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 armor, 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
'recognized as one of the most successful foreign internal defense
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.
