13th Brigade
13th Brigade is an agile, responsive and capable Army Reserve formation headquartered at Irwin Barracks, Karrakatta, a suburb of Perth in Western Australia. 13th Brigade currently consists of the following units:
- Headquarters 13th Brigade
- 10th Light Horse Regiment
- 13th Engineer Regiment
- 11/28th Battalion, the Royal Western Australia Regiment
- 16th Battalion, the Royal Western Australia Regiment
- 13th Combat Service Support Battalion
- 109th Signal Squadron
The following units now come under separate command arrangements but support 13th Brigade:
- Western Australian University Regiment
- 3 Battery, 9th Regiment, Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery
- 7th Health Support Company
The 13th Brigade was originally raised in Egypt in 1916 as part of the 4th Division of the AIF (Australian Imperial Force). It saw extensive service during the First World War on the Western Front in France and Belgium. It was raised again as part of the Citizen's Force in 1921 in Perth, Western Australia, and was mobilised at the commencement of the Second World War in 1939. It operated in defence of Western Australia and the Northern territory before deploying overseas to take part in the New Britain campaign. The brigade reformed after the war in 1948 as part of the Citizen's Military Forces. It was disbanded during a divisional reorganisation in the 1960s but reformed again in 1988 under its current structure as a reserve brigade of the 2nd Division. Today’s 13th Brigade provides soldiers and task groups that are mission-ready to deploy on domestic security and regional stabilisation operations. It also provides deployable force elements to reinforce the Townsville based 3rd Brigade during periods of high readiness. The brigade is recognised for its reliable and valuable contribution to Australia's security and has a proven track-record delivering important combat capability to the Army. In recent years, 13th Brigade soldiers have deployed on operations to Iraq, Afghanistan, East Timor and the Solomon Islands, as well as other domestic security operations and Defence Aid to Civil Community tasks.