Australians train Vietnamese in patrolling DPR/TV/1044

Captain Bob Guest of Hamilton, Qld, gives the sign for a group of Vietnamese regional force soldiers to move forward, during an instructional course in patrolling techniques in Phuoc Tuy Province, Vietnam. With a group of Australian instructors under his command, Captain Guest is responsible for training the Vietnamese soldiers, who come from units in the Province, during an eight-weeks course held in areas around Nui Dat. Australian methods of patrolling and ambush are explained to the Vietnamese, who have often seen these techniques successfully used by Australian troops in Vietnam, but who, until now, have never used these methods themselves. Five weeks of the training covers tactics, field signals, weapon handling, and ambush and counter ambush drills. The last three weeks are spent on operational patrols with the Australians in the jungles of Phuoc Tuy. Although there is a language barrier, this has been overcome by the need for continued silence on actual patrols. Field signals are essential, and the Vietnamese have learned these quickly. At the end of the course the Vietnamese return to their own units, and pass on the techniques they have learned at the Australian school. This is the second course to be trained by the Australians, and its members are soon due to return to their own base. The Australian instructors are members of 4th and 9th Battalions, The Royal Australian Regiment, and the Australian Army Training Team in Vietnam. They live out of the Task Force area with the Vietnamese soldiers they train, and carry out patrols with the local soldiers. The training has to be realistic, and operating in areas where Viet Cong are moving, the men are well aware that at any moment a "training run" could develop into the real thing. During the first course run by Captain Guest, his students detained a number of suspects for further questioning. (Also identified: Warrant Officer George Francis of Villawood, NSW; Corporal Ron Lennon of Smithfield Plains, SA; Corporal Wiki Temeparo of Opotiki, NZ.)