Australian Army tropical combat boots : Colonel M J Kelly, Australian Defence Force Legal Corps

Pair of Australian Army Terra Model 3 khaki tropical combat boots with a combination rubber and urethane sole, waterproofed kangaroo and bovine leather uppers with nylon ankle reinforcing, pair of breather holes with brass inserts at the base of the uppers, padded tongue and collar, and locking cleat lacing hardware. The padded tongue is supplied with a velcro seal allowing padding to be removed or replaced. The soles are molded with the boot size (300/106 MONOPOINT) and the Defence broad arrow. Owner has written his name and service number on inside of both boots.

Combat boots worn by 236706 Colonel Michael Joseph Kelly while on operational deployment in East Timor (July 2001 to January 2002) and on two deployments to Iraq (May to November 2003 and March to July 2004). Colonel Kelly graduated from Macquarie University with Bachelor of Arts and Law degrees in 1983 and joined the Australian Defence Force (ADF) Legal Corps in 1987. He was deployed to Somalia to participate in Operation Restore Hope 1993 as Legal Adviser with First Battalion Royal Australian Regiment, Battalion Group, assisting in the re-establishment of an indigenous Somali criminal justice system. Lieutenant Colonel Kelly was awarded the Chief of the General Staff's Commendation (1993) and made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1994 for his contributions as Legal Adviser to Headquarters of the 1st Division and Headquarters Australian Forces Somalia. He was seconded by the ADF to the International Committee of the Red Cross for deployment to Bosnia Herzegovina and Croatia for several months in 1996, where he trained and negotiated with the armed forces of various warring factions as well as establishing training programs for the International Police Task Force. He was deployed again to Africa later in 1996 - on this occasion to Kenya with the Australian Consular Response Group - to assist in the rescue of an Australian citizen held hostage in Somalia. Kelly was seconded as a legal advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq in 2003 helping that Authority draw up a legal framework for the country's reconstruction. He was recalled for a further 5 months preparing for the installation of the provisional Iraqi government and has been described as one of the ‘most important and influential member of the Australian military's contribution to rebuilding Iraq'.