The Army is commanded by the Chief of the Army (CA), who is responsible to the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF).
As well as ground troops, approximately 100 Leopard tanks and artillery, it also operates helicopters: Blackhawk, Chinook, and has taken delivery of the first of 22 Eurocopter Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters (with the last of the UH-1 Iroquois serving with distinction in Aceh for humanitarian relief after 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
before removal from service). Recently plans have been announced to procure 59 M1A1 AIM Abrams tanks and 7 M88 Hercules II armoured recovery vehicles.
Australian soldiers have been involved in a number of minor and major conflicts throughout its history, but only in World War II did Australian territory come under direct attack.
The history of the Australian Army can be divided into two periods:
The army has been involved in many peacekeeping operations, usually under the auspices of the United Nations. The biggest one began in 1999 in East Timor. Other operations include peacekeeping on Bougainville and in the Solomon Islands, which are ongoing as of May 2004. Humanitarian relief after 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake in Aceh Province, Indonesia, Operation Sumatra Assist, ended on 24 March 2005.
Current structure Of Australian Army:
The Australian Army is currently organised around two Division headquarters. The Deployable Joint Force Headquarters/1st Division has responsibility for the majority of the regular army, while 2nd Division is the main home defence formation, containing Army Reserve units.
The regular army is organised around six battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment - three of these are standard light infantry, with two of the others roled as paratroops and mechanised infantry. The final battalion is a specialised commando unit which is part of Special Operations Command. The Royal Australian Armoured Corps has four regular regiments, one of main battle tanks and two light cavalry (formation reconnaissance). The fourth consists of a single squadron and is used on the armoured personnel carrier/light armoured role. These forces, together with the associated combat support (artillery, engineers, signals) and combat service support (logistics, maintenance etc) are based around two deployable brigades, 1 Brigade, which is primarily a mechanised formation, and 3 Brigade, which is a light, air deployable formation. 7 Brigade is an integrated Regular/Reserve formation that would primarily be used in conjunction with DJHQ were it ever to be deployed overseas.
Current Operations:
Operation Astute, Operation Catalyst, Operation Slipper, Operation Chiron, Operation Anode, Operation Paladin, Operation Mazurka, Operation Azure, Operation Resolute, Operation Ramp
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before removal from service). Recently plans have been announced to procure 59 M1A1 AIM Abrams tanks and 7 M88 Hercules II armoured recovery vehicles.
Australian soldiers have been involved in a number of minor and major conflicts throughout its history, but only in World War II did Australian territory come under direct attack.
The history of the Australian Army can be divided into two periods:
The regular army is organised around six battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment - three of these are standard light infantry, with two of the others roled as paratroops and mechanised infantry. The final battalion is a specialised commando unit which is part of Special Operations Command. The Royal Australian Armoured Corps has four regular regiments, one of main battle tanks and two light cavalry (formation reconnaissance). The fourth consists of a single squadron and is used on the armoured personnel carrier/light armoured role. These forces, together with the associated combat support (artillery, engineers, signals) and combat service support (logistics, maintenance etc) are based around two deployable brigades, 1 Brigade, which is primarily a mechanised formation, and 3 Brigade, which is a light, air deployable formation. 7 Brigade is an integrated Regular/Reserve formation that would primarily be used in conjunction with DJHQ were it ever to be deployed overseas.