Australian Defence Force veteran James Hintz, 41, talks about his time in Afghanistan and reflects on the withdrawal, which he says is "10 years too late". Hintz completed tours to Iraq, East Timor and Afghanistan during his 13 years in the military. He was injured in East Timor in 2007, when a non-lethal CS grenade he was about to throw detonated early. He was still suffering the effects when he was sent to Afghanistan for a seven-month rotation in 2008, and was eventually medically discharged in 2014. He now lives back in his hometown of Crows Nest, a small rural hamlet about two hours' drive west of Brisbane, with his wife and their two children. He has to undergo regular surgeries - roughly every six months - to relieve the pain from his injury. This report is part of an AFPTV series of interviews with people who served in Afghanistan as part of the US-led alliance. Nearly all of NATO's 10,000-strong force has already pulled out of the country following the decision by President Joe Biden to bring US troops home after two decades of war. The US withdrawal is set to be completed by August 31. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES