About This Unit
8th/9th Battalion The Royal Australian Regiment. 8/9RAR
Raised: 31 October 1973.
Disbanded: 30 June 1997.
Re-raised: 24 August 2006.
Location: Brisbane QLD.
Structure: Motorised Battalion.
Lanyard: Slate Grey and Beech Brown.
Regimental March: Band: The Brown and Grey Lanyard. Pipes and Drums: Black Bear
Mascot: Merino Ram. John Macarthur.
Website: https://89rar.com/
www.facebook.com/89RARAssn
Raising. Disbanding. Re-Raising.
8/9 RAR has had a chequered history .The battalion was raised at Enoggera, Queensland via the linking of 8RAR and 9RAR on 31 October 1973, following the withdrawal of Australian troops from Vietnam in 1972. Due to an Army restructure it was disbanded in 1997. However, operational commitments such as East Timor, Iraq and unrest in several Pacific nations, required an increase in the number of battalions available to deploy, so the battalion was re-raised on 24 August 2006.
PNG.
8/9RAR has assisted in training Recruit and IET soldiers for the PNGDF on a number of occasions commencing in September 1990. C Coy became The Australian Army Training Project Team – Papua New Guinea (AATPT-PNG) after pidgin English, Instructor Development Course and needles, deployed to Goldie River Training Depot 20 kms outside Port Moresby where they trained approximately 560 soldiers working in oppressively hot conditions overcoming many problems and situations very different from those in Australia including curfews.
Timor Leste.
A Company replaced 2 RAR as Timor Leste Task Group on Operation Astute in February 2010. After four months B Company replaced them, the Commanding Officer was promoted to Colonel to assume the role of Task Group Commander for the duration of both deployments.
Iraq.
8/9 RAR provided two small detachments to operations OKRA in 2015 and 2016. The role was to train, advise and assist the Iraqi Defence Force. The task is regarded as having been successful, particularly the training conducted at the Iraqi School of Infantry.
Afghanistan.
In January 2012 8/9RAR was the infantry component of MTF - 4 the last Mentoring Task Force in Uruzgan Province. The role was to mentor the 4th Brigade of the Afghan National Army in Uruzgan Province from section to brigade headquarters levels. The Australians shared forward outposts with their Afghani counterparts, patrolled with them and supported them on operations. It was normal now for the Afghanis to take the lead as the previous Australian Task Forces had succeeded in imparting all the basics. The Task Force completed its task by June and returned home.
Between 2015 and 2016 8/9RAR provided two detachments as the army component of Operation High Road replacing Operation Slipper which concluded in 2014. The role was to train, assist, and advise the Afghani Defence Force in every way possible in order to improve their capabilities, to counter the insurgents and to protect the population.
Philippines.
In June 2018, elements of 8/9RAR replaced 1RAR in providing mentoring and training teams (MTT) to the armed forces of the Philippines under the auspices of Operation Augury. The MTT provided training in urban warfare and counter insurgency operations to over 10,000 members of the Philippines Defence Force. From 1 December 2019 the program was enhanced to include the management and coordination of land based urban operations, as well as air and naval support.
Australian Operations.
Being in Brisbane 8/9RAR has been involved in many operations in support of the community following natural disasters. One of the first operations was in support of the Brisbane community following severe flooding in 1974. While there were many other tasks the 2010-2011 floods, which were the worst in memory required a major call out which involved a great deal of search and rescue. The battalion’ assistance was essential to the success of the operation.
Composite feature authored by Major General Brian Howard, AO, MC (retd)
References:
Horner, David; Bou, Jean (2008). Duty First. A History of the Royal Australian Regiment. Sydney, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-74175-374-5.