From 1962 to 1972 Australia joined the United States in fighting a communist inspired insurgency war in the jungles of South Vietnam against infiltrators who sought to overthrow the local government. Over 50,000 Australians served in Vietnam, 519 lost their lives, and the conflict ended ignominiously in the insurgents' victory. Over 30 years later, Australia again finds itself joined with the United States in a struggle against an insurgency, this time in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan. Although now in the past, the Vietnam War resonates with lessons for the Australian Army as it strives to defeat not Communism but Terrorism. Australian Military Operations in Vietnam highlights some of the successes and failures of an earlier generation of officers for the benefit of today's leaders.

The Vietnamese hilltribes made him a demi-god. The CIA wanted to kill him. This is the remarkable true story of Australian war hero Barry Petersen. As he flew over South East Asia towards Vietnam, Captain Barry Petersen struggled to keep an aura of calm. Inwardly he was incredibly excited. Aged 28, highly trained, with experience in anti-communist guerilla warfare, he was about to embark on the biggest and most important mission of his life. In 1963, Australian Army Captain Barry Petersen was sent to Vietnam. It was one of the most tightly held secrets of the Vietnam War: long before combat troops set foot there and under the command of the CIA, Petersen was ordered to train and lead guerilla squads of Montagnard tribesmen against the Viet Cong in the remote Central Highlands. Petersen successfully formed a fearsome militia, named 'Tiger Men'. A canny leader, he was courageous in battle, and his bravery saw him awarded the coveted Military Cross, and worshipped by the hill tribes. But his success created enemies, not just within the Viet Cong. Like Marlon Brando's character in 'Apocolyse Now', some in the CIA saw Petersen as having gone native. His refusal, when asked, to turn his Tiger Men into assassins as part of the notorious CIA Phoenix Program only strengthened that belief. The CIA strongly resented anyone who stood in their way. Some in the US intelligence were determined Petersen had to go and he was lucky to make it out of the mountains alive. The Tiger Man of Vietnam reveals the compelling true story of little-known Australian war hero Barry Petersen. 'One of those great untold stories and Walker tells it with verve and excitement and, with meticulous attention to detail' - Sydney Morning Herald 'Drips with adventure and intrigue and has at its centre a personality boys of all ages will identify with' - The Age 'Walker's finely researched book goes beyond the biographical account of an Australian war hero' - Sun Herald 'Walker's book about Petersen, The Tiger Man Of Vietnam, is well-crafted and racily written' - Weekend Australian

By the end of 1971, the hastily raised, poorly trained, and woefully led Cambodian army had suffered a string of defeats and heavy casualties inflicted by North Vietnamese army and Viet Cong units. With many of its best infantry battalions and much of its armour, transport and equipment destroyed, only three of its 15 brigade groups were militarily effective. In South Vietnam, America and its allies were in the process of withdrawing and handing back to the Vietnamese full responsibility for the conduct of the war. A small group of Australians, which never numbered more than 30 officers, warrant officers and non-commissioned officers of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam, helped train 27 light infantry battalions of the Cambodian army in South Vietnam during 1972. This project was, according to one historical study, `a classic example of using special forces as a force multiplier', and had been `recognised as one of the most successful foreign internal defence missions of the Vietnam War'. The story of these few men is told against the background of the war in South Vietnam, and in particular Phuoc Tuy province, as both sides fought to secure villages and hamlets during 1972, before the Peace Accords being negotiated in Paris to end the war were signed. Training the Bodes is an interesting and valuable book that tells a moving story. The excerpts from letters and reports, and the photographs, are fascinating. It fills a small gap in Australia's military history.

The effects of the War outside present-day Vietnam are ongoing. Substantial Vietnamese communities in countries that participated in the conflict are contributing to renewed interpretations of it. This collection of new essays explores changes in perceptions of the war and the Vietnamese diaspora, examining history, politics, biography and literature, with Vietnamese, American, Australian and French scholars providing new insights. Twelve essays cover South Vietnamese leadership and policies, women and civilians, veterans overseas, smaller allies in the war (Australia), accounts by U.S., Australian and South Vietnamese servicemen as well as those of Indigenous soldiers from the U.S. and Australia, memorials and commemorations, and the legacy of war on individual lives and government policy.

The Australian Army from Whitlam to Howard is the first critical examination of Australia's post-Vietnam military operations, spanning the 35 years between the election of Gough Whitlam and the defeat of John Howard. John Blaxland explores the 'casualty cringe' felt by political leaders following the war and how this impacted subsequent operations. He contends that the Australian Army's rehabilitation involved common individual and collective training and reaffirmation of the Army's regimental and corps identities. He shows how the Army regained its confidence to play leading roles in East Timor, Bougainville and the Solomon Islands, and to contribute to combat operations further afield. At a time when the Australian Army's future strategic role is the subject of much debate, and as the 'Asian Century' gathers pace and commitment in Afghanistan draws to an end, this work is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the modern context of Australia's military land force.

A thought-provoking analysis of the Australian Army's capacity to change, with a particular focus on the Asia-Pacific region.

With more than 58,000 casualties and 300,000 wounded, at a cost of more than $130 billion, the Vietnam War became one of the most divisive conflicts in American history. The scars left by the war can still be felt today, making it crucial that we have the facts about this watershed event. Vietnam War Almanac contains a chronological history of the war in Vietnam, with day-by-day listings of the war on the ground, in the air, and at sea; international and U.S. events; and a biographical dictionary of major military and civilian figures. It may be impossible to fully understand such a complicated and horrible struggle, but for the families of veterans and for historians, the thorough presentation here, along with its extensive bibliography and index, is an excellent place to start. Coverage here includes: • The Tet Offensive • Walter L. Cronkite • The Battle of Dien Bien Phu • Vo Nguyen Giap • Ngo Dinh Diem • The Battle of Ia Drang Valley • Robert S. McNamara • The Battle of Hamburger Hill • Abbie Hoffman • The Battle of An Loc • And much more President Nixon claimed that the war was “misreported then, and it is misremembered now.” This almanac will ensure that it is remembered correctly.

Pt. 1: This volume describes those JCS activities related to developments in Vietnam during the period 1960-1963, when the United States expanded its initial military commitment to Southeast Asia. In 1960, the United States increased its military advisory strength in South Vietnam in response to increased Communist infiltration and to more sustained guerrilla attacks in the south and its contingency planning effort to deploy regular US forces to both Laos and South Vietnam to counter any threat by Communist Army units from the north or from China. President Kennedy's called for a new emphasis upon guerrilla warfare at first received only lukewarm support from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. After the failed Bay of Pigs episode very early in the Kennedy administration, the President lost faith in the advice of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and appointed General Maxwell Taylor to serve as his intermediary with the Joint Chiefs, until he assumed the Chairman responsibilities in October 1962. The Kennedy administration's policy was marked by clashes between factions in the Defense Department, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the State Department, and the White House. By 1963, these differences involved the support the US should provide for the Republic of Vietnam under its President, Ngo Dinh Diem. The history ends with the killing of Diem by a coup followed by the coincidental murder of President Kennedy a short time later.