page_title: Military history of Australia during the War in Afghanistan
section_title: Order of battle
hierarchical_section_title: Military history of Australia during the War in Afghanistan / Operation Slipper / Order of battle
caption_attribution_description: Special Operations Task Groups Long Range Patrol Vehicles drive in convoy across one of Afghanistan's desert, or 'dasht' regions.
context_page_description: The Australian contribution to the war in Afghanistan has been known as Operation Slipper and Operation Highroad.
  Australian Defence Force operations and the size of the forces deployed have varied and ADF involvement has included two major areas of activity: Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf. These activities have seen the deployment of naval, air and land forces that have taken part in combat and combat support operations as part of the International Security Assistance Force.
  In mid-2014, the naval and logistic support operations in the Persian Gulf were re-designated as Operation Manitou and Operation Accordion respectively.
context_section_description: Over the course of the operation, as the size of Australia's contribution has fluctuated and the scope of operations undertaken has evolved, the number and type of units deployed has also changed. A snapshot of the order of battle from March 2011, when approximately 1,550 Australians were deployed to Afghanistan, is as follows:
  National Command Element
  Mentoring Task Force 2 (MTF-2)
  Headquarters, 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (5 RAR)
  4 x Combat Teams including infantry, cavalry, engineers and offensive support
  5 x Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams
  Force Communications Unit IV (1st Combat Signal Regiment)
  Logistics and support units
  Detachment, 20th Surveillance and Target Acquisition Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery (operates ScanEagle UAVs)
  Special Operations Task Group
  Elements of the SASR, 2nd Commando Regiment, Reserve 1 Commando Regiment and Special Operations Engineer Regiment
  Rotary Wing Group (including two CH-47D Chinooks helicopters).
  Detachment, 1st Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery (16 gunners attached to the British Army)
  RAAF Control and Reporting Centre (Kandahar International Airport)
  Two AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and three C-130 Hercules transports
  Personnel embedded with various coalition units
  Force Level Logistic Asset (Kandahar International Airport)
caption: A Special Operations Task Group patrol in October 2009
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