09/10/2026
11 October 2001.
Somewhere in the ADF, an order became an operation. Ships changed course. Aircraft and crews prepared. Soldiers got ready. Nobody called it a twenty-year war. It was called Operation Slipper.
Our very own Tay Sukhanthapree has shared some of the images he took to keep his unit’s morale up. They capture the people behind the operation and the mateship that helped them through it. Twenty-five years on, we remember those bonds, forged far from home and carried through the years that followed.
On 11 October 2026, Australia marks 25 years since Australian service in Afghanistan began. More than 35,000 ADF members served in Afghanistan and the wider Middle East, alongside Australians from government and non-government organisations. We thank them for their courage, commitment and service, and remember those who lost their lives.
The impact reaches far beyond those who served. Families lived through the uncertainty of deployments, children grew up through long absences, and loved ones supported the return home. Many continue to stand beside veterans carrying the effects of service into everyday life.
Twenty-five years after it began, we remember the lives lost, the friendships that endure and everyone still living with the impact of those years.
