The Regional Force Surveillance Units (RFSUs) are specialised

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

units of the

Australian Army Reserve The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citizens Forces, the Citizen ...

responsible for patrolling

northern Australia The unofficial geographic term Northern Australia includes those parts of Queensland and Western Australia north of latitude 26° and all of the Northern Territory. Those local government areas of Western Australia and Queensland that lie p ...

. Collectively, the RFSUs form the Regional Force Surveillance Group commanded by a Colonel based at the 2nd Division Headquarters in Sydney. The RFSUs conduct regular operational patrols during peacetime, and are composed primarily of Reservists who live within the area of operations. There are currently three battalion-sized RFSUs: * North-West Mobile Force (NORFORCE) (responsible for the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

and Kimberley region of Western Australia) * The Pilbara Regiment (responsible for the Pilbara region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

) * 51st Battalion, Far North Queensland Regiment (responsible for

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...

)

Role

The RFSUs are unique unconventional units whose mission is to conduct long range reconnaissance and surveillance patrols in the sparsely populated and remote regions of

. Unlike most Australian Army units, the RFSUs are on a permanent operational footing, conducting real patrols with real world objectives during peacetime. The primary reason for the RFSUs existence is national defence through remote surveillance, but the nature of their work means patrols can often provide valuable intelligence to civilian agencies such as Australian Customs, State and Federal police forces, and the intelligence community. Prior to the existence of the RFSUs, surveillance in the remote north was carried out by the

Special Air Service Regiment The Special Air Service Regiment, officially abbreviated SASR though commonly known as the SAS, is a special forces unit of the Australian Army. Formed in 1957, it was modelled on the British SAS sharing the motto, "Who Dares Wins". The re ...

(SASR). The SASR's primary specialty as reconnaissance and surveillance soldiers made them ideally suited to the task. However, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the SASR responded to the changing global security environment and identified counter-terrorism as the second area that they needed to specialise in. This, coupled with the possibility of overseas deployments, meant that the SASR would be hard pressed to maintain an effective domestic reconnaissance force whilst also fulfilling their other (new) roles. The basic concept was to raise and train a reconnaissance and surveillance unit that would take over the SASR's tasks in northern Australia. Because the RFSUs receive SASR training support, the small unit tactics of the two units are similar and there are regular personnel exchanges - especially with regard to SASR personnel being posted to RFSU to keep the SASR 'up to speed' with the skills required to train indigenous peoples in guerilla warfare. However, the RFSU also are commanded and staffed by Royal Australian Regiment personnel. The command concepts, training continuum and even the capacity of the RFSU to focus on the generation of sustained and widespread operations in remote Australia differentiates the RFSU distinctly from the SASR. Each patrolling task is different, and RFSU patrols tailor their plans to the task they have been assigned. Sometimes a patrol will infiltrate the area of operations by small boat at night, hide their boats, carry out their tasks and then exfiltrate the same way. At other times they may be airlifted in by chopper or small aircraft or perhaps a patrol will choose to drive in, hide their vehicles or just jump out the back of a moving vehicle and disappear into the bush. To be effective, RFSU patrols must remain completely undetected, so bushcraft skills, particularly camouflage and concealment, are very important to the RFSU patrolman. In the event of a small or large scale insurgency in the north, the RFSUs role would be to detect enemy landings, especially near the important economic and defence infrastructure in their areas of operation. In the extremely unlikely event of an invasion of northern Australia the RFSUs would operate in a '

stay-behind In a stay-behind operation, a country places secret operatives or organizations in its own territory, for use in case an enemy occupies that territory. If this occurs, the operatives would then form the basis of a resistance movement or act as sp ...

' capacity. Patrols remaining in the field deep behind enemy lines would inevitably end up supplementing their diets from the land in order to survive and complete their mission as the first line of defence for continental Australia. Tasks for such a scenario are reporting on enemy movements, calling in airstrikes, killing and capturing the enemy in close quarter combat or sniping roles, demolition by explosive or sniping to impede enemy advance, and disrupting enemy supply lines for as long as possible.

History

The genesis of the RFSU concept lies in the unit which was formed to patrol northern Australia during the Second World War. The

2/1st North Australia Observer Unit The 2/1st North Australia Observer Unit (2/1 NAOU) was an Australian Army reconnaissance unit of World War II. Formed in early 1942 in the Northern Territory, the unit was a light horse mounted unit that was tasked with providing early warning o ...

conducted horse and vehicle mounted patrols across northern Australia with the goal of observing and reporting on enemy movements on land, sea and in the air. These patrols were conducted in extremely harsh conditions, with little or no support or resupply - so this unit needed men who were very resourceful, independent, motivated and positive. Many of the soldiers from the NAOU later went on to join

Z Special Unit Z Special Unit () was a joint Allied special forces unit formed during the Second World War to operate behind Japanese lines in South East Asia. Predominantly Australian, Z Special Unit was a specialist reconnaissance and sabotage unit that i ...

and fought (and died) conducting commando operations against the Japanese in South East Asia. While the concept of the North Australia Observer Unit proved very successful, the Army's role in patrolling northern Australia ceased with the disbandment of 2/1 NAOU in 1945. Following the Australian withdrawal from Vietnam the national defence strategy changed from forward defence through stationing military units in South East Asia to the defence of continental Australia. In line with this shift, the Australian military began to explore new ways of patrolling the Australian coastline. In the late 1970s the Special Air Service Regiment conducted a number of exercises in northern

which aimed to assess the ability of unconventional units to patrol the long and sparsely populated coastline of northern Australia. These trials indicated that recce patrols, operating in much the same way as an SAS patrol could provide a very useful capability. Following this finding, it was decided in the early 1980s to establish three

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions ...

-sized Regional Force Surveillance Units in northern Australia. These units would be manned by Army reservists who, it was hoped, would be able to use their local knowledge to enhance the effectiveness of the units' patrols. Each RFSU was formed by expanding and re-designating an independent rifle company: * NORFORCE was raised from the 7th Independent Rifle Company on 1 July 1981 * The Pilbara Regiment was raised from the 5th Independent Rifle Company on 26 January 1985 * 51st Battalion, Far North Queensland Regiment was raised from the 51st Independent Rifle Company, The Royal Queensland Regiment on 1 October 1987 Since their establishment the RFSUs have proven highly successful and have made a significant contribution to the security of northern Australia. All three RFSUs contribute patrols to

Operation Resolute Operation Resolute is the Australian Defence Force's contribution to the Australian governments effort to protect Australia's borders through surveillance and response. Operation Resolute began on 17 July 2006 and consolidated a number of previo ...

, the Australian Defence Force's contribution to patrolling Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone and coastline. The RFSUs were incorporated into the 6th Brigade on 1 March 2010 as part of its re-raising. On 1 September 2014, they were transferred to the 2nd Division. As of December 2014, the RFSUs had 200 Active and 1,350 Reserve personnel. On 4 October 2018, all three RFSUs were grouped together as part of a new formation headquarters, the Regional Force Surveillance Group. The new formation came into being at a parade held at

Larrakeyah Barracks Larrakeyah Barracks, incorporating , is the main base for the Australian Defence Force in the Northern Territory of Australia, and occupies the headland west of the suburb of Larrakeyah in the capital, Darwin. It was established in 1932–33, ...

in Darwin.

Indigenous Australians and the RFSUs

Historically, the units draw on a long-time practice in Australia of using

Aboriginal tracker Aboriginal trackers were enlisted by Europeans in the years following British colonisation of Australia, to assist them in exploring the Australian landscape. The excellent tracking skills of these Aboriginal Australians were advantageous to set ...

s. Indigenous skills of patrol, pathfinding and outback survival have a proud record in Australia assisting colonial and modern-day law enforcement and military operations. As Army Reserve units, the make-up of the RFSUs' personnel reflects the ethnic make-up of their area of operations. As a result, a high proportion of the RFSUs' personnel are

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

, making the Australian Army one of the largest single employers of Indigenous Australians. NORFORCE has the highest proportion of Indigenous soldiers, with 60% of the unit's personnel being Indigenous. About 30% of 51 FNQR's personnel are

Torres Strait Islanders Torres Strait Islanders () are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, they are often groupe ...

or other Indigenous Australians. The Pilbara Regiment reportedly has relatively few Indigenous soldiers. The RFSUs are highly regarded by many Indigenous community leaders as the units provide employment and training opportunities to young Indigenous people living in remote communities.

References

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Role

History

Indigenous Australians and the RFSUs

See also

References

External links