Multi National Base Tarin Kot is a former

International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 ac ...

(ISAF) installation, used after the

Netherlands Armed Forces The Netherlands Armed Forces () are the military, military forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (mainland Netherlands in Europe and islands of the Dutch Caribbean). The armed forces consist of four service branches: the Royal Netherlands Nav ...

' departure by the

Afghan National Army The Islamic National Army (, ), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the army, land force branch of the Afghan Armed Forces. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be traced back to the early 18th century when th ...

. The base was located on the outskirts of

Tarinkot Tarinkot (), also spelled as Tarin Kowt, is a city in south-central Afghanistan, serving as the capital of Uruzgan Province. It sits at above sea level, and is connected by a road network with Kandahar to the south, Nili in Daykundi Province ...

, the capital of

Uruzgan Province Uruzgan (Pashto: ; Dari: ), also spelled as Urozgan or Oruzgan, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. Uruzgan is located in the center of the country. The population is 436,079, and the province is mostly a tribal society. Tarinkot ...

in southern

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. Under the previous operators the base was used by multiple states including the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The base was divided into multiple areas: * Camp Russell (Australia's Special Operations Task Group) * Camp Holland * On the opposite side of the runway is

Tarinkot Airport Tarinkot Airport (; ; ) is located about of driving distance south from the center of Tarinkot in Afghanistan, next to the Tarinkot-Kandahar Highway. It is a domestic airport under the country's Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation (MoTCA), ...

, all sites use the same runway

History

The site was initially Forward Operating Base (FOB) Ripley which was used by the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

, and in 2005/6 it was expanded to create "Kamp Holland". In December 2009 approximately 1,300

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

and 390

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

personnel were stationed at ''Kamp Holland''. The base was closed in mid-March 2020 due to the American forces' drawdown.

Task Force Uruzgan

The first group of Dutch military personnel left for Afghanistan in March 2006 in the Deployment Task Force (DTF). They were the quartermasters for the following Dutch forces of the

Task Force Uruzgan Task Force Uruzgan (TFU) was Australia's and the Netherlands' contribution to NATO's Regional Command South, International Security Assistance Force, in Afghanistan. The Dutch led one of the four Provincial Reconstruction Teams in the southern ...

(TFU) becoming operational in August 2006. The average strength was 1,200 personnel split over the locations "Tarinkot" and "Deh Rawod". As the Task Force Uruzgan was a composite unit it consisted of various units and specialties of the Dutch armed forces. Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, Special Forces and Military Police personnel were completely integrated in the TFU. The core of the TFU was the Battlegroup, consisting of infantry - Dutch Airmobile or Marines Battalion - and some 155mm mechanized howitzers for fire support. In case the Battlegroup needed close air support, the Dutch Air Task Force – consisting of F-16 multiroles stationed at

Kandahar Airfield Ahmad Shah Baba International Airport, also referred to as Kandahar International Airport (, ), and by some military officials as Kandahar Airfield (KAF), is located in the Daman District of Kandahar Province in Afghanistan, about southeast f ...

and AH-64D Apache combat helicopters stationed at Tarinkot – were tasked with providing it. Key * Task Force Uruzgan - detachment (TFU) * Tactical Force Elements (TFE) *

Provincial Reconstruction Team A Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) was a unit introduced by the United States government, consisting of military officers, diplomats, and reconstruction subject matter experts, working to support reconstruction efforts in unstable states. PRT ...

