The first of about 600 Australian combat soldiers have returned home after the long-awaited troop pull-out from Iraq began yesterday.
The soldiers from the 550-strong Overwatch Battle Group and 60-strong Australian Army Training Team Iraq touched down in Brisbane yesterday afternoon.
They had been based at the Tallil air base, 300km south of Baghdad, before the Australian combat presence was officially concluded with a flag-lowering ceremony at Camp Terendak last night more than five years after the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said last night the ceremony ''closed another chapter in a strong and proud Australian military history''.
The soldiers will receive a welcome-home parade in Brisbane later this month, when they are all back.
About 1000 personnel will remain in Iraq and the region, including a 110-person security detachment that protects Australian diplomats in strife-torn Baghdad.
Although a mid-year pull-out has been expected since Labor's election win last year, operational concerns meant details in particular the timing of the move were kept under wraps until they swung swiftly into action yesterday.
Mr Fitzgibbon said the Australians had been replaced by American soldiers in a ''strategic overwatch force responsible for a large portion of southern Iraq''.
''American commanders now responsible for regional overwatch have spent the past month with the [battle group] getting to know the key personalities, the ground, and importantly their Iraqi Security Force partners to ensure a smooth continuation of support,'' he said.
The Australians had been looking after Al-Muthanna and Dhi Qar provinces, playing a mentoring role and effectively providing a back up for the Iraqi security forces.
However, they have not been required to back up the Iraqi soldiers for many months.
The battle group, made up of a cavalry squadron, an infantry company and armoured vehicles, replaced the Al-Muthanna Task Group which spent a year protecting Japanese engineers doing reconstruction work two years ago.
Australia's training team has also contributed to the training of 33,000 Iraqi soldiers, largely through a train-the-trainer program.
''In addition, specialist training has been provided in logistics management, combat service support and importantly, effective counter-insurgency operations,'' Mr Fitzgibbon said.
''Our troops have been directly involved in the mentoring of 250 Iraqi army soldiers who now have the skills and experience to incorporate vital counter-insurgency tactics, techniques and procedures into their parent unit's activities.''
Mr Fitzgibbon said he was proud of the Diggers' work.
''Our soldiers have faced and responded to complex multiple [roadside bomb] and direct-fire attacks and of course there have been several significant contacts with anti-Iraqi forces in which Australian infantry and cavalry soldiers have quickly gained the upper hand and prevented further casualties or damage,'' he said.
No Australian was killed in combat in Iraq, although six have been wounded including one soldier last month and several vehicles damaged, mainly by roadside bombs.
Private Jake Kovco died in his Baghdad barracks in 2006 from what an inquest ruled was an ''irresponsibly self-inflicted'' gunshot wound.
Special Air Service Warrant Officer David Nary was preparing to go to Iraq when he was killed in a car accident while training in the region in 2005.
Operation Catalyst has cost Australia significantly financially, to the tune of $2.3billion by mid-next year. That will continue to rise, as Mr Fitzgibbon has indicated several other Australian forces in the region will remain there for the foreseeable future.
In addition to the security detachment, Australia will still have about 70 personnel in its Baghdad headquarters.
The 160-person detachment of C-130 Hercules transport aircraft and 170-person detachment of AP-3C Orion surveillance aircraft will remain in the region, as will the Anzac-class frigate HMAS Stuart and its crew of 170 and 110 people in a logistics base.
Australian civilians training the police and advising the Iraqi Government will also stay behind.
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