   the howard government supported the disarmament of iraq during the iraq disarmament crisis. australia later provided one of the four most substantial combat force contingents during the 2003 invasion of iraq, under the operational codename operation falconer. part of its contingent were among the first forces to enter iraq after the official "execute" order.sas role in iraq revealed. the sydney morning herald, 9 may 2003. the initial australian force consisted of; three royal australian navy ships, 500 special forces soldiers, p-3 orion maritime patrol aircraft, c-130 hercules transport aircraft and no. 75 squadron raaf (which included 14 f/a-18 hornet fighters). combat forces committed to operation falconer for the 2003 invasion were withdrawn during 2003. under the name operation catalyst, australian combat troops were redeployed to iraq in 2005, however, and assumed responsibility for supporting iraqi security forces in one of iraq's southern provinces. these troops began withdrawing from iraq on 1 june 2008 and were completely withdrawn by 28 july 2009.australia ends iraq troop presence ==forces committed== thumb|f/a-18 aircraft and ground crew from no. 75 squadron. thumb|right|members of clearance diving team three and an army lcm-8 inspecting camouflaged mines, 21 march 2003. a headquarters staff of about 60 personnel under the command of brigadier maurie mcnarn. * royal australian navy ** the frigates hmas anzac and hmas darwin, which were already on-station as part of the multinational interception force enforcing economic sanctions against iraq before the invasion plan was entered into. each ship carried a single seahawk helicopter from 816 squadron ran. ** the transport ship hmas kanimbla carrying 350 crew and soldiers, including embarked australian army lcm-8 landing craft and an anti-aircraft contingent, a sea king helicopter from 817 squadron ran, and a bomb disposal team. a detachment from the army's [[16th air def
Foreign_relations_of_Australia Military_operations_of_the_Iraq_War_involving_Australia Multinational_force_involved_in_the_Iraq_War Wars_involving_Australia