 in 2006 , as well as actions in Chora in 2007 , Kakarak in 2009 , the Shah Wali Kot and Derapet in 2010 , and Doan in 2011 ; although others have yet to be publicly acknowledged due to operational security requirements . Casualties include 41 killed and 256 wounded , while another Australian also died serving with the British Army . Four Australians have been awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia , the first such decorations in forty years . Following a drawdown in forces , the last combat troops were withdrawn on 15 December 2013 ; however , approximately 400 personnel remain in Afghanistan as trainers and advisers , and are stationed in Kandahar and Kabul . Over 26 @,@ 000 Australian personnel have served in Afghanistan .   = = = Iraq , 2003 – 11 = = =   Australian forces later joined British and American forces during the 2003 invasion of Iraq . The initial contribution was also a modest one , consisting of just 2 @,@ 058 personnel — codenamed Operation Falconer . Major force elements included special forces , rotary and fixed wing aviation and naval units . Army units included elements from the SASR and 4th Battalion , Royal Australian Regiment ( Commando ) , a CH @-@ 47 Chinook detachment and a number of other specialist units . RAN units included the amphibious ship HMAS Kanimbla and the frigates HMAS Darwin and HMAS Anzac , while the RAAF deployed 14 F / A @-@ 18 Hornets from No. 75 Squadron , a number of AP @-@ 3C Orions and C @-@ 130 Hercules . The Australian Special Forces Task Force was one of the first coalition units forces to cross the border into Iraq , while for a few days , the closest ground troops to Baghdad were from the SASR . During the invasion the RAAF also flew its first combat missions since the Vietnam War , with No. 75 Squadron flying a total of 350 sorties and dropping 122 laser @-@ guided bombs .   The Iraqi military quickly proved no match for coalition military power , and with their defeat the bulk of Australian forces were withdrawn . While Australia did not initially take part in the post @-@ war occupation of Iraq , an Australian Army light armoured battlegroup — designated the Al Muthanna Task Group and including 40 ASLAV light armoured vehicles and infantry — was later deployed to Southern Iraq in April 2005 as part of Operation Catalyst . The role of this force was to protect the Japanese engineer contingent in the region and support the training of New Iraqi Army units . The AMTG later became the Overwatch Battle Group ( West ) ( OBG ( W ) ) , following the hand back of Al Muthanna province to Iraqi control . Force levels peaked at 1 @,@ 400 personnel in May 2007 including the OBG ( W ) in Southern Iraq , the Security Detachment in