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Operation Okra is the
Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Fo ...
(ADF) contribution to the military intervention against the
Islamic State An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic ter ...
. The force is part of Joint Task Force 633 in the Middle East. The operation commenced on 31 August 2014, and its initial stated aim was to combat
ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...
threats in Iraq. In September 2015, the Australian airstrikes were extended to Syria. In June 2017, flights in Syria were temporarily halted in response to American forces shooting down a Syrian Air Force jet, before later being resumed.


Development of the Australian contribution


Airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq

The Australian government announced on 14 September 2014 that an Air Task Group (ATG) of up to eight F/A-18F Super Hornets, an
E-7A Wedgetail The Boeing 737 AEW&C is a twin-engine airborne early warning and control aircraft based on the Boeing 737 Next Generation design. It is lighter than the 707-based Boeing E-3 Sentry, and has a fixed, active electronically scanned array radar ant ...
AEW&C aircraft, and a KC-30A air-to-air refuelling tanker, along with a Special Operations Task Force, would be deployed to the Middle East in preparation for possible operations against ISIL forces. The ATG commenced operations on 1 October, and on 3 October, Prime Minister
Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...
announced that his country would commence airstrikes. Australian forces operate from Al Minhad Air Base in the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...
. Australian aircraft have also been reported to have flown out of
Al Dhafra Air Base Al Dhafra Air Base ( ar, قاعدة الظفرة الجوية) is a military installation in the United Arab Emirates. The base is located approximately south of Abu Dhabi and is operated by the United Arab Emirates Air Force. Facilities The a ...
south of
Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dha ...
. An Australian Army training team known as Task Group Taji was deployed to Iraq in April 2015 to assist with training the regular Iraqi Security Forces. The force is part of Joint Task Force 633 in the Middle East, originally under the command of Major General Craig Orme. Orme handed over command of JTF 633 to Rear Admiral Trevor Jones in December 2014.


Extension with airstrikes against ISIL in Syria

Airstrikes were extended to Syria in September 2015. In late 2015 the United States Government asked the Australian Government, along with other members of the coalition, to expand its military commitment to the war. The Australian Government rejected this request in January 2016, but stated that it would increase the number of Australian personnel attached to the coalition headquarters from 20 to 30 and was considering increasing the amount of humanitarian aid it provides to people affected by the war in Iraq and Syria. The strikes within Syria were reported to have been temporarily suspended on 20 June 2017 after the US shot down a
Syrian Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indi ...
aircraft. Operations over Syria resumed several days later, with an airstrike reported to have been carried out in the Middle Euphrates River Valley on 23 June 2017.


Air force component


Humanitarian air drops and munition and arms resupply

From August 2014 a number of
C-17 The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft that was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of two ...
and
C-130J The Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. The C-130J is a comprehensive update of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, with new engines, flight deck, and other systems. The C-130J is the newes ...
transport aircraft based in the Middle East have also been used to conduct airdrops of humanitarian aid and to airlift arms and munitions. On the night of 13–14 August an RAAF C-130J was part of a 16-aircraft mission including US C-17s and C-130Hs and a British C-130J which delivered supplies to
Yezidi Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. The majo ...
civilians trapped on
Mount Sinjar The Sinjar Mountains ( ku, چیایێ شنگالێ, translit=Çiyayê Şingalê, ar, جبل سنجار, translit=Jabal Sinjār, syr, ܛܘܪܐ ܕܫܝܓܪ, Ṭura d'Shingar,) are a mountain range that runs east to west, rising above the surroundi ...
. A second drop was later conducted to deliver supplies to isolated civilians in the northern Iraqi town of
Amirli Amirli ( ar, آمرلي, ʾĀmirlī; tr, Emirli) also spelt Amerli, is a predominantly Shia Iraqi Turkmen, Turkmen town in Saladin Governorate, Iraq, approximately 100 km from the Iranian border. It is the centre of a farming region. Histo ...
. Later, a C-130J was involved in the airlift arms and munitions to forces in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq in late-September.


