Fed: Anzac Day just normal days for Afghan operations

AAP General News (Australia)
04-23-2009
Fed: Anzac Day just normal days for Afghan operations

By Max Blenkin, Defence Correspondent

CANBERRA, April 23 AAP - In the remote patrol bases of the badlands of Afghanistan,
Anzac Day will be no huge deal for members of Australia's training team.

It's not that they don't appreciate the import of events far away and long ago.

In a brief ceremony on Anzac eve, members of the operational mentor and liaison team
(OMLT - of course referred to as omelette) will recite the ode and remember Corporal Mathew
Hopkins, one of their own shot dead in a firefight with insurgents just over a month ago.

"Then they'll cut away and start planning for the next day," said OMLT commander Major
David McCammon.

"We will conduct operations as per normal on Anzac Day."

Speaking by satellite phone from Forward Operating Base (FOB) Locke - named after Special
Air Service Regiment Sergeant Mathew Locke who was killed nearby in October 2007 - Major
McCammon said the loss of a mate hit the soldiers hard.

But earlier major contacts with insurgents and close calls had steeled them to the
possibility of casualties.

"The guys that were involved in that were out the next day on patrol. The day after
that they were in contact with the enemy again very close to the same area," he said.

Over the past three decades, the Australian military has undertaken numerous overseas
training missions, instructing - among others - Ugandans, Iraqis and East Timorese.

But not since Vietnam had any training unit gone into combat with their trainees.

In Vietnam, the training team never numbered more than 200 at any time but remains
the most highly decorated Australian unit of that conflict. Team members won four Victoria
Crosses. Thirty-three died, many while fighting alongside South Vietnamese soldiers.

Major McCammon said the activities of his 70-member OMLT were closer to what occurred
in Vietnam than more recently training activities in Iraq.

"The guys are going out on patrol and denying freedom of movement to the Taliban throughout
the AO (area of operations) and they are doing that on a daily basis," he said.

"We are dominating the AO, we are pushing them (the Taliban) further and further out."

But that has come at considerable cost, with the death of Corporal Hopkins and another
five soldiers wounded in action.

OMLT soldiers are also doing it hard. From the start, members have worked and lived
alongside Afghan units at five FOBs in the Baluchi, Mirabad and Chora Valleys. And, other
than a period of leave out of the country in mid-deployment, that's where they have remained.

On those remote bases, anything from five or six to up to 20 Australians work with
30-100 Afghan soldiers.

"When we originally got here, it was pretty spartan. It's got progressively better
as we have lived here. Some of the FOBs are in worse state than others," Major McCammon
explained.

In the most recently constructed FOB, soldiers are still living on field rations and
surviving with no shower facilities and primitive toilets.

In contrast, FOB Locke, headquarters of the Afghan National Army (ANA) 2nd kandak (battalion),
features established showers and toilets plus refrigeration for fresh food.

Insurgents fire rockets at some of the FOBs as often as a couple of times a week.

In January one rocket landed in a FOB, killing Commando Private Greg Sher, a tragedy
regarded as the most appalling bad luck since most rockets miss their targets.

Major McCammon said the ANA was showing significant progress, although that could be patchy.

"You get the old ones who may have been mujahideen or fought with the Soviets. They
have got so much operational experience and they are very keen to get into the fight,"

he said.

"Then you have the younger ones who may be a little more technical but they are not
as keen to get into the fight. It is an interesting mix and part of the job is balancing
that mix."

At the outset, the language was a significant challenge. Now everyone has at least
snippets of Dari and Pashtun. One young platoon commander has picked up the language so
well that he's able to conduct operations without an interpreter.

At the same time, the Afghan soldiers have picked up some English.

"We have been here since October. They patrol five days a week, live in the same location
with them. There's almost a shared understanding of a lot of the stuff," Major McCammon
said.

Major McCammon says he's enormously proud of his soldiers who range from privates up
to the rank of major.

"The bravery and professionalism they have shown in contacts really makes me very proud
to be working with these guys," he said.

Among the acts of bravery was that of a medic who ran across 50-60 metres of ground
under fire to assist Corporal Hopkins.

"That's the sort of stuff these guys have been doing throughout their tour," he said.

AAP mb/jl/mn

KEYWORD: ANZAC AFGHANISTAN (AAP BACKGROUNDER)

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.