 Meanwhile, a Reconstruction Taskforce (RTF) based around the 1st Combat Engineer Regiment with protective elements from the 5 / 7 RAR, 6 RAR and 2nd Cavalry Regiment began arriving in Uruzgan Province in southern Afghanistan in early September 2006 as part of Operation Slipper. The RTF formed part of a Dutch-led Provincial Reconstruction Team, operating as part of Task Force Uruzgan and based at Forward Operating Base Ripley, outside of Tarin Kowt. However, as the Australian commitment expanded, by 2010 the task force had evolved into a combined arms battalion-sized battle group consisting of infantry, engineers, cavalry, artillery and logistic elements, usually based on a unit of the Royal Australian Regiment. Known as the Mentoring Task Force (MTF), it formed part of a multinational brigade known as Combined Team Uruzgan and was tasked with counter-insurgency operations in conjunction with United States and other coalition forces. Partnered with the 4th Brigade, 205th Corps of the Afghan National Army (ANA), it operated throughout Uruzgan Province. While attached to MTF-1, soldiers from Combat Team Delta (based on D Company, 6 RAR) took part in heavy fighting during the Battle of Derapet in Deh Rahwod on 24 August 2010. Corporal Daniel Keighran was later awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia for his role in the battle, the first member of the Royal Australian Regiment to receive the award. The task force was withdrawn in late 2013 following the handover of the province to Afghan forces, although a small force protection element remains as part of the ongoing but reduced Australian training and advisory mission. Twelve members of the regiment have been killed in Afghanistan.