Air Task Group

In late-September 2014, an Air Task Group (ATG) of 400 personnel from the
Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
(RAAF) was deployed to Al Minhad Air Base in the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...
as part of the
coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...
to combat
Islamic State An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...
forces in Iraq. The initial commitment of aircraft included: six F/A-18F Super Hornet strike aircraft from No. 1 Squadron RAAF, one
E-7A Wedgetail The Boeing 737 AEW&C is a twin-engine airborne early warning and control aircraft based on the Boeing 737 Next Generation design. It is lighter than the 707-based Boeing E-3 Sentry, and has a fixed, active electronically scanned array radar ant ...
Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft from
No. 2 Squadron RAAF No. 2 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) squadron that operates from RAAF Base Williamtown, near Newcastle, New South Wales. From its formation in 1916 as part of the Australian Flying Corps, it has flown a variety of aircraft types ...
and one KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transport from No. 33 Squadron RAAF. The ATG began operations on 1 October 2014. Between 6–17 October, Australian aircraft flew 54 sorties.'Confirmed: Australian air strikes have killed 'multiple' ISIS targets in Iraq'
. news.com.au, 17 October 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
In at least two of them, a number of ISIL fighters were killed. Australian planes attacked ISIL military equipment and facilities in support of Iraqi and Kurdish troops on the ground. Vice Admiral David Johnston refused to give more details on the number of casualties or locations of airstrikes due to the "aggressive propaganda campaign" of ISIL. In late–December 2014 Australian Super Hornets were involved in assisting Kurdish ground forces free Yezidi people trapped on Mount Sinjar along with other coalition aircraft. A second ATG arrived in the UAE in early-January 2015 to replace the first group of personnel and operate the aircraft originally deployed in September 2014. Providing an operational update on 12 January 2015, the Chief of Joint Operations, Vice Admiral
David Johnston David Lloyd Johnston (born June 28, 1941) is a Canadian academic, author, and statesman who served from 2010 to 2017 as Governor General of Canada, the 28th since Canadian Confederation. He is the commissioner of the Leaders' Debates Commis ...
, stated that Australian aircraft provide around 13 percent of coalition airstrikes in Iraq. Six single-seat F/A-18As from No. 75 Squadron RAAF based at Tindal deployed to the Middle East to replace the six dual-seat F/A-18Fs in March 2015. On 30 June 2015 the Department of Defence reported that the ATG had dropped more than 400 munitions in support of Iraqi forces since the commencement of operations with the F/A-18A Hornets and F/A-18F Super Hornets flying nearly 5000 hours, the E-7A Wedgetail completing 100 operational sorties, and the KC‑30A air-to-air refuelling aircraft providing 25 million pounds of fuel to Australian and coalition aircraft. By the end of November 2015 the F/A-18A Hornets had conducted 580 sorties over Iraq, during which they dropped 363 munitions. The aircraft also flew 18 sorties over Syria in September 2015, dropping two munitions. Rotations from
No. 77 Squadron RAAF No. 77 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) squadron headquartered at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales. It is controlled by No. 81 Wing, and equipped with Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II multi-role fighters. The squad ...
took over the deployment in September 2015, and were in turn replaced by No. 3 Squadron RAAF in April 2016. On 18 September 2016, two F/A-18As and a E-7A Wedgetail formed part of a multi-national force consisting of US, UK, and Danish aircraft which accidentally bombed Syrian Army forces near the city of
Deir ez-Zor , population_urban = , population_density_urban_km2 = , population_density_urban_sq_mi = , population_blank1_title = Ethnicities , population_blank1 = , population_blank2_title = Religions , population_blank2 = ...
. In late-December 2017 it was announced that the strike aircraft attached to the ATG had ceased air combat operations and would return to Australia in January 2018, although the KC-30 and Wedgetail will remain in support of ongoing coalition operations. This announcement followed the earlier recapture of the last remaining ISIL held areas of Iraq by government forces. The final RAAF strike mission was flown by two Super Hornets on 14 January 2018. By this time the Hornets and Super Hornets had conducted over 2,700 sorties. As of October 2018, the RAAF forces assigned to operations against ISIL had been reduced to a single aircraft. This involved alternating four month long KC-30 and Wedgetail deployments. The final rotation of Air Task Group aircraft concluded in September 2020. ; Commanders ATG 630 * Air Commodore Steve Roberton (September 2014 – January 2015) * Air Commodore Glen Braz (January–July 2015) * Air Commodore Stuart Bellingham (July 2015 – January 2016) * Air Commodore Antony Martin (January–July 2016) * Air Commodore Mike Kitcher (January–July 2017) * Air Commodore Terry van Haren (July 2017 – January 2018)


