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RWANDA

Australian Service Contingents 1 & 2

Dear colleagues,
A Company 2/4 RAR

I served with ASC 1 and was one of the SASR soldiers deployed on that
operation. I’ve done immense research into Rwanda and contributed to
the warlike service reclassification in 2006. I produced a MSc thesis
critically reviewing the veracity of Operation Tamar’s initial non-warlike
service classification. I contributed to the Meritorious Unit Citation
awarded last year.

I’d like to offer some insight into how things played out, you’re entitled to
know the background to the award. The MUC required a lot of peoples
input and effort and different angles of approach to overcome decades of
institutional inertia. It was hard-won but rest assured it was well earned
in the field on the day in Rwanda.

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From what I can tell …

Peter Warfe nominated ASC 2 for an MUC after

Kibeho and it was rejected given the non-warlike
classification. He tried again on return without
avail. He informally approached a major general
in 2008 and was informed retrospectivity would
be an issue. Around 2007 the Peacekeepers
Association proposed a MUC for Rwanda
among similar propositions for Kibeho and other
campaigns. Terry Pickard presented the case
for the Army Combat Badge for Kibeho medics
during the Association’s 2009 national forum.
The Association followed this up with a
submission to RSM army advocating the case, a
MUC and other Kibeho awards.

Separate to that, I asked my federal

representative to assist me raise retrospective
consideration for unit citations with government
around 2011. Defence replied and asked I raise
the matter with the Deputy Chief of Army. I
wrote to Angus, he agreed it was an unusual
case and asked the army history unit to
investigate. The history unit undertook the first
of two extensive and detailed reviews around
2014. The review opined there was clear Australian surgeons at work in Kigali

evidence that both contingents provided

sustained outstanding service in their own right.
The army historian presented this and the second review’s findings to the Historical Honours
Review Board. The Board considered our case several times, each time leading to more
questions of importance to their deliberations. An army historian corresponded with me from
February to May 2018 at which point he asked me to write a nomination both contingents. He
returned to the board and continued advocating our case.

The Directorate of Honours and Awards emailed me 2 July 2019 asking I call them. They
informed me the MUC would be awarded to both contingents towards the end of the month. I
asked permission to inform Peter Warfe and Pat McIntosh, I’d always consulted and
incorporated their recommendations into our case. I don’t know what occurred within Defence
but I know we’re indebted to the army history unit and the historians who worked our case.
They went above and beyond and were staunch advocates.

Our MUC stands as testimony their exceptional work. From what I can tell, had Peter not had
the good sense to ignore Defene protocol and convention to nominate ASC 2, I doubt our case
would have been considered. Had Angus Campbell not been DCA the History Unit may not
have been engaged.

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The army historian’s perspective,…

The army historian who presented our case to the Historic Honours Awards Review Board
offered the following insight from his perspective.

“COL Warfe’s application was raised for ASC2, and more directly for the Kibeho massacre. It is
not known why it was not responded to, but Army at the time was going through a massive
change, and commands moved location, files went into storage (or never went anywhere), and
command responsibility was handed over to others. The timing was not good. During a follow up
the issue of retrospectivity was raised, however this information was incorrect. The Defence
Honours and Awards Appeals
Tribunal had been set up in 2008
to consider such questions, but
was not well known outside of
Defence honours circles.

The first History Unit report did

present evidence of
circumstances deserving
recognition, but did not go far
enough into the question of
whether maladministration had
been the reason why the original
application had not been properly
processed, or if there was ‘new
and compelling evidence’ which
could be considered. These were
the only points Army wanted
addressed, and the only two
which would cause them to
A Company 2/4 RAR
reconsider the application. I could
find no evidence of
maladministration in the first
application. In fact I could find no evidence at all, so it was difficult to determine whether there
was maladministration in the way it was handled. The next issue was whether or not there was
new or compelling evidence which could be employed to further the application.

The original application, was by implication for those surviving Kibeho, but there had been many
individual awards made in recognition of the outstanding and meritorious service by those
involved. If I had only concerned myself with this incident then the report would have gotten no
further than my immediate supervisor. So I had to look further at the operation to determine what
conclusions could be drawn about the deployment of ASC2 as a whole, and if from this evidence
could be drawn which would cause Army to reconsider the application.

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The more I read, the deeper my research, the more it became clear that ASC1 and ASC2
performed admirably under the circumstances. The conditions were different (eg, the advance
party walking into the horrendous scenes at Kigali Hospital, and having to clean up the mess
before getting to work), but from day one to the day the last person was withdrawn, the
conditions under which the men and women performed their duties, and the lives they saved,
were clearly over and above that which could be expected under normal circumstances. I had to
frame my report in such a way as to present this as new and compelling evidence which could
have been presented at the time of the original application.

