Regional Force Surveillance Units
Encyclopedia
"RFSU" redirects here. For the Swedish organization, see Swedish Association for Sexuality Education
The Regional Force Surveillance Units (RFSUs) are specialised infantry
units of the Australian Army Reserve
responsible for patrolling northern Australia
. The RFSUs conduct regular operational patrols during peacetime, and the Reservists–who make up 90% of the RFSUs personnel–carry out most of their training during these patrols. There are currently three battalion sized RFSUs:
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 northern Australia
. 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, 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 SASR's primary specialty as reconnaissance and surveillance soldiers made them ideally suited to the task. However, in the late 70's and early 80's, 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. So the SASR came up with the concept of the RFSUs.
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' were raised and trained by the SASR the small unit tactics and training of the two remain virtually identical, and there is a constant exchange of personnel and ideas - especially with regard to SASR being posted to RFSUs to keep the RFSUs 'up to speed' with recon and guerilla warfare techniques, and to keep the SASR 'up to speed' with the skills required to train indigenous peoples in guerilla warfare.
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
' 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.
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
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 Australian Special Air Service Regiment
conducted a number of exercises in northern Western Australia
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
-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:
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
, the Australian Defence Force's contribution to patrolling Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone
and coastline.
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 the RFSUs' personnel are Indigenous Australians
, 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.
A high proportion of 51 FNQR's
personnel are Torres Strait Islanders
. 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.
Swedish Association for Sexuality Education
The Swedish Association for Sexuality Education is a Swedish nonprofit organization that works with public opinion formation on sexual and reproductive health and rights as well as information and education about sexuality and relationships. One of RFSU's main issues is the right to free abortion...
The Regional Force Surveillance Units (RFSUs) are specialised infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
units of the Australian Army Reserve
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 Military Forces, the Militia and, unofficially, the...
responsible for patrolling northern Australia
Northern Australia
The term northern Australia is generally known to include two State and Territories, being Queensland and the Northern Territory . The part of Western Australia north of latitude 26° south—a definition widely used in law and State government policy—is also usually included...
. The RFSUs conduct regular operational patrols during peacetime, and the Reservists–who make up 90% of the RFSUs personnel–carry out most of their training during these patrols. There are currently three battalion sized RFSUs:
- North-West Mobile Force (NORFORCE)NORFORCEThe NORFORCE is an infantry regiment of the Australian Army Reserve. Formed in 1981, the regiment is one of three Regional Force Surveillance Units employed in surveillance and reconnaissance of the remote areas of Northern Australia.-History:In the late-1970s and early 1980s the need for a...
(responsible for the Northern TerritoryNorthern TerritoryThe Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
and Kimberley region of Western AustraliaKimberley region of Western AustraliaThe Kimberley is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northern part of Western Australia, bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy and Tanami Deserts, and on the east by the Northern Territory.The region...
) - The Pilbara RegimentPilbara RegimentThe Pilbara Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Australian Army Reserve and is one of three Regional Force Surveillance Units employed in surveillance and reconnaissance of the remote areas of northern Australia...
(responsible for the Pilbara region of Western AustraliaWestern AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
) - 51st Battalion, Far North Queensland RegimentFar North Queensland RegimentThe 51st Battalion, Far North Queensland Regiment is a light infantry battalion of the Australian Army. The battalion serves as a Regional Force Surveillance Unit , carrying out reconnaissance and surveillance tasks as its primary role...
(responsible for North QueenslandQueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
)
Role
Northern Australia
The term northern Australia is generally known to include two State and Territories, being Queensland and the Northern Territory . The part of Western Australia north of latitude 26° south—a definition widely used in law and State government policy—is also usually included...
. 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, 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
Australian Special Air Service Regiment
The Special Air Service Regiment, officially abbreviated SASR but commonly known as the SAS, is a special forces unit of the Australian Army...
. The SASR's primary specialty as reconnaissance and surveillance soldiers made them ideally suited to the task. However, in the late 70's and early 80's, 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. So the SASR came up with the concept of the RFSUs.
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' were raised and trained by the SASR the small unit tactics and training of the two remain virtually identical, and there is a constant exchange of personnel and ideas - especially with regard to SASR being posted to RFSUs to keep the RFSUs 'up to speed' with recon and guerilla warfare techniques, and to keep the SASR 'up to speed' with the skills required to train indigenous peoples in guerilla warfare.