Baghdad and the Australian Army Training Team — Iraq . A RAN frigate was based in the North Persian Gulf , while RAAF assets included C @-@ 130H Hercules and AP @-@ 3C elements . Following the election of a new Labor government under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd the bulk of these forces were withdrawn by mid @-@ 2009 , while RAAF and RAN operations were redirected to other parts of the Middle East Area of Operations as part of Operation Slipper .   Low @-@ level operations continued , however , with a small Australian force of 80 soldiers remaining in Iraq to protect the Australian Embassy in Baghdad as part of SECDET under Operation Kruger . SECDET was finally withdrawn in August 2011 , and was replaced by a private military company which took over responsibility for providing security for Australia 's diplomatic presence in Iraq . Although more than 17 @,@ 000 personnel served during operations in Iraq , Australian casualties were relatively light , with two soldiers accidentally killed , while a third Australian died serving with the British Royal Air Force . A further 27 personnel were wounded . Two officers remained in Iraq attached to the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq as part of Operation Riverbank . This operation concluded in November 2013 .   = = = Military intervention against ISIL , 2014 – present = = =   In June 2014 a small number of SASR personnel were deployed to Iraq to protect the Australian embassy when the security of Baghdad was threatened by the 2014 Northern Iraq offensive . Later , in August and September a number of RAAF C @-@ 17 and C @-@ 130J transport aircraft based in the Middle East were used to conduct airdrops of humanitarian aid to trapped civilians and to airlift arms and munitions to forces in Kurdish @-@ controlled northern Iraq . In late September 2014 an Air Task Group ( ATG ) and Special Operations Task Group ( SOTG ) were deployed to Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates as part of the coalition to combat Islamic State forces in Iraq . Equipped with F / A @-@ 18F Super Hornet strike aircraft , a KC @-@ 30A Multi Role Tanker Transport , and an E @-@ 7A Wedgetail Airborne
Ġin Ġ2006 Ġ, Ġas Ġwell Ġas Ġactions Ġin ĠCh ora Ġin Ġ2007 Ġ, ĠKak arak Ġin Ġ2009 Ġ, Ġthe ĠShah ĠWal i ĠKot Ġand ĠDer ap et Ġin Ġ2010 Ġ, Ġand ĠDo an Ġin Ġ2011 Ġ; Ġalthough Ġothers Ġhave Ġyet Ġto Ġbe Ġpublicly Ġacknowledged Ġdue Ġto Ġoperational Ġsecurity Ġrequirements Ġ. ĠCasual ties Ġinclude Ġ41 Ġkilled Ġand Ġ256 Ġwounded Ġ, Ġwhile Ġanother ĠAustralian Ġalso Ġdied Ġserving Ġwith Ġthe ĠBritish ĠArmy Ġ. ĠFour ĠAustralians Ġhave Ġbeen Ġawarded Ġthe ĠVictoria ĠCross Ġfor ĠAustralia Ġ, Ġthe Ġfirst Ġsuch Ġdecorations Ġin Ġforty