The security situation in Afghanistan remained fragile and, with growing American pressure for re-engagement, the Australian Government considered sending a reconstruction task force. But conscious of the risk of casualties a significant engineering presence might engender, Prime Minister Howard and Foreign Minister Downer preferred the redeployment of special forces at least on an interim basis until the security situation improved.

Operation Slipper

The Australian Government therefore agreed to recommit a Special Operations Task Group (or SOTG) to Afghanistan in 2005. Once again, the deployment was under the title of Operation Slipper, but instead of deploying again to Kandahar, the SOTG was committed to the province immediately north of Kandahar: Oruzgan. Within the Army there was some informal debate about the fact that the special forces were selected rather than the conventional combat forces, which had formed the backbone of rotations in East Timor. Ultimately, it was a political decision for the government, resulting in a more open-ended commitment than any entered into over Iraq. The politicians involved were mindful that the special forces, having done so well on operations previously, were better placed to keep casualties to an absolute minimum. They were perceived as able to ‘dodge bullets’ better than their conventional counterparts.