The Commander of the Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Tim Barrett, AM, CSC, RAN joined families welcoming home members of Combined Task Force 150 (CTF150), who have returned from the Middle East after four months leading maritime counter-terrorism coalition operations.
Rear Admiral Barrett congratulated the Australian Commander of CTF150 Commodore Charles McHardie, AM RAN and his team on a successful deployment, which included a record heroin interception and the disruption of two shipments of hashish.
“Taskforce 150, under the leadership of Commodore McHardie, made a significant contribution in the fight to secure the high seas for legitimate mariners,” Rear Admiral Barrett said.
“Heroin trafficking is a major source of financial supply for terrorists and the interception of a shipment estimated to have a street value of $100 million is significant. Combined with the seizure of 1500kg of hashish off the Gulf of Oman and the disruption of around 300kg of hashish in the Gulf of Aden, this rotation of Taskforce 150 has had considerable success.
“While deployed, the taskforce worked closely with coalition partners and regional nations to bring stability and confidence to the region. This earned them high praise from coalition partners and made a significant contribution to maintaining safe passage to some of the world’s most important shipping lanes,” Rear Admiral Barrett said.
Commodore McHardie was supported by a combined Australian and Canadian staff.
“We have had an exceptionally rewarding deployment. Our successes have significantly impacted the hip pocket of international terrorist organisations,” Commodore McHardie said.
The deployment was the fourth time a Royal Australian Navy Officer commanded CTF150, which is one of three task forces commanded by Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) involving 27 nations in the naval partnership.
CMF exists to promote security, stability and prosperity across approximately 2.5 million square miles of international waters.
Imagery is available at http://images.defence.gov.au/12133449
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Defence Media Operations (02) 6127 1999
