 for troop movement and resupply , and the role of human and signals intelligence to determine enemy movements and intentions .   3 RAR deployed to Borneo in March 1965 , and served in Sarawak until the end of July , operating on both sides of the border . The battalion had four major contacts with Indonesian forces and several smaller ones — including at Sungei Koemba , Kindau and Babang during which they inflicted heavy casualties on the Indonesians — as well as suffering casualties in two mine incidents . 4 RAR served a less @-@ eventful tour between April and August 1966 , and also operated over the border , successfully clashing with the Indonesians on a number of occasions . A squadron of the Special Air Service Regiment ( SASR ) was also deployed in 1965 and again in 1966 , taking part in cross @-@ border operations and inflicting significant casualties on the Indonesians , even though they were often tasked with covert reconnaissance . Other units included artillery and engineers , while a number of RAN ships were involved in shelling Indonesian positions in Borneo and in repelling infiltrators in the Singapore Strait . The RAAF played a relatively minor role , although it would have been used far more extensively had the war escalated .   Operations in Borneo were extremely sensitive and they received little press coverage in Australia , while official acknowledgement of involvement in cross @-@ border missions only occurred in 1996 . Following a military coup in Indonesia in early 1966 which brought General Suharto to power , a peace treaty was signed in August 1966 which ended the conflict . 3 @,@ 500 Australians served during Confrontation ; casualties included 16 dead , with seven killed in action and eight wounded .   = = = Vietnam War , 1962 – 73 = = =   Australia 's involvement in the Vietnam War was driven largely by the rise of communism in Southeast Asia after the Second World War , and the fear of its spread which developed in Australia during the 1950s and early 1960s . As a consequence , Australia supported South Vietnam throughout the early 1960s . In 1961 and 1962 , the leader of the South Vietnamese government , Ngo Dinh Diem , asked for assistance from the US and its allies in response to a growing insurgency supported by communist North Vietnam . Australia offered 30 military advisors from the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam , which became known simply as " The Team " . They arrived in July and August 1962 , beginning Australia 's involvement in the war . Later in August 1964 , the RAAF sent a flight of Caribou transport aircraft to the port city of Vung Tau .   However , with the security situation in South Vietnam continuing to deteriorate , the US increased its involvement to 200 @,@ 000 combat troops by early 1965 . Australia also committed ground forces , dispatching the 1 RAR to serve with the US 173rd Airborne Brigade in Bien Hoa province in June 1965 and it subsequently fought a number of significant actions , including Gang Toi , Operation Crimp and Suoi Bong Trang . In March 1966 , the Australian government announced the deployment of a brigade @-@ sized unit — the 1st Australian Task Force ( 1 ATF ) — to replace 1 RAR . Included were a large number of conscripts , under the increasingly controversial National Service Scheme . Consisting of two infantry battalions as well as armour , aviation , artillery and other support arms , the task force was assigned primary responsibility for its own area and was based at Nui Dat , in Phuoc Tuy Province . Included were the Iroquois helicopters of No. 9 Squadron RAAF . At the Battle of Long Tan on 18 August 1966 , D Company , 6 RAR with considerable artillery support held off and defeated a Viet Cong force that was at least six times bigger than itself . 18 Australians were killed and 24 wounded , while 245 communist dead were later recovered from the battlefield . The battle allowed the Australians to gain dominance over Phuoc Tuy Province and 1 ATF was not fundamentally challenged again . Regardless , during February 1967 the Australians suffered their heaviest casualties in the war to that point , losing 16 men killed and 55 wounded in a single week , the bulk during Operation Bribie .   Yet with the Phuoc Tuy province coming progressively under control throughout 1967 , the Australians increasingly spent a significant period of time conducting operations further afield . 1 ATF was subsequently deployed astride infiltration routes leading to Saigon to interdict communist movement against the capital as part of Operation Coburg during the 1968 Tet Offensive and later during the Battle of Coral – Balmoral in May and June 1968 . At Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral the Australians had clashed with regular North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong main force units operating in battalion and regimental strength for the first time in near conventional warfare , ultimately fighting their largest , most hazardous and most sustained battle of the war . During 26 days of fighting Australian casualties included 25 killed and 99 wounded , while communist casualties included 267 killed confirmed by body count , 60 possibly killed , 7 wounded and 11 captured . Other
Ġfor Ġtroop Ġmovement Ġand Ġres upp ly Ġ, Ġand Ġthe Ġrole Ġof Ġhuman Ġand Ġsignals Ġintelligence Ġto Ġdetermine Ġenemy Ġmovements Ġand Ġintentions Ġ. Ġ Ġ Ġ3 ĠR AR Ġdeployed Ġto ĠB orne o Ġin ĠMarch Ġ1965 Ġ, Ġand Ġserved Ġin ĠSar aw ak Ġuntil Ġthe Ġend Ġof ĠJuly Ġ, Ġoperating Ġon Ġboth Ġsides Ġof Ġthe Ġborder Ġ. ĠThe Ġbattalion Ġhad Ġfour Ġmajor Ġcontacts Ġwith ĠIndonesian Ġforces Ġand Ġseveral Ġsmaller Ġones ĠâĢĶ Ġincluding Ġat ĠSun ge i ĠKo em ba Ġ, ĠKind au Ġand ĠBab ang Ġduring Ġwhich Ġthey Ġinflicted Ġheavy Ġcasualties Ġon Ġthe ĠIndones ians