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{{further|[[Structure of the Australian Army]]}}
{{further|[[Structure of the 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 the six battalion [[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 class as special forces. 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 in 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, [[Australian 1st Brigade|1 Brigade]], which is primarily a heavy mechanised formation, and [[Australian 3rd Brigade|3 Brigade]], which is a light, air deployable formation. [[Australian 7th Brigade|7 Brigade]] is an integrated Regular/Reserve formation that would primarily be used in conjunction with DJHQ were it ever to be deployed overseas.
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 partof [[Special Operations Command (Australia)| 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, [[Australian 1st Brigade|1 Brigade]], which is primarily a mechanised formation, and [[Australian 3rd Brigade|3 Brigade]], which is a light, air deployable formation. [[Australian 7th Brigade|7 Brigade]] is an integrated Regular/Reserve formation that would primarily be used in conjunction with DJHQ were it ever to be deployed overseas.


===Statistics===
===Statistics===

Revision as of 03:45, 19 August 2006

The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force.

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:

  • 1901-47, when limits were set on the size of the regular army, the vast majority of peacetime soldiers were in the reserve army units of the Australian Citizens Military Force (also known as the CMF or Militia), and Australian Imperial Forces were formed to serve overseas, and
  • post-1947, when a standing peacetime infantry force was formed and the CMF (known as the Army Reserve after 1980) began to decline in importance.

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 notable 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.

The Army today

Further information: [[:Weaponry of the Australian Army]]

Organisation

Further information: [[:Structure of the 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 partof 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.

Statistics

Australian Army statistics
Personnel (Regular Army) 26,200
Personnel (Army Reserve) 17,200
Main Battle Tanks 90 Leopard 1
(59 M1A1 Abrams being delivered to replace Leopard 1)
Infantry fighting vehicles 113 ASLAV (+144 being delivered)
Armoured Personnel Carriers 700 M113 (350 being upgraded to M113AS3/4 standard, balance to be mothballed)
Infantry Mobility Vehicles 299 Bushmaster IMV (being delivered)
Land Rovers
Artillery 385 [1]
Aircraft 471
National Missile Defence 36

Current deployments

The Australian Army currently has significant forces deployed on four major operations:

"Hardened and Networked Army"

On 15 December 2005, then Australian Minister for Defence, The Hon. Senator Robert Hill announced that the Australian Army would be restructured and redeveloped. The policy of creating a 'Hardened and Networked' Army will see a major reorganisation of both the regular Army and Army Reserve. The overriding rationale for this is to bring about "A reduction in singular capabilities that can not be rotated, hence an 'Army of twos'"[2]. This will involve the army being organised so that it can deploy a number of battlegroups, consisting of infantry, armour, artillery etc in the correct proportions relevant to each type of mission. For this, nine separate army units are being structured to act as battlegroup headquarters:

The 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment will be relocated from Sydney to Adelaide, converting from its current parachute role into a mechanised unit. This new 'battle group' will take on a similar role to 5/7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment which is the major mechanised battalion. By the end of this process in approximately 2015, 1 Brigade will be the army's major mechanised formation. The armoured units of the Army Reserve in 2nd Division will be restructured, with four becoming pure light cavalry and the fifth being utilised in the armoured lift role.

Rank and insigina

The ranks of the Australian Army are based on the ranks of the British Army, and carry mostly the same actual insignia. Other than the shoulder title "Australia", the Officer ranks are exactly identical. The Non-Commissioned Officer insignia are the same up until Warrant Officer ranks, where they are stylised for Australia (e.g. using the Australian, rather than the British coat of arms).

Conflicts involving the Australian Army

Notes

  1. ^ [1].
  2. ^ Hardened and Networked Army

Sources

See also

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