2000s
Solomon Islands 2000 – Op Plumbob – Deployed on HMAS Manoora
East Timor 2000 – 2001
East Timor 2003 – The Battalion deployed on its second tour of East Timor in May 2003.
Solomon Islands 2004 – 2005 24th Dec
Iraq – 2006 B Coy Major Malcolm Wells / Secdet 8 109 from 1 RAR
The soldiers of B Company under the command of Major Malcolm Wells, were members of Secdet 8 and were tasked to provide protection and escort for Australian government personnel working in the Australian Embassy in Baghdad.
May 2006 elements of 1 RAR returned to East Timor
”A” Company 1 RAR deployed from Townsville to East Timor in May 2006 on HMAS Manoora. They flew into Dili by Blackhawk on 27th May where A Company conducted sustained security, stability and public order operations in Dili for approximately two months. Operation CHINDIT saw the company conduct airmobile operations to Manatuto and Baucau to conduct further security operations, before returning to Australia in August.
See Main menu / Iraq
Solomon Islands April 2006 – BHQ and D Coy – RAMSI – See Peacekeepers
Tonga 18th November 2006 – See Peacekeepers
Afghanistan 2007 – D Coy
Iraq 2007 A Coy – See main menu / Iraq
East Timor 2007 – BHQ, B and C Coy
Afghanistan 2009
Graham Brown and Jason Brown, ANZAC Day 2009 Sydney. Graham served with 3 Pl A Coy Viet Nam 1968-1969. His son,Jason served in 1 RAR 2000 – 2004.
Trooper Jason Thomas Brown, 29, from the Perth-based Special Air Service Regiment died as a result of gunshot wounds sustained in an engagement with Taliban insurgents on 13 August, 2010.
Personal details of Trooper Jason Thomas Brown
Twenty-nine-year-old Trooper Brown was from the Perth-based Special Air Service Regiment.
Trooper Brown was born in Sydney, NSW in 1981. He joined the Army on 13 June, 2000 and following Recruit and Initial Employment Training, Trooper Brown was posted to the 1st Battalion Royal Australian Regiment. In 2004 he joined the 4th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (Commando). On successful completion of the 2007 Selection Course, Trooper Brown became a member of the Special Air Service Regiment. This was his first tour to Afghanistan, although he had deployed previously on three occasions to East Timor.
Pte Daniel Halliday, Sgt Septimus ANZAC Day 2009
Lt Col Andrew Hocking – Commanding Officer 1 RAR ANZAC Day 2009
Cooperative Spirit 2008 Germany
Soldiers from 1 RAR conduct field training, practicing battle and patrol drills at the Joint Multinational Readiness Centre (JMRC) in Hohenfels, Germany during Cooperative Spirit 08 (CS08). This platoon level training activity was conducted to prepare 1 RAR soldiers prior to the CS08 collective team and small unit Situational Training Exercises (STXs) and field training exercise (FTX).
Approximately 180 personnel drawn mostly from the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1 RAR) in Townsville have deployed to Germany on Cooperative Spirit 2008 (CS08). CS08 is a multinational exercise intended to test interoperability among the American, British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand Armies (ABCA).
The 1 RAR contingent comprised a Battle Group HQ and Combat Team Force Element and was combined with a company from the 2nd/1st Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (2/1 RNZIR) to create the ‘ANZAC Battle Group’ during the exercise. They conducted operations in the field, under stressful battlefield conditions, complete with a sophisticated opposing force and realistic training scenarios in a world-class training facility.
CS08 was conducted by the United States at the Joint Multinational Readiness Centre (JMRC), located in Hohenfels, Germany, between 11 Sep and 10 Oct 08. The month-long exercise aimed to develop skills common to ABCA armies and increase interoperability for combined operations and offered significant opportunities to train soldiers in a combined (multinational) environment.
SGT Richard Chapman (left), LCPL Leon Botcham (middle) and PTE Chaka Dau (right) from 9 Platoon, Charlie Company, 1 RAR, confirm orders prior to conducting battle drills during Cooperative Spirit 08. 11 September 2008
PTE Christopher Whybrow (foreground) and PTE Wayne Ireland from 9 Platoon, Charlie Company, 1 RAR, during a platoon assault at Cooperative Spirit 08.