A Company 2/4 RAR last patrol through Kibeho However, it was clear that, even if this evidence had
24 January 1995 been presented, it would not have stood up because
the mission was not declared war-like. Once
evidence had been presented which showed that the whole mission was war-like, the way was
clear to present my arguments to the Board. During deliberations I was asked a lot of very
pointed questions. It was, in fact, a sort of cross-examination during which I felt like a barrister
arguing someone’s innocence. The records for the period were scanty so I had to rely on a much
wider range of evidence – UN reports, media, interviews with the key players at the time and in
the years afterwards, and books – lots and lots of books.

I also had to read about the history of the country to understand why the massacres took place,
and how the conditions were such that the men and women of both contingents were in real fear
of their lives – probably more than many were aware at the time. It was clear that it was good
luck, good training, and exceptional discipline which made this mission stand out head and
shoulders above any other. I knew this and had to frame my arguments so that I wasn’t giving the
senior Sir’s and Ma’am’s on the Board a lecture. Fortunately my arguments stood up and we
know the result.here are quite a few cases I have argued through and of which I am most proud.
This is one of them, and I’m glad I was given the task.”


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15 November 2012

Major General Campbell DSC, AM

Deputy Chief of Army
Army Headquarters
Canberra BC ACT 2610

REQUEST FOR RETROSPECTIVE CONSIDERATION OF UNIT CITATIONS: ASC 1 & ASC 2

RWANDA.

Dear General Campbell,

By way of introduction, I am a former soldier and served with ASC 1 in Rwanda.

Earlier this year my federal representative assisted me in raising with government the matter of
retrospective consideration of unit citations for Rwanda service. The Parliamentary Secretary for
Defence responded and asked that I direct the matter to you.

As you are most likely aware, in 1994 Rwanda was mistakenly classified non-warlike. As a result,
ASC 1 and ASC 2 were deemed ineligible for recognition via unit citations at the time of their
service. Testament to this is the fact that a Meritorious Unit Citation nomination submitted by the
ASC 2 commander was rejected in 1995.

In 2005, Defence’s nature of service review identified that the classification of Rwanda as non-
warlike had been incorrect. The review report concluded that: 

• The actual nature of the operation, the rules of engagement, and the level of military and
environmental threats all met the warlike criteria.

• The Clarke Review had not considered service in Rwanda, nor had the COCS review.

• There was widespread support in the veterans community for reclassification.

• It was likely a recommendation to reclassify Rwanda would have occurred had a review
occurred.

Had the error been identified earlier, a case for unit recognition could have been put forward
closer to the time of the service. This may also have allowed the case to be considered via the
normative process.

Before progressing, I’d like to respectfully correct a point that appears to have been
misunderstood. I’m not claiming that unit citations necessarily should be awarded. I understand
that such decisions are the purview of others.

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The point I seek to highlight is that ASC 1 and ASC 2 were never accorded an opportunity to be
officially considered for unit awards. This outcome resulted directly from the initial and incorrect
non-warlike classification of Rwanda service in 1994.

I feel the recognition that has belatedly been afforded to the Rwanda veterans should be
extended to allowing retrospective consideration of unit citations. I respectfully submit that the
nature of the operation, combined with what was achieved, warrants official consideration for
unit citations.

Should the relevant authority review the case and decides that unit citations are not warranted, I
will be satisfied. I look forward to your response.

Best regards

XXXXXXXXXXX

CC:

• Mr Adam Brandt MP, Federal Member for Melbourne.

• Senator David Feeney, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence. Mr Stuart Robert MP, Shadow
Minister for Defence Science, Technology & Personnel.

• Senator Ian Macdonald, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Defence Force and Defence
Support.

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FOI 153/17/18

s22

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Meritorious Unit Citation Application

ASC Rwanda

23 May 2018

CP2-1, Department of Defence

PO Box 7952
Department of Defence
Canberra BC ACT 2610

Dear sir,

I am a former Australian soldier and Rwanda veteran.

I respectfully seek the Meritorious Unit Citation (MUC) be awarded to the Australian Service
Contingent (ASC) Rwanda, to recognise their sustained outstanding service to the 2nd
United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR II) and the Rwandan people.

ASC Rwanda is comprised from ADF personnel serving with ASC 1 & ASC 2 in Rwanda
from August 1994 to August 1995 and under command UNAMIR II.

In considering my request, I ask Defence recognise:

- ASC Rwanda's service was erroneously classified as non-warlike from 1994 to 2006.
When the unit became eligible for warlike service awards, it hadn't existed for over a
decade. Thus, there was no one to represent them in these matters.

- The unusual circumstances contributing to the prejudicial outcome that rendered ASC
Rwanda ineligible for warlike service entitlements, honours, and awards at the time of their
service.