Ġyears Ġ. ĠFollowing Ġa Ġdraw down Ġin Ġforces Ġ, Ġthe Ġlast Ġcombat Ġtroops Ġwere Ġwithdrawn Ġon Ġ15 ĠDecember Ġ2013 Ġ; Ġhowever Ġ, Ġapproximately Ġ400 Ġpersonnel Ġremain Ġin ĠAfghanistan Ġas Ġtrainers Ġand Ġadvisers Ġ, Ġand Ġare Ġstationed Ġin ĠKand ahar Ġand ĠKabul Ġ. ĠOver Ġ26 Ġ@ , @ Ġ000 ĠAustralian Ġpersonnel Ġhave Ġserved Ġin ĠAfghanistan Ġ. Ġ Ġ Ġ= Ġ= Ġ= ĠIraq Ġ, Ġ2003 ĠâĢĵ Ġ11 Ġ= Ġ= Ġ= Ġ Ġ ĠAustralian Ġforces Ġlater Ġjoined ĠBritish Ġand ĠAmerican Ġforces Ġduring Ġthe Ġ2003 Ġinvasion Ġof ĠIraq Ġ. ĠThe Ġinitial Ġcontribution Ġwas Ġalso Ġa Ġmodest Ġone Ġ, Ġconsisting Ġof Ġjust Ġ2 Ġ@ , @ Ġ0 58 Ġpersonnel ĠâĢĶ Ġcod en amed ĠOperation ĠFalcon er Ġ. ĠMajor Ġforce Ġelements Ġincluded Ġspecial Ġforces Ġ, Ġrot ary Ġand Ġfixed Ġwing Ġaviation Ġand Ġnaval Ġunits Ġ. ĠArmy Ġunits Ġincluded Ġelements Ġfrom Ġthe ĠSAS R Ġand Ġ4 th ĠBattalion Ġ, ĠRoyal ĠAustralian ĠRegiment Ġ( ĠCommando Ġ) Ġ, Ġa ĠCH Ġ@ - @ Ġ47 ĠChin ook Ġdetachment Ġand Ġa Ġnumber Ġof Ġother Ġspecialist Ġunits Ġ. ĠR AN Ġunits Ġincluded Ġthe Ġamphib ious Ġship ĠHM AS ĠK anim bl a Ġand Ġthe Ġfrig ates ĠHM AS ĠDarwin Ġand ĠHM AS ĠAn zac Ġ, Ġwhile Ġthe ĠR AAF Ġdeployed Ġ14 ĠF Ġ/ ĠA Ġ@ - @ Ġ18 ĠHornets Ġfrom ĠNo . Ġ75 ĠSquadron Ġ, Ġa Ġnumber Ġof ĠAP Ġ@ - @ Ġ3 C ĠOr ions Ġand ĠC Ġ@ - @ Ġ130 ĠHercules Ġ. ĠThe ĠAustralian ĠSpecial ĠForces ĠTask ĠForce Ġwas Ġone Ġof Ġthe Ġfirst Ġcoalition Ġunits Ġforces Ġto Ġcross Ġthe Ġborder Ġinto ĠIraq Ġ, Ġwhile Ġfor Ġa Ġfew Ġdays Ġ, Ġthe Ġclosest Ġground Ġtroops Ġto ĠBaghdad Ġwere Ġfrom Ġthe ĠSAS R Ġ. ĠDuring Ġthe Ġinvasion Ġthe ĠR AAF Ġalso Ġflew Ġits Ġfirst Ġcombat Ġmissions Ġsince Ġthe ĠVietnam ĠWar Ġ, Ġwith ĠNo . Ġ75 ĠSquadron Ġflying Ġa Ġtotal Ġof Ġ350 Ġsort ies Ġand Ġdropping Ġ122 Ġlaser Ġ@ - @ Ġguided Ġbombs Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠThe ĠIraqi Ġmilitary Ġquickly Ġproved Ġno Ġmatch Ġfor Ġcoalition Ġmilitary Ġpower Ġ, Ġand Ġwith Ġtheir Ġdefeat Ġthe Ġbulk Ġof ĠAustralian Ġforces Ġwere Ġwithdrawn Ġ. ĠWhile ĠAustralia Ġdid Ġnot Ġinitially Ġtake Ġpart Ġin Ġthe Ġpost Ġ@ - @ Ġwar Ġoccupation Ġof ĠIraq Ġ, Ġan ĠAustralian ĠArmy Ġlight Ġarmoured Ġbatt leg roup ĠâĢĶ Ġdesignated Ġthe ĠAl ĠM uth anna ĠTask ĠGroup Ġand Ġincluding Ġ40 ĠAS L AV Ġlight Ġarmoured Ġvehicles Ġand Ġinfantry ĠâĢĶ Ġwas Ġlater Ġdeployed Ġto ĠSouthern ĠIraq Ġin ĠApril Ġ2005 Ġas Ġpart Ġof ĠOperation ĠCatalyst Ġ. ĠThe Ġrole Ġof Ġthis Ġforce Ġwas Ġto Ġprotect Ġthe ĠJapanese Ġengineer Ġcontingent Ġin Ġthe Ġregion Ġand Ġsupport Ġthe Ġtraining Ġof ĠNew ĠIraqi ĠArmy Ġunits Ġ. ĠThe ĠAM TG Ġlater Ġbecame Ġthe ĠOverwatch ĠBattle ĠGroup Ġ( ĠWest Ġ) Ġ( ĠOB G Ġ( ĠW Ġ) Ġ) Ġ, Ġfollowing Ġthe Ġhand Ġback Ġof ĠAl ĠM uth anna Ġprovince Ġto ĠIraqi Ġcontrol Ġ. ĠForce Ġlevels Ġpeaked Ġat Ġ1 Ġ@ , @ Ġ400 Ġpersonnel Ġin ĠMay Ġ2007 Ġincluding