ĠâĢĶ Ġas Ġwell Ġas Ġsuffering Ġcasualties Ġin Ġtwo Ġmine Ġincidents Ġ. Ġ4 ĠR AR Ġserved Ġa Ġless Ġ@ - @ Ġevent ful Ġtour Ġbetween ĠApril Ġand ĠAugust Ġ1966 Ġ, Ġand Ġalso Ġoperated Ġover Ġthe Ġborder Ġ, Ġsuccessfully Ġcl ashing Ġwith Ġthe ĠIndones ians Ġon Ġa Ġnumber Ġof Ġoccasions Ġ. ĠA Ġsquadron Ġof Ġthe ĠSpecial ĠAir ĠService ĠRegiment Ġ( ĠSAS R Ġ) Ġwas Ġalso Ġdeployed Ġin Ġ1965 Ġand Ġagain Ġin Ġ1966 Ġ, Ġtaking Ġpart Ġin Ġcross Ġ@ - @ Ġborder Ġoperations Ġand Ġinflicting Ġsignificant Ġcasualties Ġon Ġthe ĠIndones ians Ġ, Ġeven Ġthough Ġthey Ġwere Ġoften Ġtasked Ġwith Ġcovert Ġreconnaissance Ġ. ĠOther Ġunits Ġincluded Ġartillery Ġand Ġengineers Ġ, Ġwhile Ġa Ġnumber Ġof ĠR AN Ġships Ġwere Ġinvolved Ġin Ġshelling ĠIndonesian Ġpositions Ġin ĠB orne o Ġand Ġin Ġrepe lling Ġinfiltr ators Ġin Ġthe ĠSingapore ĠStrait Ġ. ĠThe ĠR AAF Ġplayed Ġa Ġrelatively Ġminor Ġrole Ġ, Ġalthough Ġit Ġwould Ġhave Ġbeen Ġused Ġfar Ġmore Ġextensively Ġhad Ġthe Ġwar Ġescalated Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠOperations Ġin ĠB orne o Ġwere Ġextremely Ġsensitive Ġand Ġthey Ġreceived Ġlittle Ġpress Ġcoverage Ġin ĠAustralia Ġ, Ġwhile Ġofficial Ġacknowledgement Ġof Ġinvolvement Ġin Ġcross Ġ@ - @ Ġborder Ġmissions Ġonly Ġoccurred Ġin Ġ1996 Ġ. ĠFollowing Ġa Ġmilitary Ġcoup Ġin ĠIndonesia Ġin Ġearly Ġ1966 Ġwhich Ġbrought ĠGeneral ĠSu hart o Ġto Ġpower Ġ, Ġa Ġpeace Ġtreaty Ġwas Ġsigned Ġin ĠAugust Ġ1966 Ġwhich Ġended Ġthe Ġconflict Ġ. Ġ3 Ġ@ , @ Ġ500 ĠAustralians Ġserved Ġduring ĠConf ront ation Ġ; Ġcasualties Ġincluded Ġ16 Ġdead Ġ, Ġwith Ġseven Ġkilled Ġin Ġaction Ġand Ġeight Ġwounded Ġ. Ġ Ġ Ġ= Ġ= Ġ= ĠVietnam ĠWar Ġ, Ġ1962 ĠâĢĵ Ġ73 Ġ= Ġ= Ġ= Ġ Ġ ĠAustralia Ġ' s Ġinvolvement Ġin Ġthe ĠVietnam ĠWar Ġwas Ġdriven Ġlargely Ġby Ġthe Ġrise Ġof Ġcommunism Ġin ĠSoutheast ĠAsia Ġafter Ġthe ĠSecond ĠWorld ĠWar Ġ, Ġand Ġthe Ġfear Ġof Ġits Ġspread Ġwhich Ġdeveloped Ġin ĠAustralia Ġduring Ġthe Ġ1950 s Ġand Ġearly Ġ1960 s Ġ. ĠAs Ġa Ġconsequence Ġ, ĠAustralia Ġsupported ĠSouth ĠVietnam Ġthroughout Ġthe Ġearly Ġ1960 s Ġ. ĠIn Ġ1961 Ġand Ġ1962 Ġ, Ġthe Ġleader Ġof Ġthe ĠSouth ĠVietnamese Ġgovernment Ġ, ĠN go ĠDin h ĠDi em Ġ, Ġasked Ġfor Ġassistance Ġfrom Ġthe ĠUS Ġand Ġits Ġallies Ġin Ġresponse Ġto Ġa Ġgrowing Ġinsurgency Ġsupported Ġby Ġcommunist ĠNorth ĠVietnam Ġ. ĠAustralia Ġoffered Ġ30 Ġmilitary Ġadvisors Ġfrom Ġthe ĠAustralian ĠArmy ĠTraining ĠTeam ĠVietnam Ġ, Ġwhich Ġbecame Ġknown Ġsimply Ġas Ġ" ĠThe ĠTeam Ġ" Ġ. ĠThey Ġarrived Ġin ĠJuly Ġand ĠAugust Ġ1962 Ġ, Ġbeginning ĠAustralia Ġ' s Ġinvolvement Ġin Ġthe Ġwar Ġ. ĠLater Ġin ĠAugust Ġ1964 Ġ, Ġthe ĠR AAF Ġsent Ġa Ġflight Ġof ĠCarib ou Ġtransport Ġaircraft Ġto Ġthe Ġport Ġcity Ġof ĠV ung ĠTau Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠHowever Ġ, Ġwith Ġthe Ġsecurity Ġsituation Ġin ĠSouth ĠVietnam Ġcontinuing Ġto Ġdeterior ate Ġ, Ġthe ĠUS Ġincreased Ġits Ġinvolvement Ġto Ġ200 Ġ@ , @ Ġ000 Ġcombat Ġtroops Ġby Ġearly Ġ1965 Ġ. ĠAustralia Ġalso