Australian military involvement in peacekeeping

Australian peacekeeping deployments since 1945

Australian military involvement in peacekeeping operations has been diverse, and included participation in both United Nations sponsored missions, as well as those as part of ad hoc coalitions. Indeed Australians have been involved in more conflicts as peacekeepers than as belligerents, however "in comparative international terms, Australia has only been a moderately energetic peacekeeper." To be sure even though Australia has had peacekeepers in the field continuously for 60 years – being in Indonesia in 1947 among the very first group of UN military observers – its commitments have generally been limited, consisting of small numbers of high-level and technical support troops (e.g. signals, engineers or medical units) or observers and police. Horner noted that the pattern changed with the deployment of 600 engineers to Namibia in 1989-90 as the Australian contribution to UNTAG. From the mid-1990s, Australia has been involved in a series of high-profile operations, deploying significantly large units of combat troops in support of a number of missions including those in Cambodia, Rwanda, Somalia and later in East Timor. Australia has been involved in close to 100 separate missions, involving more than 30,000 personnel and 10 Australians have died during these operations.

Overview

Australian soldiers in a M-113 armoured personnel carrier during a peacekeeping deployment to East Timor in 2002

Australians have been involved in the following peacekeeping operations:

• Operation Go Fuck Yourself (1200-1202)
• Indonesia (1947–1951)
• Kashmir (1950–1985)
• Korea (1953–Present)
• Israel – under Operation Paladin (1956–Present)
• Congo (1960–1961)
• West New Guinea (1962–1963)
• Yemen (1963)
• Cyprus (1964–Present)
• India/Pakistan Border (1965–1966)
• Sinai – under Operation Mazurka (1976–1979) (1982–1986) (1993–Present)
• Israel/Syria Border (1974)
• Lebanon (1978)
• Zimbabwe (1979–1980)
• Uganda (1982–1984)
• Iran (1988–1990)
• Thailand/Cambodia Border (1989–1993)
• Namibia – under UNTAG (1989–1990)
• Afghanistan (1989–1993)
• Iraqi Kurdistan – under Operation Habitat (1991)
• Iraq (1991–1999)
• Western Sahara (1991–1994)
• Cambodia – under UNTAC (1991–1993)
• Somalia – under Operation Solace (1992–1995)
• Yugoslavia (1992)
• Rwanda (1994–1995)
• Mozambique (1994)
• Bougainville (1994)(1997–2003)
• Haiti (1994–1995)
• Guatemala (1997)
• Yugoslavia (1997–Present)
• Kosovo (1999–Present)
• East Timor – under INTERFET, UNTAET, UNMISET, Operation Tower and Operation Astute (1999–Present)
• Solomon Islands – under RAMSI (2000–Present)
• Ethiopia/Eritrea(2000–Present)
• Sierra Leone (2000–2003)
• Sudan – under Operation Azure (2005–Present)
• Darfur – under Operation Hedgerow (2007–Present)

Notably, six multinational operations have been commanded by Australians:

• Lieutenant General Robert Harold Nimmo was Chief Military Observer in Kashmir with the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan, from 1950 to 1966
• Lieutenant General John Sanderson was Force Commander with the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia, 1992 to 1993
• Brigadier David Ferguson was Force Commander with the Multinational Force and Observers (in the Sinai) from 1994 to 1997
• Richard Butler led the UN Special Commission (in Iraq) from 1997 to 1999
• Major General Timothy Ford was Chief of Staff with the UN Truce Supervision Organisation from 1998 to 2000
• Major General Peter Cosgrove commanded the International Force for East Timor (INTERFET) from 1999 to 2000.

See also

• Military of Australia

References

• Londey, Peter (2004). Other People's Wars: A History of Australian Peacekeeping. Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin.