9th Brigade (Australia)

The 9th Brigade is an Reserve formation of the Australian Army headquartered at Keswick Barracks in Keswick, South Australia, with elements located in Tasmania, South Australia, New South Wales and the Northern Territory.

History
The 9th Brigade was originally formed as part of the First Australian Imperial Force for service during the First World War. Consisting of four infantry battalions—the 33rd, 34th, 35th and 36th Battalions —the brigade was formed in 1916 and attached to the 3rd Division. After training in Australia, the brigade was shipped to England before being committed to the fighting on the Western Front in France and Belgium in November 1916. Its first major battle came mid-1917 when it took part in the Battle of Messines. Later in the year, it fought during the Battle of Passchendaele before taking part in defensive operations during the German Spring Offensive in early 1918. In April it was involved in the Allied counterattack at the First Battle of Villers-Bretonneux before taking part in the final offensive of the war, the Hundred Days Offensive. During this time, the 9th Brigade's casualties had been so high, that one of its battalions—the 36th—had to be disbanded in order to reinforce the others.

Following the end of hostilities the brigade was disbanded in 1919, however, in 1921 when it was re-raised as part of the Citizens Military Force following the decision to re-organise Australia's part-time military forces in order to perpetuate the numerical designations and traditions of the AIF. Upon the outbreak of the Second World War, the brigade was attached to the 2nd Infantry Division and was based in New South Wales. Initially it consisted of four infantry battalions—the 1st, 4th, 17th and 45th Battalions —although as the war progressed its establishment was reduced as units were transferred to other formations. As a whole, the brigade did not see active service during the war and was disbanded in July 1944.

Following the end of the war, the Citizens Military Force was not re-established until 1948, when it was re-raised on a reduced establishment. Since then the brigade has been a Reserve formation, although at times its designation has been changed; from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s it adopted the title of the 9th Task Force. The current 9th Brigade was raised on 1 February 1988 in Land Command. On 1 September 1994 the Brigade moved from under command of Land Headquarters to form part of the 2nd Division and today is based in South Australia.

In November 2008, 9th Brigade mounted Rotation 17 to the Solomon Islands under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Russ Lowes, in support of Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI). Rotation 17 completed their deployment and returned to Adelaide on 5 April 2009.

9th Brigade also provides the Australian Army with a Reserve Response Force and a High Readiness Reserve Combat Team which are capable of deployment at short notice with Regular Army Units or in support of civilian agencies.

Brigadier Steven Smith, AM, CSC, RFD, commanded the 9th Brigade between January 2008 and December 2010.

Warrant Officer Class One (WO1) Jeffrey Carthew was the Brigade RSM between January 2009 and December 2010.

Current structure
9th Brigade consists of:
 * HQ 9th Brigade;
 * 3rd/9th Light Horse (South Australian Mounted Rifles)
 * 10th/27th Battalion, Royal South Australia Regiment
 * 12th/40th Battalion, Royal Tasmania Regiment
 * 16th Field Battery, Royal Australian Artillery
 * 48 Field Battery, Royal Australian Artillery
 * 3rd Field Squadron
 * 144th Signals Squadron
 * 9th Combat Service Support Battalion
 * Adelaide Universities Regiment