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
Stay-behind
In a stay-behind operation, a country places secret operatives or organisations in its own territory, for use in the event that the territory is overrun by an enemy. If this occurs, the operatives would then form the basis of a resistance movement, or would act as spies from behind enemy lines...
' 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 Unit2/1st North Australia Observer Unit
The 2/1st North Australia Observer Unit was an Australian Army reconnaissance unit of World War II. 2/1 NAOU was formed in May 1942 to patrol remote areas of northern Australia and provide warning to the Northern Territory Force of any Japanese landings...
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
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...
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
Defence of Australia Policy
The Defence of Australia Policy was Australia's dominant defence policy between 1972 and 1997. The policy was focused on the defence of continental Australia against external attack...
. In line with this shift, the Australian military began to explore new ways of patrolling the Australian coastline. In the late 1970s the Australian Special Air Service Regiment
Australian Special Air Service Regiment
The Special Air Service Regiment, officially abbreviated SASR but commonly known as the SAS, is a special forces unit of the Australian Army...
conducted a number of exercises in northern Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
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
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
-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:
- NORFORCENORFORCEThe NORFORCE is an infantry regiment of the Australian Army Reserve. Formed in 1981, the regiment is one of three Regional Force Surveillance Units employed in surveillance and reconnaissance of the remote areas of Northern Australia.-History:In the late-1970s and early 1980s the need for a...
was raised from the 7th Independent Rifle Company on 1 July 1981 - The Pilbara RegimentPilbara RegimentThe Pilbara Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Australian Army Reserve and is one of three Regional Force Surveillance Units employed in surveillance and reconnaissance of the remote areas of northern Australia...
was raised from the 5th Independent Rifle Company on 26 January 1985 - 51st Battalion, Far North Queensland RegimentFar North Queensland RegimentThe 51st Battalion, Far North Queensland Regiment is a light infantry battalion of the Australian Army. The battalion serves as a Regional Force Surveillance Unit , carrying out reconnaissance and surveillance tasks as its primary role...
was raised from the 51st Independent Rifle Company, The Royal Queensland RegimentRoyal Queensland RegimentThe Royal Queensland Regiment is a reserve light infantry formation in the Australian Army based in Queensland.-Current Structure:The regiment currently consists of three battalions:*9th Battalion *25th/49th Battalion...
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
Operation Resolute is the Australian Defence Force's contribution to patrolling Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone. Operation Resolute began on 17 July 2006 and consolidated a number of previous ADF operations, including Operation Relex....
, the Australian Defence Force's contribution to patrolling Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone
Exclusive Economic Zone
Under the law of the sea, an exclusive economic zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including production of energy from water and wind. It stretches from the seaward edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical...
and coastline.
Indigenous Australians and the RFSUs
Spiritually and historically, the units draw on a long-time practice in Australia of using Aboriginal trackerAboriginal tracker
In the years following British settlement in Australia, aboriginal trackers or black trackers, as they became known, were enlisted by settlers to assist them in navigating their way through the Australian landscape...
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
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 Military Forces, the Militia and, unofficially, the...
units, the make-up of the RFSUs' personnel reflects the ethnic make-up of their area of operations. As a result, a high proportion the RFSUs' personnel are Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
, making the Australian Army one of the largest single employers of Indigenous Australians. NORFORCE
NORFORCE
The NORFORCE is an infantry regiment of the Australian Army Reserve. Formed in 1981, the regiment is one of three Regional Force Surveillance Units employed in surveillance and reconnaissance of the remote areas of Northern Australia.-History:In the late-1970s and early 1980s the need for a...
has the highest proportion of Indigenous soldiers, with 60% of the unit's personnel being Indigenous.
A high proportion of 51 FNQR's
Far North Queensland Regiment
The 51st Battalion, Far North Queensland Regiment is a light infantry battalion of the Australian Army. The battalion serves as a Regional Force Surveillance Unit , carrying out reconnaissance and surveillance tasks as its primary role...
personnel are Torres Strait Islanders
Torres Strait Islanders
Torres Strait Islanders are the indigenous people of the Torres Strait Islands, part of Queensland, Australia. They are culturally and genetically linked to Melanesian peoples and those of Papua New Guinea....
. The Pilbara Regiment
Pilbara Regiment
The Pilbara Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Australian Army Reserve and is one of three Regional Force Surveillance Units employed in surveillance and reconnaissance of the remote areas of northern Australia...
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.