- Historical fact bears compelling testimony demonstrating ASC Rwanda provided

sustained outstanding service during warlike operations in Rwanda from August 1994 to
August 1995. The unit being officially commended by:

- Australian Senate Resolution, 17 Nov 1994

- CDF Order of the Day, Feb 1995

- RSL ANZAC Peace Prize Award, Feb 1995

- UNAMIR II force commander, May 1995

- UNAMIR II force commander, August 1995

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Meritorious Unit Citation Application

ASC Rwanda

- In August 1994, ASC Rwanda arrived in a country in chaos, decimated and ruined by civil
war and genocide. Well over 800, 000 people brutally murdered in the 100 days
preceding ASC's arrival. With another two to three million fleeing into the squalid internally
displaced person (IDP) camps, and back under the subjugation of the former Hutu
government, their military forces and Interhamwe militias.

- The UN Secretary General described the situation in Rwanda as extremely dangerous.

The UN force commander, Major General Guy Tousignant, later wrote:

"when I arrived on 15 August 1994 Kigali was dead in every sense of the
word. Bodies lay in the streets, packs of dogs fattened from corpses
ruled the city, destroyed bullet-ridden houses the norm. The devil had
swept through the country. All that seemed to remain was the stench of
genocide and children abandoned by war, traumatised by the death &
destruction".

- The dire situation in which ASC Rwanda was to go required they be capable of
independent force-protected medical operations. So in late in July, personnel from 58
different army, navy and air force units from all across Australia concentrated in Townsville
after receiving very little notice of their pending deployment. ADF raised ASC Rwanda 1
August 1994, and while the main body worked tirelessly to meet the urgent pre-
deployment demands, the advance party deployed almost immediately to Rwanda.

- The advance party arrived in Kigali on 7 August and began operations quite literally by
removing mutilated, decaying corpses by hand from the Central Hospital Kigali (CHK).
There was a great deal of work to do in this respect. Remarkably, and in testimony to their
grit, ASC Rwanda, opened a 20-bed field hospital in a CHK wing by 20 August. This
hospital would grow to perform higher sustained rates of traumatic field surgery than
those conducted by Australian surgeons in Vietnam.

- While UNAMIR II was mandated to be a credible, well-armed and highly mobile force.
This capability didn't materialise until towards the end of October at best. So when ASC
Rwanda arrived in August 1994, UNAMIR II was only partially deployed and entire infantry
battalions were missing from the order of battle. The evident lack of capacity further
undermined the UN's shattered credibility in Rwanda and ASC Rwanda was precariously
exposed and vulnerable as a result.

- ASC Rwanda dealt with a hostile RPA throughout. It was clear from the start they only
allowed UN participation after the genocide to legitimise their government and facilitate
international aid. The RPA had scant regard for the SOFA or the UN mission and they
always sought to restrict UN movement. Some contingents confronted the RPA and
others did not. The inconsistent response across UNAMIR II's contingents created many

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Meritorious Unit Citation Application

ASC Rwanda

sensitive and very dangerous confrontations for ASC Rwanda as they executed their
missions around the country.

- UNAMIR II's challenged capacity required ASC Rwanda to perform many tasks outside
the scope of their medical mission. Examples include but aren't limited to the:

- rifle company providing the UN's rapid reaction force for the Kigali sector until
relieved by an Indian infantry battalion on 20 Dec 1994. The Australians and RPA
frequently tested each other resolve over the barrels of their rifles in these early
days as the RPA constantly challenged the UN's freedom of movement.

- combat engineer section providing the only explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) in
Kigali until relieved by Indian army engineers in December 1994. They cleared
mines and booby traps from public areas, schools and buildings in addition to
their myriad of other daily tasks.

- armoured personnel carrier section developing and delivering training to UNAMIR

II force elements to teach them how to drive and operate in M113 APCs.

- rifle company assault pioneers delivering watermanship training for UNAMIR II

infantry elements attempting to interdict former government forces reentering
Rwanda across Lake Kivu.

- signals section detaching personnel to help the Canadians maintain remote radio
relay sites.

- Operational exigencies required ASC Rwanda detach staff officers to plug vital gaps in
UNAMIR II's tactical headquarters. They filled essential appointments in the UN's medical,
plans, and logistics branches and exerted significant influences on force development and
employment. For example ASC staff officers:

- directed medical operations, health support, medical communications and

logistics across the force. They provided a headquarters to support COMASC's
dual roles of Australian contingent commander and UN force medical officer
exercising technical control over all UN force health assets.

- developed and implemented strategic planning to build UNAMIR II's capabilities

and standardised procedures across the force. The legal officer developed
standardised ROE and use of force training for mission.

