History Overview - 547 Signal Troop |
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See 547 Signal Troop in Vietnam 1966-1971 (ASD Declassified) |
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The primary role of 547 Signal Troop
(547 Sig Tp)
was to provide signals intelligence (SIGINT)
for the 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF) by locating and
monitoring enemy radio signals in order to identify their strength,
location, capability and future
intentions.
Commanded by a Captain or Major, the troop had a strength of 45 personnel for the majority of its deployment to South Vietnam. The bulk of the unit was made of Royal Australian Signals (RASigs) Corps personnel, with a small number of Australian Intelligence Corps (AUSTINT)personnel. The troop became operational on 24 June 1966 and ceased operations on 13 December 1971. 547 Sig Tp was under operational control of the United States Army Security Agency’s 509th Radio Research Group and was assigned to the 303rd Radio Research Battalion. The troop’s deployment to South Vietnam included responsibility for direct support to the Australian Task Force and American units operating under the US II Field Force Vietnam command. The work of the troop was marked with great secrecy and very few individuals outside it knew of its real role or could access its reporting. The troop first became widely known in 1993, when the official Australian history of the Vietnam conflict discussed its role in the lead up to the Battle of Long Tan on 18th August 1966. On the 1st September 2018 the Governor-General, His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd), formally approved the awarding of the Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm Unit Citation (the citation) to members of 547 Signal Troop in recognition of the military assistance provided to the former Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) while under the operational command of the United States Military Assistance Command (MACV).
547 Sig Tp is still part of 7 Sig Regt.
7 Sig Regt provides tactical Electronic Warfare (EW) support to the Army in times of peace, crisis, and conflict on any operation anywhere in the world. The unit does this through listening to adversarial communication systems or, to a limited extent, disrupting those communication systems to protect our own forces on the battlefield. The unit operates a large range of complex, state-of-the-art electronic intercept and monitoring equipment in the tactical environment. This can either be from a building inside a protected base, in the back of an armoured vehicle or on foot alongside combat elements. 7 Sig Regt is part of the 6th Brigade (6 Bde) which was re-raised on 1st March 2010 to oversee the Army's command support and intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (CS & ISTAR) units. In recent years, 7 Sig Regt has had elements serve on active duty in Bougainville, East Timor, Solomon Islands, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
View photos of 547
Signal Troop in South Vietnam: Click The
Story of 547 Signal Troop in South Vietnam 1966 to 1972 (Edition 4)
(94MB PDF)
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Of Shush Missions, Voice Sorties and Pucker Factor
(PDF)
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Signals and
ACVs - Part 1 Vietnam
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The Unclassified History of 547 Sig Tp in South Vietnam
(PDF) Story 1 - Visit to 547 Signal Troop by US Army Lt Ron Estes Story 2 - A Hair Raising Trip - ARDF task with the US Army by Garth Brown Story 3 - A Tactical SIGINT Success by LTCOL Steve Hart (Ret'd) and Brig Ernie Chamberlian (Ret'd) Story 4 - Battle of Long Tan and Signals Intelligence by Denis Hare OAM BEM Story 5 - The Painting from Vietnam by Denis Hare OAM BEM
Story 6 - Use of Signals Intelligence Information
to Prevent Casualties during Story 7 - A Perfect Ambush by Robert Hartley AM Story 8 - Operation Overlord (June 1971) by Robert Hartley AM Story 9 - Operator Signals on Patrol with SAS by Robert Hartley AM Story 10 - Direction Finding (DF) Systems by Robert Hartley AM Story 11 - Long Tan - A Sigs Perspective by Garry Fizzel Story 12 - The 0.35 Percent Poem by Michael Guillot |
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Pronto in South Vietnam
Royal Australian Corps of Signals
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