaxland Appendix 1: Australian units and formations deployed to Afghanistan and the Middle East, 2001–14 . 335 Appendix 2: Chronology: Australia’s military involvement in Afghanistan, 2001–present . 337 Appendix 3: Chronology: Australia’s military involvement in Iraq, 2003–09 . 357 Bibliography . 365 Foreword Several years ago, a group named Military History and Heritage Victoria formed to bring together those who were passionate about military history. After several years of examining military history up to the 1990s, we decided to look at more contemporary events; namely, the 1999 Australian-led International Force East Timor (INTERFET). In 2014, we brought together a tremendous collection of speakers to examine this key period in Australia’s military history. The Strategic & Defence Studies Centre at The Australian National University partnered with us to make the event possible and, more importantly, to publish the proceedings with Melbourne University Press.1 We would like to think that this INTERFET conference and the publishing of the proceedings contributed to the decision to commence the next tranche of Australian official histories. Flushed with success, we then embarked on a conference regarding Australia’s involvement in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Australian military has had a long involvement in the Middle East region, and Australian and coalition military involvement continues to this day in both countries. But we felt enough time had passed for us again to make a contribution by examining the period 2001–14. We called the conference ‘War in the Sandpit: Reflections on Australia’s War in Afghanistan and Iraq 2001–2014’. The conference gathered a well- qualified panel of speakers, many of whom were involved firsthand in the decisions and events described. Once again, the Strategic & Defence Studies Centre at The Australian National University partnered with us to make the event possible. The proceedings are published here to add to the historical record. 1 J. Blaxland (ed.), East Timor Intervention: A retrospective on INTERFET, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 2015. vii NICHE WARS We know that the official history, in production at the time of writing, will produce a more informed and perhaps different record and perspective on events, but, as ever, history is not a static phenomenon. Our objective remains to examine history and seek to learn from it, drawing from the experiences and perspectives of people involved ranging from Cabinet members down to the practitioners on the ground, in the air and at sea. We hope this volume achieves that. I would like to thank my friend John Blaxland for his support and patience in bringing these projects to fruition. We have known each other since we both first marched into Duntroon in January 1983 and served together on operations in East Timor. His contribution to the understanding of military history and more contemporary security matters has been exemplary, and we at Military History and Heritage Victoria are pleased to see this important work available for general readers to access. Marcus Fielding 20 October 2020 viii Maps, figures and images Maps Map 1: Middle East ...................................... xv Map 2: Iraq ............................................xvi Map 3: Areas of Australian operations in Iraq and the Persian Gulf ... xvii Map 4: Provinces in Afghanistan ...........................xviii Map 5: Main areas of Australian operations in Afghanistan ........xix Map 6: Afghanistan ...................................... xx Figures Figure 1: Afghanistan airspace ..............................85 Figure 2: Control and Reporting Centre command and control arrangements .................................86 Figure 3: Middle Eastern Area of Operations command and control arrangements .............................160 Figure 4: Australian intelligence collection and analysis arrangements in Afghanistan ..........................175 Images Prime Minister John Howard meets soldiers of the Australian Special Forces Task Group deployed on Operation SLIPPER in Afghanistan, 2005 .................................56 ix NICHE WARS Australian personnel on guard in an Australian light armoured vehicle as a US Army Blackhawk helicopter takes off in Baghdad, 2006. .72 RAAF Control and Reporting Centre, Kandahar, 2007–09 ........83 Australian soldeirs check vehicles on a main supply route in Southern Iraq, 2008. .83 Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18A Hornets prepare to depart on a mission to strike a Deash headquarters compound in Mosul, Iraq, from Australia’s main air operating base in the Middle East region, 2016 ...........................93 A trooper from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment provides security to Japanese Iraq Reconstruction Group convoy vehicles in As Samawah, 2005. 97 An F/A-18 waits its turn to refuel over Iraq during Operation Falconer, 2003. 103 HMAS Adelaide patrols the waters around the oil terminals in the North Arabian Gulf during Operation Catalyst, 2004 .......131 Members of the Afghan National Army, 3RAR Battle Group and Mentoring Task Force 4 step off on their first handover/ takeover patrol from Forward Operating Base Mirwais in Chora, Afghanistan, 2012 ............................132 A member of Mobility Support fires a 84mm Carl Gustaf Rocket Launcher at the heavy weapons range in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan, 2012 ..................................165 Major General Michael Crane, Commander Joint Task Force 633, with Afghan National Army artillerymen, Camp Alamo, Kabul, 2013. 171 Afghan artillery soldiers fire their D-30 Howitzer as the Australian mentors watch on at the heavy weapons range in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan, 2010 ..................................218 Lieutenant Christian Johnston, Afghan mentor team leader for Combat Team B, 5th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment, looks on as his Afghan National Army counterpart speaks with an Afghan community member near Patrol Base Mohammed, Uruzgan province, Afghanistan, 2010 ...................239 x MAPS, FIGuRES AND IMAGES An RAAF C-17 Globemaster prepares to land at Tarin Kowt, 2012 . 254 Major General Abdul Hamid, Commander 205th Hero Corps, Afghan National Army, addresses tribal elders at a Shura held at an Afghan National Army base in Chah Chineh, Afghanistan, 2013 ..................................273 Major Cootes, Chief of Engineers on Multi-National Corps — Iraq, in 2005 surveying a bridge that was partially destroyed by a VBIED attack in 2004 ...........................289 xi Acknowledgements This book would not have been possible without the collective efforts of the many contributors. It is a project bigger than one person, with the diverse voices that compile this book painting a truly unique and comprehensive portrait of Australia’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. A key strength of the manuscript is the experiences of the authors, who were invited to participate in this project because of their close association with the topics discussed. It is a privilege and rare opportunity to be able to publish a book that includes the firsthand voices and assessments of historical participants, who include a former