Exchange personnel

In August 2015, the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' reported that five RAAF exchange personnel embedded with the USAF 432d Operations Group had begun flying
General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (sometimes called Predator B) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) primarily for the Unit ...
s over Syria.


Army component


Special Operations Task Group

In September 2014, the
Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...
deployed a Special Operations Task Group (SOTG) of approximately 200 personnel to the United Arab Emirates in preparation for operations to advise and assist Iraqi Security Forces. The soldiers were expected to be deployed to Iraq when a legal framework covering their presence in the country was agreed between the Australian and Iraqi Governments. The majority of the initial rotation of the SOTG was made up of Charlie Company, 2nd Commando Regiment. The SOTG began moving into Iraq in early November. As the Iraqi Government would not agree to sign a
status of forces agreement A status of forces agreement (SOFA) is an agreement between a host country and a foreign nation stationing military forces in that country. SOFAs are often included, along with other types of military agreements, as part of a comprehensive security ...
to prevent the soldiers from being prosecuted, they entered the country using diplomatic passports instead. Iraq has agreed to grant the soldiers immunity from local laws under this arrangement, though they will be prosecuted in Australia in the event of any misconduct. The role of the SOTG is to provide training to Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service, and personnel were stationed at the service's Counter-Terrorism Academy and Counter-Terrorism Training unit in January 2015, instructing in tactics, medical aid and counter improvised explosive device skills. The Counter-Terrorism Service includes two brigades of the
Iraqi Special Operations Forces The Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) ( ar, قوات العمليات الخاصة العراقية) are a special operations force of Iraq. The unit was created in 1950, but was disbanded and recruited from scratch by coalition forces after ...
, which fought against ISIS during 2014 at the cost of heavy casualties. Members of the service have been accused of killing prisoners and committing human rights violations. SOTG personnel are required to report any human rights violations they become aware of. The third SOTG rotation occurred in September 2015 with a reduced strength of 80 personnel. The SOTG role is also to provide mission support with SOTG personnel stationed in Iraqi bases assisting Iraqi units which are deployed on operations through remote means. In December 2015, it was reported that SOTG personnel enabled more than 150 airstrikes in support of Counter Terrorism Service 1st Iraqi Special Operations Force Brigade's offensive liberating
Ramadi Ramadi ( ar, ٱلرَّمَادِي ''Ar-Ramādī''; also formerly rendered as ''Rumadiyah'' or ''Rumadiya'') is a city in central Iraq, about west of Baghdad and west of Fallujah. It is the capital and largest city of Al Anbar Governorate w ...
resulting in the destruction of some 50 ISIL fighting positions, 16 heavy machine guns and numerous vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices. In April 2016, it was disclosed that SOTG personnel are assisting at the "divisional level" embedded with senior Iraqi and Kurdish
Peshmerga The Peshmerga ( ku, پێشمەرگه, Pêşmerge, lit=those who face death) is the Kurdish military forces of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq. According to the Constitution of Iraq, the Peshmerga, along with their security subsidiaries, ...
commanders. Earlier in November 2015, it had been reported that the Australian Government had authorised SOTG personnel to advise units at
battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...
size and larger in the field but the Iraqi Government had not provided approval.


Task Group Taji

In April 2015, a 300-strong unit known as Task Group Taji (TGT) was deployed to Iraq as part of the coalition Building Partner Capacity mission. The task group consists of a training team with command, force protection and support elements, and is tasked with training the regular Iraqi Security Forces. A New Zealand force element of approximately another 100 personnel is integrated into the unit, forming a combined task group. The second rotation of Task Group Taji departed Australia in November 2015. The unit's departure was delayed due to problems gaining visas for the soldiers, and this caused the initial rotation's tour of duty to be extended by two weeks. The third rotation arrived in Iraq during May 2016. In July 2016, it was announced that the Task Group would be expanding its role training paramilitary police agencies including Iraqi Federal and Local Police and border guard forces. In addition, the Task Group will be allowed to conduct training at other secure coalition training locations, as the need arises. Also, 15 personnel from the 16th Air Land Regiment will be deployed to provide a counter rocket, artillery and mortar (C-RAM) capability at Taji which is currently being provided by another Coalition member. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence. By the end of June 2018 the Task Group had trained more than 34,000 Iraqi soldiers since their mission began in early 2015. With the deployment of the tenth rotation of TGT from Darwin, the Australian government announced that it was reducing troop numbers from 250 to 120 personnel as a result of improved capacity within the Iraqi Army's training establishments. By November 2019, over 45,000 Iraqi Army personnel had been trained, and over 2,500 Australians had served with TGT. Task Group Taji concluded in June 2020, with the tenth rotation being the last. ; Commanders *Task Group Taji – 1 (Colonel Matt Galton), April 2015 – November 2015 *Task Group Taji – 2 (Colonel Gavin Keating), November 2015 – June 2016 *Task Group Taji – 3 (Colonel Andrew Lowe), June 2016 – December 2016 *Task Group Taji – 4 (Colonel Richard Vagg), December 2016 – June 2017 *Task Group Taji – 5 (Colonel Steve D'arcy), June 2017 – December 2017 *Task Group Taji – 6 (Colonel Robert Calhoun), December 2017 – June 2018 *Task Group Taji – 7 (Colonel Mick Say), June 2018 – December 2018 *Task Group Taji – 8 (Colonel Jason Groat), December 2018 – June 2019 *Task Group Taji – 9 (Colonel Michael Bassingthwaighte), June 2019 – December 2019 *Task Group Taji – 10 (Colonel Nick Foxall), December 2019 – June 2020


Joint Task Force 633 commanders


See also

*
List of military operations involving Australia This is an incomplete list of Australian military operations. See also * Current Australian Defence Force deployments References {{Reflist External linksGlobal Operations: Department of Defence * Australia * Operations ...
* 2014 American-led intervention in Iraq *
Opération Chammal Opération Chammal is a French military operation in Iraq and Syria launched to help curtail the expansion of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and to support the Iraqi Army. Its name comes from the Shamal (''Chammal'' in French), a no ...
– French operation against ISIL *
Operation Shader Operation Shader is the operational code name given to the contribution of the United Kingdom in the ongoing military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The operation involves the British Army providing ground s ...
– UK operation against ISIL *
Operation Impact On 3 October 2014, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that he would put forth a motion to send forces to participate in the coalition for military intervention against ISIL by deploying combat aircraft. On 7 October 2014, the Hous ...
– Canadian operation against ISIL *
Operation Inherent Resolve Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) is the U.S. military's operational name for the International military intervention against IS, including both a campaign in Iraq and a campaign in Syria, with a closely-related campaign in Libya. Throu ...
– US operation against ISIL * Operation Martyr Yalçın – Turkish operation against ISIL


References


Further reading

* * *


External links


Operation Okra
www.defence.gov.au – Sub-pages include: *
Media releases
*
Imagery
and *
Videos
{{coord missing, Iraq Military operations involving Australia 2014 in Australia 2015 in Australia 2016 in Australia Military operations of the War in Iraq (2013–2017) involving the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Australian involvement in the Syrian civil war Australian involvement in the War in Iraq (2013–2017)