The two Australian ‘Chooks' are based at Kandahar Airfield in southern Afghanistan and will operate for eight months over the Afghan summer to provide airlift support to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
Commanding Officer of the Australian Chinook Detachment, Lieutenant Colonel David Lynch, said that the Australians would work intimately with the American Chinook company.
"We have inserted our two Chinooks into the company to bolster their capacity to do heavy lifting throughout Regional Command (South)," Lieutenant Colonel Lynch said.
The helicopters arrived in Afghanistan by Australian C-17 aircraft less than a month ago and have since been reassembled and test flown in the harsh desert operating environment.