c2011 Australian Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment 2 Squadron 'Ned Kelly' Patch Badge

SASR 'Ned Kelly' Australia (2 Sqn) patch on velcro. VGC.



2 Sqn S.A.S.R.
On 23 January 2011, Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith was awarded the Victoria Cross for single-handedly neutralising two machine-gun positions during an operation in Tizak on 11 June 2010.138 On 26 March 2013, it was announced that Special Operations Command would receive the Australian Army's first battle honour since the end of the Vietnam War for outstanding performance during the Shah Wali Kot Offensive in Afghanistan from May to June 2010. The battle honour, titled "Eastern Shah Wali Kot", was awarded in recognition of the operational actions of the SASR and 2nd Commando Regiment from the Australian Special Operations Task Group Rotation XII.139 The SASR has also been collectively awarded the Meritorious Unit Citation and Unit Citation for Gallantry for its actions in Afghanistan.

The bulk of SOTG was withdrawn from Afghanistan in late 2013 as part of the Australian drawdown, although some special forces remain as part of the small Australian force in the country. SASR casualties in Afghanistan include five soldiers killed in action.

On 26 October 2018, a SASR dog, Kuga, was posthumously awarded the Dickin Medal for bravery on a patrol on 26 August 2011 in the Khas Uruzgan district in which he was shot five times attacking an insurgent positioned to ambush the patrol.

Alleged war crimesedit
During an operation in April 2013, an SASR corporal cut the right hands from the corpses of three insurgents after being told by a military lawyer that this would be an acceptable way of obtaining fingerprints. After this incident was reported to the senior Australian command at Tarin Kowt, the SOTG was withdrawn from operations for a week-long "operational pause" one soldier remained under investigation for this incident in August 2015, but was later cleared of all charges.

Code: 1369