The Search for Tactical Success in Vietnam

From 1966 to 1971 the First Australian Task Force was part of the counterinsurgency campaign in South Vietnam. Though considered a small component of the Free World effort in the war, these troops from Australia and New Zealand were in fact the best trained and prepared for counterinsurgency warfare. However, until now, their achievements have been largely overlooked by military historians. The Search for Tactical Success in Vietnam sheds new light on this campaign by examining the thousands of small-scale battles that the First Australian Task Force was engaged in. The book draws on statistical, spatial and temporal analysis, as well as primary data, to present a unique study of the tactics and achievements of the First Australian Task Force in Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam. Further, original maps throughout the text help to illustrate how the Task Force's tactics were employed.

Dr Andrew Ross is a former Operations Research analyst at Central Studies Establishment, Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Australian Department of Defence. He is also a military historian. He is currently a Visiting Fellow at the University of New South Wales, Canberra and is the author of numerous publications including Armed and Ready: The Industrial Development and Defence of Australia 1900-1945 and, with Bob Hall, 'Lessons From Vietnam - Combined Arms Assault Against Prepared Defences', in Michael Evans and Alan Ryan (eds.), From Breitenfeld to Baghdad: Perspectives on Combined Arms Warfare.