Private Christopher Hanrahan

Chris Served 14 Years in the Australian Regular Army as an Infantry Soldier in the Royal Australian Infantry (RAInf), with the prestigious 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR) at Enoggera in Brisbane, Queensland, which was home of the Bushmaster Infantry Mobility Vehicle until 2017. 6 RAR is now home to the Mechanised Infantry.

As an Infantry Soldier, Chris’s role was to seek out and close with the enemy, to kill or capture him, to seize and hold ground, to repel attack, by day or night, regardless of season, weather or terrain.

Chris deployed on Operation Slipper to Afghanistan with the 6 RAR being the basis of the 750-strong combined arms battle group, known as 1st Mentoring Task Force (MTF-1) based at Forward operating base (FOB) Ripley of Tarin Kowt. The main mission being counter-insurgency operations in Uruzgan province. During Chris’s Deployment, the task force would engage in 516 small arms contacts with the enemy, they located over 100 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and more than 250 weapons and explosive caches. The Task Force suffered nearly 40 Battle casualties and six soldiers would be killed in action. Chris was unfortunate enough to be involved in three separate IED explosions, fortunately not sustaining any major injuries at the time. In 2011 MTF-1 would receive the Meritorious Unit Citation (MUC) for “Sustained outstanding service in warlike operations on Operation Slipper in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan, between 20 January and 30 October 2010”.

Chris would later deploy again to Afghanistan in 2016 on Operation Accordion with Force Support Element 4 (FSE 4) at Camp Baird.

Chris has received the following honours and awards for his service:

Meritorious Unit Citation (MUC) - 1st Mentoring Task Force,

Australian Active Service Medal with Clasp ICAT (AASM),

Australian Operational Service Medal - Greater Middle East Operation,

Afghanistan Medal,

Australian Defence Medal,

NATO Non-Article 5 Medal with Clasp – ISAF,

Infantry Combat Badge,

Returned from Active Service Badge,

Operational Service Badge, and

The Soldier's Medallion.

I met Chris during a dark time in both our lives, and I am grateful for our paths crossing when they did. Chris is a genuine bloke who would give the shirt off his own back to make sure you would have a smile on your face. When I asked him if he would be interested in volunteering for this project, he accepted without hesitation; he knew its importance and was willing to display his pain so that others who have walked in our shoes know they are not alone.