Cambodian training begins DPR/TV/1477

A brief, but colourful parade last week (Jan 3) saw the Australian Army Training Team in South Vietnam begin a new role - the training of Cambodian soldiers. The parade was held at the Long Hai Training Camp, in Phuoc Tuy Province. The Australian contingent comprised six officers and twenty-four warrant officers. A senior American officer, Brigadier General S. L. McClellan, said the event turned a new page in Australian history. The Commander, Australian Force Vietnam, 2289 Major General Donald Beaumont Dunstan, also addressed the parade. The Cambodians are being trained in two camps in the Long Hai area - the mountains in which the Australian Task Force took some of its heaviest casualties during the late nineteen - sixties. The Training Team instructors have undergone two weeks of refresher training for their new task. Each group of Cambodians will be given an intensive twelve-week course in weapon handling and basic military tactics, topped off by field exercises.