Australian contribution to the 2003 invasion of Iraq included 14 F/A-18 Hornet fighters). Combat forces committed to Operation Falconer for the 2003 Invasion were withdrawn during 2003. Under the name Operation Catalyst, Australian combat troops were redeployed to Iraq in 2005, however, and assumed responsibility for supporting Iraqi security forces in one of Iraq's southern provinces. These troops began withdrawing from Iraq on 1 June 2008 and were completely withdrawn by 28 July 2009. A headquarters staff of about 60 personnel under the command of Brigadier Maurie McNarn. Planning for the deployment of ADF units to the Middle East began in mid-2002 when Australian officers were attached to
Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan For the U.S. Armed Forces, it was the first death of a general on foreign battlefields in 44 years. After 13 years Britain, the United States and the remaining Australians officially ended their combat operation in Afghanistan on 28 October 2014. On that day Britain handed over its last base in Afghanistan, Camp Bastion in the southern province of Helmand, to Afghanistan, while the United States handed over its last base, Camp Leatherneck in the southern province of Helmand. During the 2012 Chicago Summit NATO and its partners agreed to withdraw its combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of