Possibility of combat for Australian infantry

08/09/2008 16:50:41

The Australian Government is considering sending its infantry soldiers into combat for the first time since the Vietnam War.

Special Forces soldiers and commandoes have been in combat in Iraq and heavily involved in Afghanistan, while the infantry soldiers have been doing the reconstruction and peacekeeping.

The strategy of keeping the infantry out of combat was attacked in a recent army journal by Major Jim Hammett who said soldiers were quitting because of the restrictions.

But the Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon says he is looking at sending the infantry into combat in Afghanistan instead of the special forces.

"We'll constantly look at how we can take the pressure off our special forces by constantly reviewing and potentially reconfiguring our commitment," Mr Fitzgibbon said.

But he says Australia isn't lifting its total troop numbers in Afghanistan from just over 1,000.

NATO's new commander in Afghanistan has renewed the call for more troops to be sent into fight the Taliban.

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