Courtesy Australian Government Department of Defence
Special Force reservists from 1st Commando Regiment have successfully completed their mission in Afghanistan of providing protection for the local Afghan population.
Thanks to their efforts in Uruzgan province, Taliban insurgents now have less access to the population and local Afghan police have a stronger presence.
Their mission over winter was Population Centric Operations, which involved heading to remote and dangerous parts of Uruzgan that were at risk of insurgent influence, and working to build the support of local communities for the Afghan National Security Forces and International Security Assistance Force efforts to maintain security in the province.
They did this by listening to community leaders, conducting medical clinics, providing humanitarian assistance, and conducting community based security assessments, in conjunction with Uruzgan’s Provincial Police Reserve, whom they supported and trained.
The Officer Commanding, Major B said that in addition to their skills as fully trained Commandos, the reservists brought a wide variety of skills and experience from their civilian lives.
“I think on this tour the reservists value added to the population centric strategy adopted by the Special Operations Task Group (SOTG),” Major B said.
“The reservists’ wide variety of skills and life experience came to the fore when dealing with the civilian population, something we must continue to do if we are to be successful in helping the people of Afghanistan.
“Most important however is that we are all fully trained Commandos who were able to perform magnificently in arduous conditions.”
The dedicated efforts of the SOTG personnel built on the successes of previous rotations in helping to weaken the Taliban insurgency and make them less able to intimidate the local population.
The SOTG and their Afghan partners provided protection for the local civilians who were targeted by insurgents – offering a good test of Commando core skills.
The SOTG mission over winter involved patrolling deep into remote and dangerous parts of Uruzgan and neighbouring provinces where the Taliban still maintain significant influence over the population.
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