The village of Hoa Long straddled one of the major roads within Phuoc Tuy province – Route 2. Most of the military traffic heading south to Baria, the capital of the province or to the port city of Vung Tau or north to Saigon, South Vietnam’s capital, had to pass through the village. A very […]

Dat Do Dogs & Hoa Long Dance On arrival at Nui Dat, South Vietnam, where the 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) was situated, many of the new troops were informed of all the amenities within the area, ie where concerts were held, outdoor movies were shown, the location of the library, the Red Cross […]

In 2002 the Australian Army, along with US defence forces, engaged in Ex Tandem Thrust, which took place in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA). At the time I was serving with Bravo Coy 6 RAR and we had been tasked to play enemy against some 25,000 troops. We spent the majority of the time […]

During Ex Droughtmaster, Anti-Armour 8/9 RAR was placed on the screen to provide an early warning for the battalion as we were enemy for the division, so we would hit and run against 1st Armored Reg. Anyway, this went on for six to eight days, with no resupply, so three days after running out of […]

One of the functions of the Aviation Regiment was to support the SASR in their operations by transporting them from ‘A’ to ‘B’ over long distances with the Pilatus Porter and Nomad aircraft. Their drop-offs were normally first or last light and their pick-ups at night-time were called TALS (Tactical Airfield Lighting System). Because of […]

The physical training instructor was drilling a platoon of soldiers. “I want every man to lie on his back, put his legs in the air and move them as though he were riding a bicycle,” he explained. “Now begin!” After a few minutes, one of the men stopped. “Why did you stop, Smith?” demanded the […]

The soldier serving in Malaysia was annoyed and upset when his girl wrote, breaking off their engagement and asking for her photograph back. He went out and collected from his friends all the unwanted photographs of women that he could find, bundled them all together and sent them back with a note saying, “I regret […]