3rd Health Battalion (Australia)
battalion of the Australian Army
The 3rd Health Battalion (3 HB) is an Australian Army unit headquartered in Adelaide, South Australia, foundered after the establishment of the 2nd Brigade (Australia) in 2022, providing Close Health, General Health and Health Support services to southern brigades and units of the Australian Army. Drawing its lineage from the 3rd Australian General Hospital, which was raised for service during World War I, the unit was tasked with providing Role 2 health support to troops deployed overseas on operations and within Australia on exercise and provided medical personnel for a variety deployments in the post-war period, including those to Rwanda, Bougainville, East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan.
In February 2022, following the disbandment of 3 HSB as part of the Army's restructure of its health battalions, four new health battalions were formed that were to be placed under the command of the 2nd Health Brigade.
Structure and Role
Consisting of four health support companies – the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th – the unit was headquartered at Keswick Barracks in Adelaide with sub-units and elements in Melbourne, Hobart, Sydney and Adelaide. The unit formed part of the 17th Sustainment Brigade.
While it was designated primarily as a Reserve unit, 3 HSB had a small cadre of Regular Army personnel who were tasked with administration and training. Personnel belong to a variety of corps, including the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps, the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps, the Royal Australian Army Dental Corps, and other logistical corps. It was generally used to provide individual reinforcements to the Army's other two health battalions – the 1st Close and 2nd General Health Battalions – and was tasked with providing health support at Role 2 and above, including initial wound and definitive surgical interventions, and maintains the majority of the Australian Army's high level surgical capabilities.
History
The unit traces its lineage back to the 3rd Australian General Hospital (3 AGH) that was established during the early years of World War I. During the Gallipoli Campaign, 3 AGH served on Lemnos Island before moving to Egypt in January 1916, having treated 7,400 patients. In mid-1916, the unit moved to Brighton in the United Kingdom as part of the transfer of the Australian Imperial Force to the Western Front.
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