‘Disgraceful’: Decision to strip medals from Afghanistan vets slammed

Up to nine commanders in the Australian Defence Force will have their medals stripped from them, as a result of a long-running investigation into war crimes in Afghanistan.

A decision to strip awards from commanders who served in the Afghanistan war has been slammed by association’s representing Special Forces soldiers and the RSL.

Defence Minister Richard Marles announced on Thursday that up to nine commanders in the Australian Defence Force will have their medals taken from them, as a result of a long-running investigation into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.

“This appears to be the first time in the history of Anzac that an Australian Government has so betrayed the courage and sacrifice of the men they sent to fight and die in our country’s name,” National Chairman of the Australian Special Air Service Association, Martin Hamilton-Smith, said.

“In the week a Royal Commission has reported to the Australian people the startling rate of suicide amongst veterans due to their mistreatment, Minister Marles has spat at feet of the twenty thousand young men and women who fought terrorism in Afghanistan. The message this sends is disgraceful.”

Marles sent letters to up to 14 officers on Wednesday advising them awards would be stripped from some of them, with it understood less than ten will have the action taken against them.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The move comes in the wake of recommendations from the Brereton Report, which found evidence of up to 39 alleged unlawful killings of civilians and prisoners of war by, or under instruction of, Australian Special Forces troops during the war in Afghanistan.

The inquiry recommended reviewing the awards given to those in command positions in the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) wing of the Special Forces.

“I have written to those whose awards were referred for consideration by the then Chief of Defence Force to advise I have concluded my consideration of their individual awards,” Mr Marles said in a statement.

“My decisions on this matter are consistent with the findings and recommendations of the Brereton Report. In accordance with obligations owed to individuals involved, including under the Privacy Act, I am prohibited from disclosing the details and outcomes.

“More than 26,000 people served in Afghanistan during this period. Whilst this decision may be difficult for a small number, it does not diminish the service and legacy of the majority of those who served or supported operations there.”

RSL Australia President Greg Melick said the organisation’s firm position was that no medals should be taken from those who served until all potential trials and investigations were completed.

“The RSL is aware of the significant strain this matter has placed on veterans, even those not involved in alleged incidents,” he said.

“Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel serve in a unique and highly challenging environment and the allegations, and the outcomes of the Brereton Report have caused considerable distress and mental health concerns.”

Veterans also criticised the move.

President of RSL NSW Mick Bainbridge, a former Special Forces Commando. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

Former Special Forces Commando and current NSW RSL President Mick Bainbridge questioned why the action was taken while a probe by the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI) into any potential crimes by Australian forces in Afghanistan was ongoing.

“We owe them procedural fairness in any regard – the Brereton Report was not without its issues… The OSI investigation is ongoing… while the matters raised in the report is serious, the investigation is in no way shape or form is concluded, and I think it’d be a grave error to preclude the outcome.”

“It’s not just them, it’s also their families (impacted) in this saga.”

Former Special Operations intelligence operator, Shane Healey, who was deployed to Afghanistan, said the “innuendo and vagueness” of who was impacted by the stripping of medals “allows people to tar everyone” who served in Afghanistan.

Shane Healey, a former Special Operations intelligence operator in Afghanistan and Iraq. Picture: Tim Hunter.

He said it wasn’t fair the action was taken.

“Let’s have some transparency, (for example) Major ‘S’ or Major ‘I’, what are they accused of? What are their convictions, what part of the Geneva Convention…did the officers actually break?” he said.

An Australian Special Operations Task Group soldiers observing the valley during the Shah Wali Kot Offensive. The soldier is not accused of any wrongdoing. Picture: Department of Defence

The Brereton Report found while “there is no credible information of a failure by any troop/platoon, squadron/company or … commander to take reasonable steps that would have prevented or discovered the commission of the war crimes referred to in this Report … commanders bear moral command responsibility and accountability for what happened under their command and control”.

In 2021 then-Defence Force Chief Angus Campbell publicly accepted that unit wide citations should be stripped in a move which would have impacted rank and file soldiers in the Special Forces, however that move was dumped by then-Defence Minister Peter Dutton.

Coalition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie, a former SAS soldier who served in Afghanistan, said in response troops on the ground had to adapt to “often … morally ambiguous and demanding situations”.

“I say this with direct experience: it was not easy partnering with an Afghan war lord and his personal band of warriors,” he said.

“We did not have aligned values or a moral framework that we shared. But we had to make our policy objectives work as best as we could.

“That had a moral impact on people at the tip of the spear.”

The announcement comes in the same week the findings of a three-year Royal Commission in to Defence and Veteran Suicide found the primary body responsible for supporting veterans and their families is not trusted by diggers or up to the task of addressing the high rates of suicide in veterans.