Ġthe ĠOB G Ġ( ĠW Ġ) Ġin ĠSouthern ĠIraq Ġ, Ġthe ĠSecurity ĠDet achment Ġin ĠBaghdad Ġand Ġthe ĠAustralian ĠArmy ĠTraining ĠTeam ĠâĢĶ ĠIraq Ġ. ĠA ĠR AN Ġfr igate Ġwas Ġbased Ġin Ġthe ĠNorth ĠPersian ĠGulf Ġ, Ġwhile ĠR AAF Ġassets Ġincluded ĠC Ġ@ - @ Ġ130 H ĠHercules Ġand ĠAP Ġ@ - @ Ġ3 C Ġelements Ġ. ĠFollowing Ġthe Ġelection Ġof Ġa Ġnew ĠLabor Ġgovernment Ġunder ĠPrime ĠMinister ĠKevin ĠRudd Ġthe Ġbulk Ġof Ġthese Ġforces Ġwere Ġwithdrawn Ġby Ġmid Ġ@ - @ Ġ2009 Ġ, Ġwhile ĠR AAF Ġand ĠR AN Ġoperations Ġwere Ġredirected Ġto Ġother Ġparts Ġof Ġthe ĠMiddle ĠEast ĠArea Ġof ĠOperations Ġas Ġpart Ġof ĠOperation ĠSl ipper Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠLow Ġ@ - @ Ġlevel Ġoperations Ġcontinued Ġ, Ġhowever Ġ, Ġwith Ġa Ġsmall ĠAustralian Ġforce Ġof Ġ80 Ġsoldiers Ġremaining Ġin ĠIraq Ġto Ġprotect Ġthe ĠAustralian ĠEmbassy Ġin ĠBaghdad Ġas Ġpart Ġof ĠSEC D ET Ġunder ĠOperation ĠKru ger Ġ. ĠSEC D ET Ġwas Ġfinally Ġwithdrawn Ġin ĠAugust Ġ2011 Ġ, Ġand Ġwas Ġreplaced Ġby Ġa Ġprivate Ġmilitary Ġcompany Ġwhich Ġtook Ġover Ġresponsibility Ġfor Ġproviding Ġsecurity Ġfor ĠAustralia Ġ' s Ġdiplomatic Ġpresence Ġin ĠIraq Ġ. ĠAlthough Ġmore Ġthan Ġ17 Ġ@ , @ Ġ000 Ġpersonnel Ġserved Ġduring Ġoperations Ġin ĠIraq Ġ, ĠAustralian Ġcasualties Ġwere Ġrelatively Ġlight Ġ, Ġwith Ġtwo Ġsoldiers Ġaccidentally Ġkilled Ġ, Ġwhile Ġa Ġthird ĠAustralian Ġdied Ġserving Ġwith Ġthe ĠBritish ĠRoyal ĠAir ĠForce Ġ. ĠA Ġfurther Ġ27 Ġpersonnel Ġwere Ġwounded Ġ. ĠTwo Ġofficers Ġremained Ġin ĠIraq Ġattached Ġto Ġthe ĠUnited ĠNations ĠAssistance ĠMission Ġfor ĠIraq Ġas Ġpart Ġof ĠOperation ĠRiver bank Ġ. ĠThis Ġoperation Ġconcluded Ġin ĠNovember Ġ2013 Ġ. Ġ Ġ Ġ= Ġ= Ġ= ĠMilitary Ġintervention Ġagainst ĠISIL Ġ, Ġ2014 ĠâĢĵ Ġpresent Ġ= Ġ= Ġ= Ġ Ġ ĠIn ĠJune Ġ2014 Ġa Ġsmall Ġnumber Ġof ĠSAS R Ġpersonnel Ġwere Ġdeployed Ġto ĠIraq Ġto Ġprotect Ġthe ĠAustralian Ġembassy Ġwhen Ġthe Ġsecurity Ġof ĠBaghdad Ġwas Ġthreatened Ġby Ġthe Ġ2014 ĠNorthern ĠIraq Ġoffensive Ġ. ĠLater Ġ, Ġin ĠAugust Ġand ĠSeptember Ġa Ġnumber Ġof ĠR AAF ĠC Ġ@ - @ Ġ17 Ġand ĠC Ġ@ - @ Ġ130 J Ġtransport Ġaircraft Ġbased Ġin Ġthe ĠMiddle ĠEast Ġwere Ġused Ġto Ġconduct Ġa ird ro ps Ġof Ġhumanitarian Ġaid Ġto Ġtrapped Ġcivilians Ġand Ġto Ġair lift Ġarms Ġand Ġmunitions Ġto Ġforces Ġin ĠKurdish Ġ@ - @ Ġcontrolled Ġnorthern ĠIraq Ġ. ĠIn Ġlate ĠSeptember Ġ2014 Ġan ĠAir ĠTask ĠGroup Ġ( ĠAT G Ġ) Ġand ĠSpecial ĠOperations ĠTask ĠGroup Ġ( ĠS OT G Ġ) Ġwere Ġdeployed Ġto ĠAl ĠMin had ĠAir ĠBase Ġin Ġthe ĠUnited ĠArab ĠEmirates Ġas Ġpart Ġof Ġthe Ġcoalition Ġto Ġcombat ĠIslamic ĠState Ġforces Ġin ĠIraq Ġ. ĠEqu ipped Ġwith ĠF Ġ/ ĠA Ġ@ - @ Ġ18 F ĠSuper ĠHorn et Ġstrike Ġaircraft Ġ, Ġa ĠKC Ġ@ - @ Ġ30 A ĠMulti ĠRole ĠTank er ĠTransport Ġ, Ġand Ġan ĠE Ġ@ - @ Ġ7 A ĠWed get ail ĠAir borne