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10th Independent Rifle Company, Royal Australian Regiment | |
---|---|
Active | 15 June 1971 – 1998 |
Country | Australia |
Branch | Army |
Type | Line infantry |
Role | Training, OPFOR |
Size | Company minus — Platoon plus |
Part of | Land Warfare Centre, Canungra |
Garrison/HQ | Kokoda Barracks |
Motto(s) | Duty First |
March | Men of Harlech |
Commanders | |
Colonel-in-Chief | HM The Queen (Australian Infantry Corps) |
Insignia | |
Unit colour patch |
10th Independent Rifle Company, Royal Australian Regiment (10 IRC RAR) was part of the Australian Army.
The establishment of a "demonstration platoon" at the Jungle Training Centre (JTC), (later renamed Land Warfare Centre) at Canungra, Queensland was authorised on 4 January 1966. This became the Headquarters 1st Division Defence Company on 19 March 1968, before being designated 10 IRC RAR on 15 June 1971.
The company was tasked with supporting the activities of Battle Wing – a training centre set up to provide collective training – by providing personnel for OPFOR, demonstration, and other training tasks. In 1974, 10 IRC had a strength of approximately 60 men, consisting of a company headquarters and two rifle platoons with two rifle sections each. This was reduced to a 40-man platoon on 29 March 1980. The company was disbanded in 1998 with its personnel posted to other units of the RAR.
A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of three hundred to one thousand soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into a number of companies, each typically commanded by a major or a captain. The typical battalion is built from three operational companies, one weapons company and one headquarters company. In some countries, battalions are exclusively infantry, while in others battalions are unit-level organisations.
The Royal Australian Regiment (RAR) is the parent administrative regiment for regular infantry battalions of the Australian Army and is the senior infantry regiment of the Royal Australian Infantry Corps. It was originally formed in 1948 as a three battalion regiment; however, since then its size has fluctuated as battalions have been raised, amalgamated or disbanded in accordance with the Australian government's strategic requirements. Currently, the regiment consists of seven battalions and has fulfilled various roles including those of light, parachute, motorised and mechanised infantry. Throughout its existence, units of the Royal Australian Regiment have deployed on operations in Japan, Korea, Malaya, Borneo, Vietnam, Somalia, Rwanda, Cambodia, East Timor, the Solomon Islands, Iraq and Afghanistan.
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The Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment contributed companies to the 1st Australian Task Force, deployed in Phước Tuy Province, Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War from 1967-1972.