Ġcommitted Ġground Ġforces Ġ, Ġdisp atching Ġthe Ġ1 ĠR AR Ġto Ġserve Ġwith Ġthe ĠUS Ġ173 rd ĠAir borne ĠBrigade Ġin ĠB ien ĠHo a Ġprovince Ġin ĠJune Ġ1965 Ġand Ġit Ġsubsequently Ġfought Ġa Ġnumber Ġof Ġsignificant Ġactions Ġ, Ġincluding ĠGang ĠTo i Ġ, ĠOperation ĠCrim p Ġand ĠSu oi ĠB ong ĠTr ang Ġ. ĠIn ĠMarch Ġ1966 Ġ, Ġthe ĠAustralian Ġgovernment Ġannounced Ġthe Ġdeployment Ġof Ġa Ġbrigade Ġ@ - @ Ġsized Ġunit ĠâĢĶ Ġthe Ġ1 st ĠAustralian ĠTask ĠForce Ġ( Ġ1 ĠATF Ġ) ĠâĢĶ Ġto Ġreplace Ġ1 ĠR AR Ġ. ĠIncluded Ġwere Ġa Ġlarge Ġnumber Ġof Ġcons cript s Ġ, Ġunder Ġthe Ġincreasingly Ġcontroversial ĠNational ĠService ĠScheme Ġ. ĠCons isting Ġof Ġtwo Ġinfantry Ġbatt alions Ġas Ġwell Ġas Ġarmour Ġ, Ġaviation Ġ, Ġartillery Ġand Ġother Ġsupport Ġarms Ġ, Ġthe Ġtask Ġforce Ġwas Ġassigned Ġprimary Ġresponsibility Ġfor Ġits Ġown Ġarea Ġand Ġwas Ġbased Ġat ĠN ui ĠDat Ġ, Ġin ĠPh u oc ĠT uy ĠProvince Ġ. ĠIncluded Ġwere Ġthe ĠIro qu ois Ġhelicopters Ġof ĠNo . Ġ9 ĠSquadron ĠR AAF Ġ. ĠAt Ġthe ĠBattle Ġof ĠLong ĠTan Ġon Ġ18 ĠAugust Ġ1966 Ġ, ĠD ĠCompany Ġ, Ġ6 ĠR AR Ġwith Ġconsiderable Ġartillery Ġsupport Ġheld Ġoff Ġand Ġdefeated Ġa ĠViet ĠCong Ġforce Ġthat Ġwas Ġat Ġleast Ġsix Ġtimes Ġbigger Ġthan Ġitself Ġ. Ġ18 ĠAustralians Ġwere Ġkilled Ġand Ġ24 Ġwounded Ġ, Ġwhile Ġ245 Ġcommunist Ġdead Ġwere Ġlater Ġrecovered Ġfrom Ġthe Ġbattlefield Ġ. ĠThe Ġbattle Ġallowed Ġthe ĠAustralians Ġto Ġgain Ġdominance Ġover ĠPh u oc ĠT uy ĠProvince Ġand Ġ1 ĠATF Ġwas Ġnot Ġfundamentally Ġchallenged Ġagain Ġ. ĠRegardless Ġ, Ġduring ĠFebruary Ġ1967 Ġthe ĠAustralians Ġsuffered Ġtheir Ġheaviest Ġcasualties Ġin Ġthe Ġwar Ġto Ġthat Ġpoint Ġ, Ġlosing Ġ16 Ġmen Ġkilled Ġand Ġ55 Ġwounded Ġin Ġa Ġsingle Ġweek Ġ, Ġthe Ġbulk Ġduring ĠOperation ĠB rib ie Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠYet Ġwith Ġthe ĠPh u oc ĠT uy Ġprovince Ġcoming Ġprogressively Ġunder Ġcontrol Ġthroughout Ġ1967 Ġ, Ġthe ĠAustralians Ġincreasingly Ġspent Ġa Ġsignificant Ġperiod Ġof Ġtime Ġconducting Ġoperations Ġfurther Ġa field Ġ. Ġ1 ĠATF Ġwas Ġsubsequently Ġdeployed Ġa str ide Ġinfiltration Ġroutes Ġleading Ġto ĠSa igon Ġto Ġinter dict Ġcommunist Ġmovement Ġagainst Ġthe Ġcapital Ġas Ġpart Ġof ĠOperation ĠCob urg Ġduring Ġthe Ġ1968 ĠTet ĠOffensive Ġand Ġlater Ġduring Ġthe ĠBattle Ġof ĠCoral ĠâĢĵ ĠBal moral Ġin ĠMay Ġand ĠJune Ġ1968 Ġ. ĠAt ĠFire ĠSupport ĠB ases ĠCoral Ġand ĠBal moral Ġthe ĠAustralians Ġhad Ġclashed Ġwith Ġregular ĠNorth ĠVietnamese ĠArmy Ġand ĠViet ĠCong Ġmain Ġforce Ġunits Ġoperating Ġin Ġbattalion Ġand Ġreg imental Ġstrength Ġfor Ġthe Ġfirst Ġtime Ġin Ġnear Ġconventional Ġwarfare Ġ, Ġultimately Ġfighting Ġtheir Ġlargest Ġ, Ġmost Ġhazardous Ġand Ġmost Ġsustained Ġbattle Ġof Ġthe Ġwar Ġ. ĠDuring Ġ26 Ġdays Ġof Ġfighting ĠAustralian Ġcasualties Ġincluded Ġ25 Ġkilled Ġand Ġ99 Ġwounded Ġ, Ġwhile Ġcommunist Ġcasualties Ġincluded Ġ267 Ġkilled Ġconfirmed Ġby Ġbody Ġcount Ġ, Ġ60 Ġpossibly Ġkilled Ġ, Ġ7 Ġwounded Ġand Ġ11 Ġcaptured Ġ. ĠOther