Australian Army Training Team Vietnam - History

History

The unit was raised in 1962 and initially consisted of approximately 30 officers and warrant officers and was tasked to train units of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). On 1 June 1963 Sergeant William Francis Hacking became the AATTV's first casualty when he was accidentally killed while on duty in Vietnam. The first advisor officially killed in action was Warrant Officer Kevin Conway at the Battle of Nam Dong in July 1964. With the war escalating the AATTV increased to approximately 100 by December. Soon its area of operations stretched from the far south to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) forming the border between North Vietnam and South Vietnam.

Members of the team were involved in many combat operations, often commanding formations of Vietnamese soldiers. Some advisors worked with regular ARVN units and formations, while others worked with the Montagnard hill tribes in conjunction with US Special Forces. A few were involved in the controversial Phoenix Program run by the US Central Intelligence Agency, which was designed to target the Vietcong infrastructure through infiltration, arrest and assassination. Due to its small size and widespread area of operations, it was rare for the entire unit to be in the same place at the same time; this usually occurred only on ANZAC Day – the only other occasion the whole unit paraded together was when it received the Meritorious Unit Commendation from the Commander of the US Forces in Vietnam in 1970.

After the 1st Australian Task Force was withdrawn in early 1972 the AATTV remained in Phuoc Tuy province to provide training and advisory assistance to the ARVN and to training Cambodian soldiers of Force Armée Nationale Khmère (FANK). The last Australians left Vietnam in mid-December 1972, following the election of the Whitlam Labor government. The AATTV had the longest tour of duty of any Australian unit in Vietnam, serving a total of ten years, four months and sixteen days. The unit also had the distinction of being the first Australian unit committed to Vietnam and the last to be withdrawn. Over the course of its service, a total of 1,000 men served with the unit, consisting of 990 Australians and 10 New Zealanders.

The AATTV was Australia's most decorated unit of the war, including all four Victoria Crosses awarded during the conflict (awarded to Warrant Officer Kevin Wheatley, Major Peter Badcoe, Warrant Officer Rayene Simpson and Warrant Officer Keith Payne respectively). The unit also received the United States Presidential Unit Citation and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm Unit Citation.