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114 THE AUSTRALIAN ARMY AND THE VIETNAM WAR 1962–1972 tactical employment for the battalions. This was due in part to the fact that the Task Force returned to basic operational concepts with which the Australian Army had been familiar for some time. In addition, the commanders responsible for training and preparing battalions during this phase of the war were afforded the benefit of five years’ worth of previous operational experience. It would appear that tactics had come full circle. While partly true this view would not account for the significant advances discussed above that occurred during the intervening period. Conclusion Throughout the six and a half year involvement of operations in south Vietnam the Army was forced to adapt and redefine its tactics and techniques in a number of significant ways. That it was able to achieve these shifts in operational focus and their accompanying changes in tactics so often over such a short period of time is a significant tribute to the army and the men who comprised it. What permitted the army to demonstrate such elasticity in its doctrine was a combination of wide operational experience and rigorous professional training. during the Vietnam War the Australian Army was presented with four varied periods of operational experience each coming close on the heels of the previous one. As a result tactics were forced to develop very quickly in response to given sets of circumstances which usually only persisted for a relatively short period of time. It has been said that retrospectively one may deduce an army’s implied doctrine from how it organises, trains and equips itself. 85 The style and concept of pre-war exercises and unit establishments provides an excellent picture of the type of war the army expected to fight, one drawing heavily on the experiences of the Malayan Emergency in the 1950s. While the army’s past experiences and preconceptions had left it with some significant weaknesses, the basic tenets of Australian doctrine were sound. Reliance upon patrolling, small unit operations and population control left the army well placed to fight in Vietnam. Whether this question is addressed from the perspectives of 1rAr’s attempts to integrate its doctrine and training into an American brigade, the Task Force’s attempts to reconcile divergent roles and tasks, or subsequent periods of the war, the principal themes of this paper remain extant. Army doctrine and operations were a direct reflection of the changing circumstances in which the Australians found themselves employed. 85. roger spiller, ‘In the shadow of the dragon: doctrine and the us Army After the Vietnam War’, in Peter dennis and Jeffrey Grey (eds), From Past to Future: The Australian Experience of Land/Air Operations (Canberra: school of History. AdFA, 1995), 8.
THe deVeLoPMeNT oF THe AusTrALIAN ArMy TACTICAL doCTrINe While this may sound obvious in principle, the practicalities of how this manifested itself are less so. This essay has aimed to give the Australian Army’s Vietnam War experience a measure of context and in so doing provide a comment on how the organisation may come to better understand the nature and shaping forces of its history. The Army stands poised to embark on period of unparalleled variety and complexity of operational experience. Its ability to rapidly, accurately and effectively define the origins and context of its doctrine, analyse the nature of its operations and adapt these where appropriate will directly influence its success in future conflicts. 115
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THE AUSTRALIAN ARMY AND THE VIETNAM
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Contents Preface vii Contributors x
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Preface Vietnam was Australia’s l
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PReFACe whose behalf and alongside
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CONTRIBUTORS which he was joint edi
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CONTRIBUTORS Command and General St
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CONTRIBUTORS Barry Smith was conscr
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Introduction Lieutentant General Pe
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The Vietnam Syndrome: A Brief Histo
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THE VIETNAM SYNDROME: A BRIEF HISTO
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CONVERSATIONS AT THE TOP support in
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CONVERSATIONS AT THE TOP had stated
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CONVERSATIONS AT THE TOP This patte
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CONVERSATIONS AT THE TOP of the Fed
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CONVERSATIONS AT THE TOP targeting
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CONVERSATIONS AT THE TOP was intere
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CONVERSATIONS AT THE TOP Between Mc
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CONVERSATIONS AT THE TOP least your
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The Higher Direction of the Army in
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The hIGheR dIReCTION OF The ARMy IN
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The TrAInIng oF The AusTrAlIAn Army
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The TrAInIng oF The AusTrAlIAn Army
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Page 93 and 94: PRePARING ARMOuReD uNITS FOR OVeRSe
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Page 157 and 158: fIGHTING AGAINST TIme Vietnam. for
Page 159 and 160: fIGHTING AGAINST TIme By 1963 the A
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Page 163 and 164: fIGHTING AGAINST TIme To the south,
Page 165 and 166: fIGHTING AGAINST TIme Bewildered by
Page 167 and 168: fIGHTING AGAINST TIme the ARVN was
Page 169 and 170: fIGHTING AGAINST TIme Decreased fun
Page 171 and 172: THE mAKING OF TIGERS and under the
Page 173 and 174: THE mAKING OF TIGERS military build
Page 175 and 176: THE mAKING OF TIGERS out of America
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Page 181 and 182: THE mAKING OF TIGERS Korean soldier
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THE mAKING OF TIGERS in the south.
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THE mAKING OF TIGERS children to gi
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THE mAKING OF TIGERS South Korean u
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THE mAKING OF TIGERS in the Lunar C
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THE mAKING OF TIGERS remark, which
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THE mAKING OF TIGERS estimate, he h
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THE mAKING OF TIGERS to official gu
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THE mAKING OF TIGERS the 70s, Korea
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NeW ZeALAND’S COMMITMeNT OF INFAN
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Meeting the Challenge of Training a
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MEETING ThE ChALLENGE OF TRAINING
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MEETING ThE ChALLENGE OF TRAINING I
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MEETING ThE ChALLENGE OF TRAINING T
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MEETING ThE ChALLENGE OF TRAINING F
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ANZAC Battalions: Australian Experi
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ANZAC BATTALIONS: AUSTRALIAN ExPERI
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The Role and Impact of Civil Affair
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THe ROLe AND IMPACT OF CIVIL AFFAIR
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Liaison Detachment THe ROLe AND IMP
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THe AUSTrAlIAN ArMy TrAININg TeAM V
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ADVISoRS AND oPTIMISM In late 1961,
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ADVISoRS AND oPTIMISM eventually de
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ADVISoRS AND oPTIMISM Compounding t
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ADVISoRS AND oPTIMISM After arrivin
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ADVISoRS AND oPTIMISM ARVN’s lack
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ADVISoRS AND oPTIMISM reports that
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ADVISoRS AND oPTIMISM war was unwin
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Becoming the 3rd XV: The Citizen Mi
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BECOMING THE 3RD XV conventional wa
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BECOMING THE 3RD XV the time did no
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BECOMING THE 3RD XV The CMF’s his
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BECOMING THE 3RD XV out and the CMF
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BECOMING THE 3RD XV thus discharged
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BECOMING THE 3RD XV January 1967 an
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BECOMING THE 3RD XV the distant pos
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The Australian Army and the Vietnam
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THE AUSTRALIAN ARMy AND THE VIETNAM
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HoW HISToRy WoRKS: AFTERTHoUGHTS Al
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