The wounding of two ADF personnel in another roadside bombing in Afghanistan’s Oruzgan province yesterday has again raised the question of how much support Australian and other Coalition forces are providing for personnel conducting operations around Tarin Kowt.
Two weeks ago Crikey reported the concerns of sources at Tarin Kowt about the evacuation of SAS Signaller Sean McCarthy following a roadside explosion on 8 July.
It took two hours to evacuate McCarthy, who later died of his injuries, by an AME (Aero-Medical Evacuation) helicopter sent from Kandahar, over 100 kilometres to the south, even though, according to Crikey’s sources, an AME was available, along with escort helicopters, at Tarin Kowt.
A Dutch armed forces doctor based at Tarin Kowt was criticised for suggesting that the delay might have cost McCarthy his life.
The Department of Defence declined to respond to Crikey’s questions about the evacuation as we had not given it sufficient time to respond prior to publication. An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Signaller McCarthy is underway.
Overnight, the Department released a media statement on the latest incident. Defence notes that the AME dispatched from Tarin Kowt to evacuate the injured personnel crashed (Defence parlance: “hard landing”) on arrival at the scene, but does not discuss the significant delay this led to, given the lack of a back-up AME at Tarin Kowt.
Crikey’s source in Tarin Kowt has offered a more detailed account of what happened.
According to the source, a Pavehawk AME operating from the US base at Tarin Kowt was asked to evacuate the ADF personnel and an injured Afghani from the site of the bomb attack six kilometres north of Tarin Kowt at approximately 1.30 AM. On arrival at the scene, the Pavehawk crashed as, according to the pilot, he became disoriented due to a “brown out” caused by dust. The Pavehawk lost all its rotors. This is the second time in less than 12 months that a helicopter has suffered a “hard landing” near Tarin Kowt.
In the absence of a back-up AME at Tarin Kowt, normally an AME would be dispatched from Kandahar. This takes at least an hour — more if, as in Signaller McCarthy’s case, the AME has to rendezvous with escort helicopters. However, Kandahar was itself suffering such poor visibility due to dust that an AME was unable to take off.
Eventually, an ADF Chinook was re-deployed from another mission to evacuate the injured personnel, one of whom was seriously but not critically injured. US personnel at Tarin Kowt say that the men did not reach the medical facilities at Tarin Kowt until 6.30am, more than five hours after the incident.
If the soldiers’ injuries had been life-threatening, the delay may well have led to another Australian death in Afghanistan.
These aren’t the only occasions when the lack of a back-up AME at Tarin Kowt has led to delays. On 4 August, an evacuation of an Afghani soldier was delayed because the Pavehawk AME at Tarin Kowt had mechanical problems, requiring an AME from Kandahar. There has also been another instance of mechanical failure preventing an evacuation of other non-Australian personnel.
Whatever risk assessment was done by the ADF or the International Security Assistance Forces about the availability of an AME helicopter in Tarin Kowt is being regularly exposed as inadequate.
Nor are mechanical problems or dust storms necessary to expose the lack of back-up — what happens if there is more than one incident among Australian, Dutch, US and Afghani personnel involved in operations around Tarin Kowt?
Following yesterday’s incident, there are now two AME helicopters in Tarin Kowt. It is not clear whether this will be a permanent arrangement. We have asked Defence whether the need for a back-up AME is now recognised or whether the lack of one will curtail ADF operations in the region.
Defence, which has to seek information from personnel in Afghanistan, was unable to respond by deadline. However, the repeated incidents of delay indicate that a back-up helicopter is necessary at Tarin Kowt if injured ADF personnel are to be given the best and fastest treatment. In its absence, it appears that only good luck prevented another Australian death yesterday.
Bernard,
The ADF also need to be asked why casualties (on intravenous) were evacuated by road from the Baluchi Pass 6-7 weeks ago? Why?…no AME available. This problem was evident before SIG McCarthy died and has continued to be a problem.
Why is the ADF obfuscating behind the veil of operational security when it is evident the problem is one of inadequate AME located at Tarin Kowt?
Are the ADF weighing up the cost of AME compared to the risk of losing more lives?
How many more casualties need to be put at increased risk because they are continually relying on AME from Kandahar Air Field when the SINGLE AME helicopter at Tarin Kowt is unavailable?
ADF = Amateur Defence Force
I must have been in Patagonia when this Australian involvement in Afghanistan happened. Yes, I was, now that I think of it. So may I ask why Australians are in a country that has traditionally beaten off every one of it’s aggressors? The Brits, not once but thrice. The Russians, not once but twice, the Americans, well they never win anything these days. WTF are our troops doing, fighting an impossible opponent, in terrain that only an Afghan could love. Where the fields are little more than rubble, and which ceased supporting even goats, years ago. Opium poppies are about the only crop which could grow there. What does the collective genius of America, and her satrapies (AUSTRALIIA naturally, being one of them) imagine the cash crop is that can replace poppies? Thistles? Perhaps all the drug agencies could get off their fat, well larded, soaked with martinis, uber wealthy, chauffeur-driven luxury cars and SVUs, pent house flats and luxury mansions in the Avenue Foch, arse’s; do a little real work (and don’t give me that cr*p about UNAIDS getting all the money that’s rightfully yours) and actually try to think of some other use that poppies can be put to besides Opium? Give up? Well try not hanging onto the massive amounts of American money which (thanks to George Bush’s moralistic vapourings) is deemed to be unable to be used because it isn’t moral to discuss, let alone give the taxpayers’ money to drugs or to helping AIDS victims-because abstinence is the only cure. IOWs lets get REAL. Legalize drugs!
Naturally the Australians are doing what has become an immutable fact of life for our troops. Fighting other people’s wars , because a) The RSL always needs replacement troops to turn into old men, and b) because Uncle Sam asks us to. Working entirely on predictably; George Bush, the very, very Junior, asked our little midget leader of Her Maj’s ‘Loyal Opposition, the one, the only, the forgettable John Winston Howard, who oh so predictably groveled thrice before acquiescing. That about it? I’ll bet it’s not too far out.
A Defence spokesperson has responded to Crikey’s questions:
We asked: How much of a risk does the ongoing lack of a “back-up” AME service from Tarin Kowt present, esp. given dust storm problems which potentially affect all operations in the area and at Kandahar?
Response: All military operations are planned to mitigate risks where possible. Planning for appropriate medical support is central to all operational tasks. The ADF will review the circumstances of this incident and determine what impact this has on planning for future operations.
ISAF prioritises planning for casualty evacuation in support of all troops, both ISAF and Afghan, fighting in Afghanistan and has dedicated teams of aircrew and medical specialists on call 24-hours a day should they be required.
Dedicated aero medical evacuation aircraft are allocated and tasked through the ISAF air tasking process.
We asked: Are there plans to supplement the existing US Pavehawk AME from Tarin Kowt, and are ADF SF operations being affected/curtailed by the issues relating to AME availability?
Response: The ADF will review the circumstances of this incident and determine what impact this has on planning for future operations. The ADF will not discuss details of SOTG operations for operational security reasons.
`it appears that only good luck prevented another Australian death yesterday`. Give me a break! What about the thousands of civilians killed and maimed, country devastated, and you only talk about an Australian death? Quel chauvinisme! Obviously, all the other victims are not worth bothering about. And, please explain Mr Keane, why are `we` there?
That was 1.30 am wasn’t it? Just after midnight? Roadside bombs are a major problem and our boys are running around in the middle of the night six kilometres outside town – which might as well be “in the bush”. We used to go fox shooting, in the back of the farm ute, like that. And get half lost within a few kilometres of home.
Sounds to me like they’d be sitting ducks but I suppose that’s an “operational security” matter. Good luck fellas – we’re thinking of you.