Help train the ARVN DPR/TV/726

Members of the 1st Australian Task Force based at Nui Dat, Vietnam have been given the extra task of helping to train soldiers in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam based in Phuoc Tuy Province. For the past few weeks instructors for the task have been from the Australian Re-inforcement Unit. Training for the Vietnamese soldiers has been carried out in the sandhills near Long Phouc Hai village south east of the Task Force base, and has included minor tactics, fieldcraft, weapon training and range practices. Three ranges were sited in the sandhills by the Australian instructors and the ARVN platoons rotated through them with aid of interpreters who conveyed the instructor's requirements to the soldiers. First range for the troops was a shooting gallery using empty cans as targets. And from there it was to the 300 yard open range along the coast where details were moved progressively closer to the targets. Instructors gave individual attention to the soldiers, helping them to find the most comfortable and steady firing positions. As always, the inspection of the target was greeted with elation in some cases and diasappointment in others. The most interested ARVN soldier in the training was Vietnamese battalion commander, Major Truong, who spoke with instructors and inspected the ranges. The range most enjoyed by the ARVN was the sneaker course aimed at testing a soldier's reactions as well as his accuracy. With the number of hits on the the targets registered, another day's training for the Vietnamese soldiers had come to and end.