By Derrill De Heer[1] One hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the most skilful Subduing the other’s military without battle is the most skilful. Sun Tzu. 500 B.C. From Chapter 3 strategy of Attack[2] When the 1st Australian Task Force deployed to Vietnam in May-June 1966 the Australian Army had already developed doctrine for the conduct of … Read More
Nui Le: The last battle, 21 Sep 1971
By Gary McKay In late September 1971 I was a 23 year-old rifle platoon commander in Delta Company of the 4th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment. We were on operations in the north of Phuoc Tuy Province searching for and hoping to destroy our enemy; the highly trained, strictly disciplined and deeply motivated soldiers from the North Vietnamese Army’s 33rd … Read More
Operation Tong: 7-8 June 1969
By Claude Ducker[1] The men of C Company 5 RAR may not have been aware of it at the time, but President Nixon was meeting with the South Vietnamese President Thieu on Midway Island on 7/8th June 1969. The main purpose of this meeting was to make the South Vietnamese take greater responsibility for the war; and Richard Nixon announced … Read More
Strategic context: The battle of Binh Ba
By Bob Hall What we call ‘the battle of Binh Ba’ was fought 50 years ago. Elements of 33 PAVN Regiment occupied the hamlet of Binh Ba on the night of 5/6 June 1969.[1] At 0810 hours on the morning of 6 June, two 1ATF armoured vehicles of 4 Troop, B Squadron, 1 Armoured Regiment – a Centurion tank and … Read More
May 1969: The switch to pacification
By Bob Hall In July 1968 the Psyops advisor in Phuoc Tuy Province, Major Desmal C. Smith Jr. was nearing the end of his tenure in the job. He was writing his end-of-tour report giving an overall assessment of progress and recommendations for change and improvement. He argued that the achievement of physical security was the key to improving pacification … Read More
Hamburger Hill – 50 years ago
About 50 years ago last week the battle of Hamburger Hill was fought in the jungle covered terrain of the A Shau valley west of Hue. It was a major battle marked by the courage and determination of both sides as they struggled for control of the dominating feature over the 10-day battle. Few people acknowledge the role of ARVN … Read More
An Australian at Hamburger Hill
By Bob Hall The Background In mid-1968 General Westmoreland was replaced as Commander US Military Assistance Command Vietnam (COMUSMACV), by General Creighton Abrams. Following the heavy losses suffered by the Viet Cong and People’s Army of Vietnam during the Tet Offensive of 1968, Abrams attempted to introduce a new ‘pacification’ strategy. This reversed the previous US strategy in which top … Read More
The ARVN: Was their performance misunderstood?
By Bob Hall The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), especially their Regional Force and Popular Force (RF/PF) components, had a reputation for poor combat performance. Brigadier S.P. Weir, Commander 1ATF from 1 September 1969 to 31 May 1970, expressed the concerns of many 1ATF soldiers when he remarked that Some of these [ARVN Regional Force] companies were so … Read More
Comparison: Force strengths and casualties
By Bob Hall The contribution of Australia and New Zealand to the Vietnam War is significant to Australians and New Zealanders, but in the wider context of the war it was minor. The Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces (RVNAF), US Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (USMACV) and other Free World Military Assistance Forces (FWMAF) far exceeded Australian and New Zealand forces … Read More
New article on 1ATF combat efficiency
An article titled ‘Shots per casualty: an indicator of combat efficiency for the first Australian task force in South Vietnam’ has recently been published by Andrew Ross and Bob Hall in Defense & Security Analysis. The article argues that in combat, the ratio of shots fired per casualty inflicted can provide a measure of the combat effectiveness of a force. … Read More