PTE Mathew Whiting from 9 Platoon, Charlie Company, 1 RAR, takes up a firing position during a platoon attack at Cooperative Spirit 08.
Members of 9 Platoon, Charlie Company, 1 RAR, take a break and debrief after conducting a platoon attack filmed by a US Army combat camera team at Cooperative Spirit 08.
Soldiers from Charlie Company, 1 RAR conduct Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) training at the ‘Shoothouse’ at the Joint Multinational Readiness Centre (JMRC) in Hohenfels, Germany during Cooperative Spirit 08 (CS08). This platoon training activity practices soldiers in building clearance and search activities and is being conducted to prepare 1 RAR soldiers prior to the CS08 collective team and small unit Situational Training Exercises (STXs) and field training exercise (FTX)
Left to right) PTE Paul McGregor, PTE Chaka Dau, PTE Bradley Warn and PTE Aaron Coleman (background) from 9 Platoon, Charlie Company, 1 RAR, begin the next leg of their patrol during Cooperative Spirit 08.
9 Platoon soldiers from Charlie Company, 1 RAR, establish formation as they conduct building clearance procedures in the ‘Shoothouse’ during Cooperative Spirit 08.
Left to right) PTEs William Stiles, Max Munday and Alexander Davies from 8 Platoon, Charlie Company, 1 RAR, practice building clearance drills before they enter the ‘Shoothouse’ during Cooperative Spirit 08.
Right to left) PTE Geoffrey Shaw and PTE Terence Leach from 7 Platoon, Charlie Company, 1 RAR, with WO2 Peter Turnbull prepare to enter a room in the ‘Shoothouse’ during Cooperative Spirit 08.
Combat Team Charlie, ANZAC Battle Group, kicked off the Field Training Exercise (FTX) for Cooperative Spirit 08 with air-mobile insertion into their area of operations. 9 Platoon was partnered with US soldiers from the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, and for the first time were mounted in US Stryker armoured vehicles to secure a landing zone for the remainder of Combat Team Charlie. Once the landing zone was secured, 7 and 8 Platoons and Combat Team HQ elements were inserted via UH-1H Iriqois helicopters over numerous sorties and began their new tasks of patrolling and securing their new territory.
(Left to right) CPL Blake Pascoe (8 Platoon) with PTE Stephen Axon, PTE Nicholas Baldwin, PTE Jae Butler-Evans, PTE Timothy Bray and CPL Mark Foster from 7 Platoon, Combat Team Charlie, ANZAC Battle Group receive pre-flight briefings before boarding UH-1H Iroquois helicopters for the Combat Team Charlie air-mobile insertion into their area of operations to kick off the Field Training Exercise (FTX) part of Cooperative Spirit 08.
9 Platoon soldiers from Combat Team Charlie, ANZAC Battle Group, listen in as 2LT Jordan Smith from the US 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team briefs them prior to mounting up in US Stryker armoured vehicles to secure a landing zone for the remainder of Combat Team Charlie during Cooperative Spirit 08.
Front right to left) PTE Daniel O’Connor, PTE Cameron Hardie, CPL Robert Munro and PTE Ivan Mazourenko from 8 Platoon, Combat Team Charlie, ANZAC Battle Group, prepare to enter a building during Cooperative Spirit 08.
(front left to right) PTE Brodie Keating, PTE Christopher Cathcart and CPL Blake Pascoe with other members of 1 Section, 8 Platoon, Charlie Company, ANZAC Battle Group preparing to cordon and search the village of Nurgal during Cooperative Spirit 08.
DEDICATION OF MEMORIAL PLAQUES 12 – 3 – 2008
Memorial plaques for the 1st Battalion AIF 1914-1919, 2/1st Battalion AIF 1939-1945 and 1 RAR were dedicated at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. These three plaques were unveiled by decendants of WW1 soldiers, members of the 2/1st battalion WW2 and the youngest serving soldier in 1 RAR, Pte Matthew Whiting and the longest serving 1 RAR soldier, Major Ray Curtis,CSM.
The Queens Colours and the Regimental Colours of the 1st Battalion RNSWR and 1 RAR were present as the battle and theatre honours of all the FIRST battalions since 1885 are emblazoned on these colours.