The 3rd Health Support Battalion (3 HSB) is an

Australian Army Reserve The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citizens Forces, the Citizen ...

unit headquartered in

Adelaide, South Australia Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

, with sub-units spread across Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland. Drawing its lineage from the 3rd Australian General Hospital, which was raised for service during World War I, the unit is tasked with providing Role 2 health support to troops deployed overseas on operations and within Australia on exercise, and has provided medical personnel for a variety deployments in the post-war period, including those to Rwanda, Bougainville, East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Structure and role

Consisting of four health support

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

– the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th – the unit is headquartered at

Keswick Barracks Keswick Barracks is a barracks of the Australian Army in Keswick, South Australia Keswick() is an inner south-western suburb of Adelaide, adjacent to the park lands, and located in the City of West Torrens. The suburb is home to the Keswic ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

with sub-units and elements in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and Adelaide. The unit forms part of the 17th Sustainment Brigade. While it is designated primarily as a Reserve unit, 3 HSB has a small

cadre Cadre may refer to: *Cadre (military), a group of officers or NCOs around whom a unit is formed, or a training staff *Cadre (politics), a politically controlled appointment to an institution in order to circumvent the state and bring control to th ...

of Regular Army personnel who are tasked with administration and training. Personnel belong to a variety of corps, including the

Royal Australian Army Medical Corps The Royal Australian Army Medical Corps (RAAMC) is the branch of the Australian Army responsible for providing medical care to Army personnel. The AAMC was formed in 1902 through the amalgamation of medical units of the various Australian coloni ...

, the

Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps The Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps (RAANC) is a Corps of the Australian Army. It was formed in February 1951 from the Royal Australian Army Nursing Service. A Corps Badge was introduced in 1951 with the motto ''Pro Humanitate'' (for Humanity) ...

, the

Royal Australian Army Dental Corps The Royal Australian Army Dental Corps (RAADC) is a corps within the Australian Army. It was formed on 23 April 1943 during World War II as the Australian Army Dental Corps, before being granted the 'Royal' prefix in 1948. Prior to its formation ...

, and other logistical corps. It is generally used to provide individual reinforcements to the Army’s other two health battalions – the 1st Close and 2nd General Health Battalions – and is tasked with providing health support at Role 2 and above, including initial wound and definitive surgical interventions, and maintains the majority of the Australian Army’s high level surgical capabilities.

History

The unit traces its lineage back to the 3rd Australian General Hospital (3 AGH) that was established during the early years of World War I. During the Gallipoli Campaign, 3 AGH served on

Lemnos Island Lemnos or Limnos ( el, Λήμνος; grc, Λῆμνος) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The ...

before moving to Egypt in January 1916, having treated 7,400 patients. In mid-1916, the unit moved to Brighton in the United Kingdom as part of the transfer of the Australian Imperial Force to the Western Front. It was later moved across the English Channel to France, where it was established around

Abbeville Abbeville (, vls, Abbekerke, pcd, Advile) is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is the chef-lieu of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital of ...

, remaining there until it was demobilised in 1919. In the post-war period, the unit has deployed personnel on various overseas deployments, mostly through rounding out Regular medical units. It provided individual personnel to deployments to

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

, Bougainville,

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and provided the majority of the personnel assigned to the fourth rotation of the UNMILHOSP force sent to East Timor in 2001.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{cite book , last1=Neuhaus , first1=Susan , author-link1=Susan Neuhaus , last2=Mascall-Dare , first2=Sharon , title=Not for Glory: A Century of Service by Medical Women to the Australian Army and its Allies , year=2014 , publisher=Boolarong Press , location=Salisbury, Queensland , isbn=9781925046663 Combat service support battalions of the Australian Army Army medical units and formations of Australia Medical battalions