Keeping units in touch in 1 ATF DPR/TV/1053

At the 1st Australian Task Force base at Nui Dat, the signals centre of the 104th Signals Squadron plays the key role in keeping Australian and Allied units in contact with each other. More than 1,000 telephone and teleprinter circuits feed into the centre, including 70 microwave channels from bases outside Nui Dat. The signals centre is staffed by 50 men who work two shifts to keep communications operating 24 hours a day. In the teleprinter room, the soldiers handle over 700 messages on some days. Next door, the 200 line switchboard averages 4,300 connections each day. In peak hours, two switchboard operators handle 3 calls every 10 seconds. Messages received in the centre are registered, and prepared for despatch by clerks. Depending on the priority of the message, it is either delivered by special delivery or the more usual despatch rider. Regularly during the day, the signals despatch service visits the major units of the Task Force delivering and picking up messages, packets and other correspondence. The route covers about six miles and takes the signalman one hour to complete its role. The signals centre also controls an aerial despatch service which uses helicopters and fixed wing aircraft to deliver correspondence to outlying units and bases. Maintaining and repairing, telephone lines and equipment which works long hours in adverse conditions are a team of soldiers who work behind the scenes. The signals centre is not the only means of communication between units, however. The 104th Signals Squadron has a radio troop as well. These men control and man radio links into and out of the Task Force and are found in all the major units of the 1st Australian Task Force. An Army in an operational theatre requires an efficient, rapid communications system. The men of the 104th Signals Squadron provide it. (Also identified: Signalman Ron Hill of Narrandera, NSW; Corporal Gordon Eacott of Sherwood, Qld; Signalman Don Baird of Wentworth, NSW; Signalman Darryl Campbell of Loxton, SA; Signalman Reg Wilkins of Toowoomba, Qld).