- coordinated and maintained UNAMIR II's critical life-support and maintenance

functions to keep the force operating with very limited resources concurrently to
supporting various operations to facilitate IDPs return to Rwanda.

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Meritorious Unit Citation Application

ASC Rwanda

- ASC Rwanda directed most of their efforts towards helping IDPs impacted by the
genocide and the unfurling humanitarian crisis. Additionally, to maintain a field hospital,
ASC Rwanda frequently deployed force-protected missions across the country to execute
a range of medical, health, causality evacuation, intelligence, security, reconnaissance,
engineering and human rights missions. Some examples include:

- Treatment Section Group (TSG) Butare. Two days after the main body arrived,
ASC Rwanda deployed approximately 30% of their strength to establish a
subordinate command to provide medical support in Rwanda's volatile south-
west sector. The rapid deployment allowed UNAMIR II to replace the French task
force (Operation Turquoise) set to withdraw from Rwanda on 22 August 1994.

- TSG Butare in turn, sent small force-protected casualty clearing posts (CCP) and
other missions nearly every day to dangerous, squalid and disease-ridden IDP
camps and communities.

- Operation Overture. ASC CCP Group to the combined UNAMIR II RPA security
operation to clear or capture former government forces and Interhamwe militias
from Rwanda's south-west IDP camps.

- Operation Retour. A cooperative operation between UNAMIR II, RPA, and select
NGOs to facilitate IDPs return to home communes from the IDP camps.

- ASC Rwanda more also deployed CCPs to villages and IDP camps to recover
survivors from ongoing violence carried out by the RPA and the former
government forces and militias.

- As ASC Rwanda dispersed around the country, they continued to find evidence of large-
scale atrocities. Entire villages devoid of life, exposed decomposing bodies, mass graves,
and communal burials pits were not uncommon finds. Heavy rains washed away hastily
dug graves exposing more bodies. The practicalities of dealing with the remnants of
genocide, the traumatic nature of the medical work and health assessments, the high
operational tempo, the ongoing violence and the precarious security situation in Rwanda
all contributed to the high incidence of operational stress injury amongst Rwanda
veterans.

- The violence perpetrated by both sides continued in Rwanda and along its borders.
Security deteriorated as time progressed and led to the 1996 1st Congo War when
Rwanda invaded Zaire ostensibly to clear the former Hutu government and their forces
from the camps. 


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Meritorious Unit Citation Application

ASC Rwanda

- When the RPA forcibly closed the Kibeho camp in April 1995, ASC Rwanda's CCP there
at the time, worked heroically to save as many IDPs as they could from among the
thousands butchered in the massacre and siege. Four Medals of Gallantry were awarded
and over half of ASC's 2nd rotation drawn into Kibeho operations following the killings.

- Despite the erroneous non-warlike service classification at the time of ASC Rwanda's
service, UNAMIR II's Force Commander officially submitted a MUC nomination for the 2nd
contingents work in Kibeho.

- The Australian Army History Unit's review and report into this matter which concluded:

"there is clear evidence that both contingents to UNAMIR II, in their own right,
had each provided sustained outstanding service to UNAMIR II and the people
of Rwanda."

ASC Rwanda was formed from a composite of units across the ADF with very little notice,
they deployed into a hostile environment where the UN's reputation was in tatters. While
their primary mission was to provide levels 2 & 3 medical support to the UN, the
contingents secondary role was to provide support to the Rwandan people.

ASC Rwanda delivered an excellent level of support to UNAMIR II and an exceptional level
of humanitarian relief in such a way that the primary military mission was never put at risk.
Despite enormous challenges and exposure to some of the worst that humanity can deliver,
ASC Rwanda clearly provided sustained outstanding service to UNAMIR II and the Rwanda
people.

Thank you for your time in considering this matter. I'm happy to offer more detailed
information should you require.

Sincerely yours,

XXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXX
Travis Standen
XXXXXXXXXXX
travstanden@me.com
XXXXXXXXXXX
PO Box 1544
XXXXXXXXXXX
Collingwood VIC 3066
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Commonwealth
of Australia
Published by the Commonwealth of Australia
Gazette GOVERNMENT NOTICES

Government House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
25 July 2019

MERITORIOUS UNIT CITATION

The Governor-General is pleased to announce the following award of the Meritorious Unit Citation:

AUSTRALIAN SERVICE CONTINGENTS 1 and 2

For sustained outstanding service in warlike operations as part of the United Nations
Assistance Mission in Rwanda II on Operation TAMAR, over the period July 1994 to
March 1996.

By His E celle c C a d

Paul Singer MVO

Official Secretary to the Governor-General

G e e N ice Ga e e C2019G00656 25/07/2019

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Meritorious Unit Citation award overview