30 Facts About Australian Army

1.

Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force.

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2.

The Australian Army is commanded by the Chief of Australian Army, who is subordinate to the Chief of the Defence Force who commands the ADF.

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3.

Australian Army was initially composed almost completely of part–time soldiers, where the vast majority were in units of the Citizens Military Force during peacetime, with limits set on the regular Army.

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4.

Since all reservists were barred from forcibly serving overseas, volunteer expeditionary forces were formed to enable the Australian Army to send large numbers of soldiers to serve overseas during periods of war.

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5.

Since 1947, the Australian Army has been involved in many peacekeeping operations, usually under the auspices of the United Nations.

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6.

The Australian Army gained command of these contingents and even supplied federal units to reinforce their commitment at the request of the British government.

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7.

On 5 October 1918, after furious fighting, the Australian Army Corps was withdrawn from the front, as the entire corps had been operating continuously since 8 August 1918.

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8.

Australian Army mounted units, composed of the ANZAC Mounted Division and eventually the Australian Army Mounted Division, participated in the Sinai and Palestine campaign.

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9.

Imperial Japanese Navy's failure in the Battle of the Coral Sea, was the impetus for the Imperial Japanese Australian Army to try to capture Port Moresby via the Owen Stanley Range.

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10.

In November 1942, the campaign ended after the Japanese withdrawal, with Australian Army advances leading to the Battle of Buna–Gona on 16 November 1942.

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11.

In mid-1944, Australian Army forces took over the garrisoning of Torokina from the US with this changeover giving Australian Army command responsibility over the Bougainville campaign.

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12.

In October 1955, the Australian Army committed the 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment in the Malayan Emergency, a guerrilla conflict between communist forces and the Federation of Malaya over ethnic Chinese citizenship.

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13.

Australian Army commenced its involvement in the Vietnam War by sending military advisors in 1962, which was then increased by sending in combat troops, specifically 1RAR, on 27 May 1965.

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14.

Just before the official start of hostilities, the Australian Army was augmented with the reintroduction of conscription, which was based on a 'birthday ballot' selection process for all registered 20-year-old males.

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15.

In March 1966, the Australian Army increased its commitment again with the replacement of 1RAR with the 1st Australian Task Force, a force in which all nine battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment would serve.

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16.

In 1968, Australian Army forces defended against the Tet Offensive, a Viet Cong military operation, and repulsed them with few casualties.

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17.

In late 1979, in the largest deployment of the decade, the Australian Army committed 151 troops to the Commonwealth Monitoring Force, which monitored the transition of Rhodesia to universal suffrage.

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18.

In January 1993, the Australian Army deployed 26 personnel on an ongoing rotational basis to the Multinational Force and Observers, as part of a non-United Nations peacekeeping organisation that observes and enforces the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.

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19.

Subsequently, the Australian Army committed combat troops to Afghanistan in Operation Slipper.

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20.

Between April 2015 and June 2020, the Australian Army deployed a 300-strong element to Iraq, designated as Task Group Taji, as part of Operation Okra.

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21.

In support of a capacity building mission, Task Group Taji's main role was to provide training to Iraqi forces, during which Australian Army troops have served alongside counterparts from New Zealand.

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22.

The Australian Army has not deployed a divisional-sized formation since 1945 and does not expect to do so in the future.

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23.

Infantry, and some other combat units of the Australian Army carry flags called the Queen's Colour and the Regimental Colour, known as "the Colours".

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24.

The 1st Armoured Regiment is the only unit in the Australian Army to carry a Standard, in the tradition of heavy armoured units.

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25.

The reverse bears the "rising sun" badge of the Australian Army, flanked by seven campaign honours on small gold-edged scrolls: South Africa, World War I, World War II, Korea, Malaya-Borneo, South Vietnam, and Peacekeeping.

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26.

The number of women in the Australian Army military has increased since 2011, with the announcement that women would be allowed to serve in frontline combat roles by 2016.

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27.

Ranks of the Australian Army are based on the ranks of the British Army, and carry mostly the same actual insignia.

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28.

Australian Army uniforms are grouped into nine categories, with additional variants of the uniform having alphabetical suffixes in descending order, which each ranges from ceremonial dress to general service and battle dress.

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29.

Puckapunyal, north of Melbourne, houses the Australian Army's Combined Arms Training Centre, Land Warfare Development Centre, and three of the five principal Combat Arms schools.

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30.

In 1976, the journal was placed on hiatus as the Defence Force Journal began publication; however, publishing of the Australian Army Journal began again in 1999 and since then the journal has been published largely on a quarterly basis, with only minimal interruptions.

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