Former soldier Mathew Bell was deployed in 2012, aged 24, with his infantry battalion to a forward operating base in Afghanistan's "badlands" west of Tarinkot.
More than a decade after he returned to Australia, Mr Bell remembers his unit's work with a sense of honour and accomplishment.
"We changed that little part of Afghanistan, that little part of the world for good," the former Lance Corporal, now 38, told AAP.
"We made it safe and secure, a place where people could live and work."
Mr Bell said girls were able to attend school, medical services were rolled out to villages and "there was freedom".
"Not the oppression we're seeing now under the Taliban government," the father of two said.
It's 25 years since the start of Operation Slipper when Australia joined the US and other coalition forces on the battlefield in Afghanistan as the global war on terror took hold in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
More than 35,000 Australian servicemen and women were deployed to the Middle East over the following two decades until their withdrawal in 2021.
Some 47 Australian Defence Force personnel died as a result of their service and 263 were wounded.
"Our role was essentially to go out on either vehicle-mounted patrols or foot patrols, out amongst the local population through the desert, through the green zone, keeping the Taliban at bay," Mr Bell said.
"It was a hot area. Once you stepped over that line in the sand, like, that was Taliban territory."
One of Mr Bell's close mates was badly wounded in a roadside bomb explosion and on more than one occasion, his section was pinned down by sniper fire.
Mateship and camaraderie forged under fire got them through the dangerous times, and Mr Bell remains tight with his former brothers-in-arms.
"I was there because these seven other dudes, who were my best friends, they were there," he said.
"I had their backs and they had mine."
Veterans are gathering on Sunday to remember the 25th anniversary of Australia entering the Afghanistan conflict.
Australia's involvement commenced with Operation Slipper on October 11, 2001, and continued until 2014.
Services are being held at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park, Sydney, the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne and other sites around the nation.
Australians who served in the Afghanistan War were deployed in various roles and missions contributing to reconstruction efforts, democratic governance, training and humanitarian aid.
Operation Slipper was followed between 2015 and 2021 by Operation Highroad and the Kabul airlift in August 2021.
ADF personnel also served in support roles in Operation Manitou, naval and air maritime operations in the Persian Gulf and Operation Accordion, providing logistics support to Gulf state bases from 2014 to 2021.
Australia officially completed its military withdrawal in June 2021.
The US followed on August 30 after it signed a peace agreement with the Taliban.
The Taliban returned to power during the withdrawal.
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