s (PRT) Units * TFU-1. 11th Airmobile Brigade; August 2006 until January 2007 under Colonel T. Vleugels ** TFE-1. 12th Infantry Battalion (Air Assault); August to November 2006 ** PRT-1. 42nd Tank Battalion Regiment Hussars Prince of Orange; August to November 2006 * TFU-2. 13th Mechanized Brigade; February to July 2007 under Colonel H. van Griensven ** TFE-2. 17th Infantry Battalion "Prinses Irene Fusiliers"; December 2006 to March 2007 ** PRT-2. 11th Tank Battalion Regiment Hussars of Sytzama; December 2006 to March 2007 * TFU-3. 11th Airmobile Brigade; August 2007 until January 2008 under Colonel N. Geerts ** TFE-3. 42nd Infantry Battalion "Limburgse Jagers"; April to July 2007 ** TFE-4. 13th Infantry Regiment "Prince Bernhard Stoottroepen" (Air Assault); August to November 2007 ** PRT-3. 41st Armoured Engineer Battalion; April to September 2007 * TFU-4. 43rd Mechanized Brigade; February to July 2008 under Colonel R. van Harskamp ** TFE-5. 44th Mechanized Infantry Battalion "Johan Willem Friso"; December 2007 to March 2008 ** TFE-6. 45th Mechanized Infantry Battalion "Oranje Gelderland"; April to July 2008 ** PRT-4. 14th Section Field Artillery; October 2007 to March 2008 * TFU-5. 11th Airmobile Brigade; August 2008 until January 2009 under Colonel C. Matthijssen ** TFE-7. 11th Infantry Battalion "Garderegiment Grenadiers en Jagers" (Air Assault) Guards Regiment Grenadiers and Rifles; August to November 2008 ** PRT-5. 11th Armored Engineer Battalion; April to September 2008 * TFU-6. 13th Mechanized Brigade; February to July 2009 under Brigadier General T. Middendorp ** TFE-8. 12th Infantry Battalion (Air Assault); December 2008 to March 2009 ** TFE-9. 11th Tank Battalion Regiment Hussars of Sytzama; April to July 2009 ** PRT-6. 101st CIS battalion; October 2008 to March 2009 * TFU-7. 11th Airmobile Brigade; August 2009 to January 2010 under Brigadier General Marc van Uhm ** TFE-10. 17th Infantry Battalion "Prinses Irene Fusiliers"; August to November 2009 ** PRT-7. 11 Section Horse Artillery; April to September 2009 * TFU-8. 43rd Mechanized Brigade; February to July 2010 under Brigadier K. van den Heuvel ** TFE-11. 13th Infantry Regiment Stoottroepen Prins Bernhard (Air Assault); December 2009 to March 2010 ** TFE-12. 42nd Infantry Battalion "Limburgse Jagers" + 13th Infantry Company Marines; April to July 2010 ** PRT-8. 43rd Restoration Company; October 2009 to March 2010 ** PRT-9. 1 CIMIC battalion; April to September 2010 * 2012 ** 3-58th Airfield Operations Battalion, known as TF Guardian * 2013 ** 4th Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment during January 2013

Australian operations

An important item of the overall mission was the

(PRT). The PRT was responsible for the supervision of all technical and logistical support to rebuild the Afghan province of Uruzgan. The PRT was part of ISAF and was placed under NATO command. From their Regional Kandahar Headquarters,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, the

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

took 6-month turns in commanding all NATO military personnel spread over the area. The

2nd Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force (MRTF-2) was also based at Camp Holland. MRTF-2 was engaged in reconstruction, mentoring and security operations in Uruzgan Province. The bulk of the MRTF was composed of elements from the

3rd Brigade (Australia) The 3rd Brigade is a combined arms brigade of the Australian Army, principally made up of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, 1st and 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, 3rd Battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment (1 and 3 RA ...

(Townsville), with support elements drawn from the

1st Brigade (Australia) 1st Brigade is a combined arms formation of the Australian Army. Formed in 1903 as a militia formation based in New South Wales, it was reconstituted as part of the First Australian Imperial Force, Australian Imperial Force in 1914 for service d ...

(Darwin) and from the Navy and Air Force. MRTF-2 included 2

Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams (OMLTs) were the NATO equivalent of the United States' Embedded Training Teams and were active in Afghanistan. Countries Teams from several countries provided training and operational support to the A ...

s (OMLTs) whose mission was to assist in the development of the 4th Brigade of the

. Australian soldiers that operated in the OMLTs lived with, trained and provided support to their Afghan National Army colleagues in patrol bases in Uruzgan Province. In so doing, the OMLTs continued to develop the capability of the 2nd Afghan Kandak and the 4th Afghan Kandak. MRTF-2 also included two Combat Teams (CT) which undertook security operations within Uruzgan Province in order to enhance the security environment in the province. These CT's were operationally integrated in the Dutch Battlegroup. The following units were also here: * Combined Team Uruzgan * Force Support Unit * Force Communication Unit

References

External links

Photo impression Neth. Marine Corps Kamp Holland 2010

Listen live on-line to Uruzgan FM, the local Dutch TFU broadcasting station
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100123202641/http://www.uruzgan.fm/page/home , date=23 January 2010 .
Dutch MoD info about TFU

Video Task Force Uruzgan

Video Air Task Force

War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) sites Tarin Kot Bases Afghanistan–Australia military relations Military installations of Australia Military installations of Afghanistan

History

Task Force Uruzgan

Australian operations

See also

References

External links