by Joseph Mcquade

Created on: August 09, 2009

The Australian military spent ten years fighting in South Vietnam. Nearly 60,000 Australian troops were involved in the war. It was the longest war in Australia's history. The first troops went on active combat status on 3 August 1962. The first combat unit into Vietnam was known as the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV). This was a small group of thirty military advisers who would deploy throughout South Vietnam, often working in isolated, remote locations while training indigenous troops to fight against the Viet Cong and NVA. This unit was similar to the American Army's Green Berets. Seasoned, highly trained, professional soldiers, these "trainers" were in effect, force multipliers.

The U.S. and Australia were very concerned that communism would spread throughout Southeast Asia in what was known as the "Domino Effect." This meant that if South Vietnam fell to the communists, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand might soon follow, giving the communists control over southeast Asia. The specter of this happening in Australia's "backyard" was not acceptable and the Australian government became a staunch supporter of America's policy in Vietnam. The average Australian citizen wasn't too interested in this beginning phase of the Vietnam War. There was very little opposition to the regular Army troops working in a training role in Vietnam.

The National Service scheme was begun in 1964 by the Menzies government. National Service was also known as "conscription," Americans know this process as a draft. It required twenty year old men to register with the Department of Labour and National Service. If their birthdate was drawn in what resembled a lottery, the conscripts would serve a mandatory two years on active duty followed by three years on the active reserve list. Not all duty assignments meant combat duty, some National Service troops would serve in support units. Once called for duty, the men then had a month to report for basic training.

The National Service scheme would propel opposition groups into action, such as, Save Our Sons (SOS) and Youth Campaign Against Conscription (YCAC.) The SOS was begun in 1965 in Sydney by a group of middle class and working class women, mostly middle aged, who had sons that were old enough to be subject to conscription. The SOS formed a highly effective platform to campaign against conscription, and for conscientious objectors and draft resisters. When the SOS first entered the political arena they were complete novices

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