Our People in NSW
Jeff Adams - On Patrol in Afghanistan
Former Belrose boy Jeff Adams is now earning his living in the dangerous valleys of southern Afghanistan.
The former Parramatta Marist Brothers boy represented the school in Rugby League. He was also a member of Belrose Eagles Rugby League Club but now the 30 year old is part of the second rotation of the Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force.
Jeff, a Private, .joined the Australian Defence Force in 2006 and these days he is normally based in Townsville. But now home is a Forward Operating Base in the Chora valley.
His role is to mentor the Afghan National Army, teaching them various skills including infantry tactics. He lives, trains, patrols and fights the insurgents alongside the soldiers he is teaching.
“My job is to assist in mentoring and to train the Afghan soldier in the skills required to perform their role,” he said.
“The locals’ conditions in the area are primitive. They don’t have running water or electricity. They use wells but are intuitive and make do with what they have.”
Jeff says he likes working closely with the Afghan soldiers and talking to locals to see how they live – especially without things we take for granted at home.
This is his second overseas deployment. He served in Timor Leste for five months in 2007.
Jeff is engaged to Amy McLeod. This deployment meant he missed their son Joshua’s 10th birthday but when he gets back home he’s definitely planning to be there for the wedding in May 2010.
MRTF-2 is part of Operation SLIPPER is Australia's military contribution to international campaigns against terrorism, countering piracy in the Gulf of Aden, and maritime security.
Under this operation our forces contribute to the efforts of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) - led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, which seeks to bring security,stability and prosperity to the country and aims at preventing Afghanistan again becoming a safe haven for international terrorists, and the United States-led International Coalition Against Terrorism (ICAT) efforts in the broader Middle East.