The final Force Support Unit deployed to Operations SLIPPER and ACCORDION has completed its mission and is heading home.
Force Support Unit-9 (FSU-9) transferred its authority to Force Support Element-1 (FSE-1) on 3 August 2014 who will continue to provide directed theatre logistic support, operational training and redeployment and remediation support to ADF elements across Operations ACCORDION, MANITOU and SLIPPER.
Under the Command of Lieutenant Colonel (LTCOL) Rebecca Talbot, FSU-9 was drawn mainly from Army’s 10th Force Support Battalion in Townsville and several Air Force and Navy specialists.
LTCOL Talbot said the unit had performed exceptionally at Australia’s base in the United Arab Emirates as well as in Afghanistan at Kandahar Air Field and Kabul.
“We left Australia with 158 people and a mission ahead of us that was markedly different to our predecessors,” LTCOL Talbot said.
“We conducted the range of sustainment and remediation tasks that were required to support current operations and completed them while also undertaking the in-stride adjustment to reduce our personnel numbers as part of the operational redesign.”
The unit also supported Australian retrograde activities in Afghanistan for the treatment of materiel, equipment and vehicles identified for return to Australia.
“They can head home with their heads held high including those who returned to Australia earlier as a result of our reduction in personnel as the retrograde operations continued.”
FSU-9 provided specialists who delivered supply and distribution, maintenance, pay and administration as well as aeromedical evacuation and training support.
They also provided up-armoured vehicle transport in Kabul to move Australian personnel and visitors to Australia’s interests in the Afghan capital.
The unit also provided postal, pharmaceutical, explosive ordnance, freight terminal and warehouse support to the force elements in Afghanistan.
Major Luke Condon leads the smaller FSE-1 that includes 69 Army and Air Force personnel, reflecting the changing nature of operations in the Middle East.
