Australian Defence Force’s Chief Angus Campbell missing in action in Kabul rescue

Angus Campbell delegated oversight of the Australian Defence Force’s Kabul rescue mission to his deputy for three days while he attended a conference in Hawaii.

Chief of the Australian Defence Force Angus Campbell, front row third from left, at the 23rd annual Chiefs of Defence Conference hosted by the US Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii on August 16-18.

The nation’s most senior military leader delegated oversight of the Australian Defence Force’s Kabul rescue mission to his deputy for three days while he attended a conference in Hawaii.

The Chief of the Defence Force, Angus Campbell, went ahead with the long-scheduled conference at US Indo-Pacific Command headquarters, which started a day after the ­Afghan capital fell to the Taliban.

His participation at the August 16-18 event, which brought together the military leaders of 18 Indo-Pacific nations, was not publicly announced by Defence, prompting some Afghanistan veterans to question his lack of visibility during the crisis.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton told The Australian that Vice-Chief of the Defence Force David Johnston attended meetings of the national security committee of cabinet while General Campbell was away.

“The VCDF is one of the most impressive servicemen you could meet and did an excellent job filling in for the CDF,” Mr Dutton said. “The CDF took over from the VCDF when he was back in ­Australia and joined NSC from quarantine.”

Scott Morrison and Mr Dutton faced multiple media conferences during the airlift, but the only military presence at their side was that of Covid-19 Taskforce commander Lieutenant General John Frewen.

Mr Dutton said that unlike in the US, there was “no precedent” in Australia for the CDF to front the media each day during such operations: “The Pentagon is a very different system to Australia.”

General Campbell first acknowledged the August 15 fall of Kabul in an August 17 tweet on the Australian evacuation effort.

About 250 ADF personnel were involved in the 10-day airlift from Kabul, with the final RAAF flights making it out of the capital hours before the suicide bombings in which more than 200 people were killed, including 13 US ­marines.

One former senior ADF officer told The Australia it was “unfortunate” General Campbell didn’t play a more prominent role ahead of, and following, the fall of Kabul.

“Those delegated by him to step into the chaos and danger during the fall of Kabul and evacuate people have done a wonderful job and deserve our highest praise,” the source said.

“Now that the CDF has returned, there are many looking forward to hearing from our most senior ADF member for leadership, insight and understanding on our longest military campaign and its ignominious ending.”

Some 2½ months earlier, General Campbell dismissed suggestions the Taliban would overrun the war-torn country when international troops withdrew. “This is very much going to be a negotiated settlement,” he told Senate estimates on June 1.

While Defence failed to disclose General Campbell’s attendance at the conference until Sunday, the CDF said in a US-­issued August 20 press release that the Indo-Pacific region was in the midst of “the most consequential strategic realignment since the Second World War”.

“In this environment, it is more important than ever for military leaders across the Indo-Pacific to come together to deepen defence diplomacy, co-operation and ­capacity-building,” he said.

“Only by working together can we realise our shared vision for a secure, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific of independent, sovereign and resilient states.”