Advisors in Phuoc Tuy DPR/TV/1482

In South Vietnam, the Australian Army Training Team is instructing Cambodian and Vietnamese troops. A small group of Training Team advisors comprised Australia's first military commitment to Vietnam 10 years ago and now, with the final withdrawal of the larger Australian commitment completed - the focus has shifted again to these highly trained jungle warfare experts. The language barrier is a problem with instruction and an interpreter is often needed. Previously scattered throughout the country, members of the team are now concentrated in Phuoc Tuy Province, the former area of operations of the First Australian Task Force. Commanded by 235027 Lieutenant Colonel Keith Henry Kirkland of Yarralumla, ACT, the team has its headquarters at the Jungle Warfare Centre, near Baria. Here, twenty seven Australians are helping train junior leaders of the Vietnamese Armed Forces in methods of jungle warfare, up to platoon level. Two courses, each lasting six weeks, are run concurrently. One is for junior officers and the other for non-commissioned officers. Each course has a maximum of one hundred and twenty five students, drawn from throughout Vietnam. The courses concentrate basically on weapon handling, patrolling, navigation, harbouring and ambushes. Advisors keep a close check on all students progress as they learn to handle many different types of weapons. Weapon instruction ranges from handling claymore mines to firing machine guns. Mortar training plays a large part in the soldieers instruction and they gain plenty of practical experience. Also identified: 17868 Warrant Officer 2 (WO2) Desmond Stanley (Des) Cochrane of Virginia, Qld; 1201583 WO2 Michael John Shave of Lameroo, SA; 14264 WO2 Clement Edward (Clem) Ebner of Gaythorne, Qld; WO2 Frank Reid of Taringa, Qld; WO2 John Woods of Stockton, NSW; 212642 WO2 Bruce Elphick of Orange, NSW; 34464 WO2 John Richard (Jack) Cousins of Orange, NSW; 13468 WO1 Desmond Edward (Des) Wise of Brisbane, Qld; 213636 WO2 Jack Woods of Ingleburn, NSW; 215692 WO2 Maxwell John (Max) Poole and Captain Jerry Weiland both of Canungra, Qld.