8th/9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment

Australian Army unit

The 8th/9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (8/9 RAR) is a motorised infantry battalion of the Australian Army. It was originally formed in 1973 by linking together both the 8th and 9th Battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment. Over the next twenty four years the battalion would remain on the Australian Order of Battle based at Enoggera Barracks in Brisbane, Queensland, until it was disbanded in 1997 amid a number of Defence wide cutbacks introduced by the Howard government. In 2006 it was announced that the battalion would be re raised as part of a plan to expand the size of the Army and since then it established itself as a fully deployable motorised infantry battalion as part of 7th Brigade.

8/9 RAR was formed on 31 October 1973 by linking 8th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment and 9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment as part of cutbacks to the army following the end of the Vietnam War. Upon formation the unit was based at Enoggera Barracks in Brisbane where it formed part of the 6th Brigade. The battalion's first major task came in the wake of the 1974 Brisbane flood, when it assisted with the subsequent disaster relief and cleanup efforts. During the 1980s the battalion lost a large number of its personnel to the 1st and 2nd Battalions, Royal Australian Regiment as part of the Operational Deployment Force, but nevertheless undertook the task of maintaining the Army's amphibious and urban operations specialisations. In 1990, it took on a further role of training Papua New Guinea Defence Force personnel. and shortly after this, as part of a restructuring of the Army, 8/9 RAR was disbanded on 30 June 1997. The battalion would continue to be called the 8/9th Battalion and would be based in South East Queensland. On 2 October 2007, the Prime Minister announced that 8/9 RAR would be operationally deployable by 2010, be based in Brisbane at Enoggera Barracks and would be equipped with Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles. The battalion was officially re raised on 31 October 2007 and was rapidly established as a motorised unit. Although originally it was intended that the battalion would consist of two motorised rifle companies, a support company and an administration company, this structure was deemed unworkable and the battalion was subsequently reorganised.

In late February 2010, 130 soldiers from the battalion's 'A' Company took over responsibility of the Timor Leste Task Group, replacing 2 RAR in East Timor. This force was rotated back to Australia in June 2010 after a four month deployment, and was replaced by 'B' Company, 8/9RAR.

Between January 2012 and June 2012, 8/9 RAR deployed to Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan as the core of MTF 4.

In 2015–16, members of 8/9 RAR deployed on two consecutive rotations of Operation Okra in Iraq and Operation Highroad in Afghanistan.

The battalion has also contributed small numbers of personnel to Operations Slipper, Anode, and Pakistan Assist, and was heavily involved in search and rescue efforts during the 2010–11 Queensland floods, deploying to its emergency support force on short notice to Grantham in the Lockyer Valley. By mid 2011, 8/9 RAR had grown to comprise a battalion headquarters, three rifle companies and an operational support company.

The following table lists the Commanding Officers of 8/9 RAR. Only those post nominals held at the time of holding the appointment of CO 8/9 RAR are shown. Dates Name 31 Oct 1973 – 27 Nov 1974 LTCOL Adrian Clunies Ross, MBE 28 Nov 1974 – 16 Jan 1977 LTCOL E. A Chitham, MC 17 Jan 1977 – 13 Dec 1978 LTCOL T. H. Holland 14 Dec 1978 – 7 Aug 1980 LTCOL E. F. Pfitzner 8 Aug 1980 – 17 Dec 1982 LTCOL J. R. Brett 18 Dec 1982 – 20 Dec 1984 LTCOL R. E. Thornley 21 Dec 1984 – 9 Dec 1986 LTCOL G. W. Hurford 10 Dec 1986 – 15 Dec 1988 LTCOL M. J. Edwards 16 Dec 1988 – 14 Dec 1990 LTCOL Gary McKay, MC 15 Dec 1990 – 14 Dec 1992 LTCOL Peter Leahy 15 Dec 1992 – 31 Dec 1994 LTCOL D. S. M. Roche 1 Jan 1995 – 31 Dec 1996 LTCOL J. A. Robbs 1 Jan 1997 – 30 Jun 1997 LTCOL J. F. Edwards 31 Oct 2007 – 16 Jan 2011 LTCOL Simon Stuart 17 Jan 2011 – 31 Dec 2013 LTCOL Kahlil Fegan DSC 1 Jan 2014 – 15 Jan 2017 LTCOL J. A. Hammett 16 Jan 2017 – 10 Dec 2018 LTCOL A. R. Bennett, DSM 11 Dec 2018 – 09 Dec 2020 LTCOL S. R. Dickie10 Dec 2020LTCOL J. Eccleston

The following table lists the Regimental Sergeant Majors of 8/9 RAR. Only those post nominals held at the time of holding the appointment of RSM 8/9 RAR are shown. Dates Name 31 Oct 1973 – 13 Sep 1975 WO1 J. S. Allan 14 Sep 1975 – 17 May 1976 WO1 G. J. Sutherland 18 May 1976 – 28 Mar 1979 WO1 P. Cowan 29 Mar 1979 – 13 Apr 1980 WO1 J. P. Henderson 14 Apr 1980 – 18 Dec 1981 WO1 K. S. "Lofty" Wendt (later appointed RSM A) 19 Dec 1981 – 21 Dec 1983 WO1 W. J. Burns 22 Dec 1983 – 12 Dec 1985 WO1 G. Willman 13 Dec 1985 – 16 Jan 1988 WO1 R. George 17 Jan 1988 – Jan 1990 WO1 R. Briais Jan 1990 – 20 Jan 1992 WO1 R. Slater 21 Jan 1992 – 1 Dec 1994 WO1 S. F. Paulson 1 Dec 1994 – 4 Dec 1996 WO1 E. O. Hutchinson 4 Dec 1996 – 30 Jun 1997 WO1 M. Levine 31 Oct 2007 – 17 Jan 2010 WO1 W. Lampard 18 Jan 2010 – 20 Jan 2013 WO1 I. A. D'Arcy 21 Jan 2013 – 18 Jan 2015 WO1 D. S. S. Trill 19 Jan 2015 – 14 Jan 2018 WO1 M. Retallick, CSM 15 Jan 2018 – 14 Jan 2020 WO1 J. L. Watene, CSM15 Jan 2020WO1 M. Carroll, CSM

The Battalion Association was created to perpetuate the memory of the unit when it was initially disbanded in 1997. With resurrection in 2007, the association now serves as the conduit for past, present and future members.