Part Three. Vietnam and Beyond
When the first Australian battalion group (1 RAR) entered the South Vietnam theatre in June 1965, 161 Independent Reconnaissance Flight had also been readied for deployment and followed 1 RAR in September of that year. Initially at a strength of two Cessna 180 and two Sioux aircraft, the Flight was increased to four Cessna and six Sioux by the end of 1967. In 1970 three of the Cessna were replaced by Pilatus Porter aircraft, which had already replaced the Cessna in Australia during 1968 and 1969.
Back in Australia, during 1968, 1 Aviation Regiment deployed 183 Reconnaissance Flight to Lae in PNG and withdrew the original small permanent detachment. At the same time preparations were well in hand to form the Australian Army Aviation Corps. This was done on 1 July 1968 with a Corps strength of 106 officer pilots. Since then officers and other ranks trained in aviation trades other than flying duties have been absorbed into the Corps.
Another re-location from Amberley occured in early 1969 when 171 Air Cavalry Flight deployed to Holsworthy. Its first home was on a disused rifle range but when that was taken over by the NSW Government in 1975 for housing, a new and substantial airfield and facilities were built for it on the western edge of the Holsworthy training area.
Exactly a year after the Corps was formed, the Army formally took over the Oakey aerodrome from the Department of Civil Aviation on 1 July 1969. When a number of steel temporary buildings were erected at Oakey, 16 Aviation Squadron (Reconnaissance) moved there from RAAF Amberley. A major building programme was eventually approved and construction got under way. By 1 August 1972 enough of the new base was ready for the remainder of 1 Aviation Regiment and for additional Army Aviation units to be raised and moved there. These were Headquarters Army Aviation Centre to control Oakey Army Airfield, and the Army Aviation Centre Base Squadron.
In South Vietnam, 161 Independent Reconnaissance Flight re-deployed from its original location at Bien Hoa to Vung Tau in June 1966. When its airfield was completed within 1 Australian Task Force area at Nui Dat, the Flight established itself there in March 1967. By this time its ten aircraft were delivering a planned flying rate of 1,200 hours a month. To sustain that rate, servicing crews, which were gradually being manned by Army aircraft tradesmen, did much of their work overnight. During 1968 and 1969 elements of the Task Force were occasionally operating beyond the economical range for the aircraft, so detachments were then deployed away from the main servicing facilities, thereby adding to the servicing workload.
Usually a Sioux was allocated in direct support of each infantry battalion deployed outside the Task Force base. Other routine daily tasks were visual reconnaissance, electronic surveillance and route clearance. Varying degrees of operational risk attended most missions and a number of aircraft were lost. By late 1971 three pilots had been killed in action, three Cessna 180, one Cessna L19 (Bird-dog), a Pilatus Porter, eight Bell Sioux and one Bell Kiowa had been destroyed by enemy action and 14 fixed wing and 20 rotary wing hit by ground fire. Beginning in 1971 the Australian force was gradually withdrawn from the theatre with most of the Flight departing during December 1971. The last members moved out in March 1972 to return to RAAF Amberley.
In the last months of 1971 at Nui Dat, 161 Independent Reconnaissance Flight operated a number of turbine powered Bell Kiowa on loan from the US Army. At the same time in Australia, the process of determining a replacement for the Bell Sioux had settled on the Bell 206B or Kiowa. The first 12 of these aircraft were delivered from the Bell Factory in Fort Worth Texas, but the remainder of the order was built by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation at Fisherman’s Bend. When the deliveries were completed, the Australia Army’s fleet of aircraft were all turbine powered.
The Army Aviation presence at RAAF Amberley ceased by the end of 1973 when the School of Army Aviation and 5 Base Workshops Battalion finally departed for Oakey, by then a well-established base. At the same time a reorganisation of some of the Aviation squadrons and flights was completed so that 173 General Support Squadron and 171 Command and Liaison Squadron were formed at Oakey while 171 Air Cavalry Flight at Holsworthy became 161 Reconnaissance Squadron.
Some four years later the Government Aircraft Factory Nomad was introduced into Army Aviation. From the first delivery in July 1977, this twin-engined aircraft added a new dimension to the capacity of Army Aviation by greatly improving its ability to deploy its aviation assets in the field and by providing a faster, larger and longer range aircraft to support the Army.
In February 1976, 183 Reconnaissance Flight was withdrawn from PNG and disbanded. This was the last of the overseas deployments and Australian Army Aviation was now deployed with 161 Reconnaissance Squadron at Holsworthy, 162 Reconnaissance Squadron in Townsville and the remainder at Oakey. The Army Aviation other rank trade of Aircraft Handler, which had been introduced in 1972, was now joined in 1981 by the Aircrewman Observer.
