Global Warfighters: Special Air Service Regiment in Vietnam

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We use background music in the video because a lot of the raw footage clips from the Vietnam-era are muted/without sound. We hope you still would be entertained and enjoy the video.

The SASR was responsible for providing intelligence to both the 1st Australian Task Force and U.S forces, operating throughout Phuoc Tuy Province as well as Bien Hoa, Long Khanh and Binh Tuy provinces. From 1966 SASR squadrons rotated through Vietnam on year-long deployments, with each of the three Sabre Squadrons completing two tours before the last squadron was withdrawn in 1971.

Missions included medium range reconnaissance patrols, observation of enemy troop movements, and long range offensive operations and ambushing in enemy dominated territory. Operating in small groups of four to six men they moved more slowly than conventional infantry through jungle or bushland and were heavily armed, employing a high rate of fire to simulate a larger force on contact and to support their withdrawal. The primary method of deployment was by helicopter, with the SASR working closely with No. 9 Squadron RAAF which regularly provided rapid and precise insertion and extraction of patrols into jungle landing zones at tree top height.

On occasion, SASR patrols were also deployed by M-113 armored personnel carriers (APCs) with a method devised to deceive the Viet Cong as to their insertion and the location of their drop-off point despite the noise they made moving through the jungle.

The SASR operated closely with the New Zealand SAS, with a troop being attached to each Australian squadron from late 1968. Completing its final tour in October 1971, 2 Squadron was disbanded on return to Australia, with Training Squadron raised in its place.

During its time in Vietnam the SASR proved highly successful, with members of the regiment known to the Viet Cong as Ma Rung or "phantoms of the jungle" due to their stealth. In a six-year period the Australian and New Zealand SAS in Vietnam conducted nearly 1,200 patrols and inflicted heavy casualties on the Viet Cong, including 492 killed, 106 possibly killed, 47 wounded, 10 possibly wounded and 11 prisoners captured. During the period of its deployment 580 men served in the SASR in Vietnam.

Australian SASR personnel also worked with US Army Special Forces in Vietnam, and provided instructors to the MACV Recondo School, and then to the LRRP Training Wing at the AATTV-operated Van Kiep Training Centre from 1967. Some members of the regiment also served with MACV-SOG units, with soldiers often serving on exchange with American Special Forces.

Video Copyrights:
(C) Australian War Memorial

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