Series Number

AWM304

Series Title

Records of 1 Psychological Operations Unit (1 Psy Ops)

Date Series Created

September 2002

Series contents date range

1962 - 1975

Extent

6 metres

Access conditions

Subject to the Australian Archives Act (1983)

Agency controlling

Department of Defence

Custodial Agency

Australian War Memorial

Function and provenance

1 Psy Ops Unit was raised in April 1970 to support 1^st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) in South Vietnam. The need for such a unit became critical at this time due to an increasing demand for psychological operations. The 6^th (US) Psy Ops Battalion which had been working in Phuoc Tuy Province, had become overstretched due to commitments in other provinces, while a lack of equipment also became acute.

The role of the psychological operations unit was essentially twofold. On one hand they were to work on 'discouraging and discrediting the enemy', while on the other they were to build confidence and support for the Government of South Vietnam (GVN) and its allies, the so called Free World Military Assistance Forces (FWMAF).

The ultimate objective of the unit’s campaign against the Viet Cong was to induce as many as possible to defect by way of the Chieu Hoi Program. This program offered defectors (a.k.a. ralliers or returnees), safe conduct and a fairly quick release as civilians if they turned themselves in. In promoting the GVN/FWMAF, 1 Psy Ops Unit worked closely with 1 Australian Civil Affairs Unit. This usually involved demonstrating to the civilians the benefits of building, education, agriculture and medical projects that were taking place in the province.

Four main methods were used to do this.

1.        Radio broadcasts to reach the enemy or local civilian population.

2.        Distribution of printed material (leaflets and posters) either by hand, or by dropping them from the air.

3.        Visual presentations using film and projectors to the civilian population.

4.        Audio presentations. These were delivered by loudspeaker, either mounted on a vehicle or an aircraft. Following up a strike on the Viet Cong with an airborne loudspeaker encouraging capitulation, was found at times to be quite successful.

In order to do its job effectively, 1 Psy Ops Unit needed to spend a lot of time and effort in gathering and analysing intelligence on both the civilian population and the Viet Cong. The Australian unit had a strength of 22, led by a Captain, plus five Vietnamese interpreters attached. The unit was based at Nui Dat and had a headquarters and two sections. The General Support Section comprised a printing team, a propaganda development team, illustrators, photographers and interpreters. The Operations Section fielded ground and air teams that delivered these messages to their intended audience.

The unit left Vietnam in November 1971 as part of the general Australian disengagement from the conflict. It is recorded that in 1970 and 1971, at least 224 Viet Cong rallied to the GVN and Australians in Phuoc Tuy Province. (AWM98, R569/1/185)

1 Psy Ops Unit created their files to document their activities, to record events, and to enable efficient retrieval for future reference. They were also required to report on their activities to HQ 1 ATF. The files were created and maintained by the unit’s administrative clerks.

Following their withdrawal from Vietnam at the end of 1971, 1 Psy Ops Unit’s records were eventually sent to Army Headquarters ‘Q’ Store in Canberra (July 1973), and then in December of that year to the Army’s (Directorate of Operations and Plans) archives. They remained there until 1984 when, along with a large consignment of other records, they were transferred to the Australian War Memorial. This consignment covered not only Vietnam, but previous conflicts as well. The whole consignment was accessioned as OW84/5, with the Vietnam portion designated OW84/5E. Within OW84/5E were the 1 Psy Ops Unit records. These records were described on the RecordSearch database in 1997 as part of series AWM100. In September 2002 the Psy Ops records were redesignated as series AWM304 and their description enhanced.

Content

The main subjects the series cover are as follows,

General day-to-day administrative files, including some on technical equipment used.

Handbooks and studies on subjects such as Psy Ops, Political Warfare (POLWAR), and on their opponent’s tactics, psychology and doctrine.

Ground Team reports on operations conducted.

Area studies and village dossiers which were used to build intelligence on the population of Phuoc Tuy Province. The studies made it possible to gauge the effectiveness of their campaign, the level of support for one side or the other, and to build intelligence on Viet Cong soldiers or supporters.

Files on the development and production of leaflets and posters.

System of arrangement and control

The system of arrangement and control is the original Department of the Army filing system, as used when the records were created.

Registered files

The registered items have a three-part file number conforming with the Department of the Army registry classification of correspondence catalogue. The first number represents the primary topic of the file, the second and third numbers refine the topic further. File numbers are preceded by the letter ‘R’, although this was sometimes omitted or overlooked.

Non registered files

Non registered files (not having registered file numbers), were given imposed control item numbers by the Australian War Memorial (AWM), beginning at 1 and continuing serially. They are single numbers, not two or three-part numbers like the registered files. They retain their original titles. Where no title was found, the AWM has imposed one that best describes the file’s contents. All imposed information is enclosed in square brackets.

Using the series

The items in this series are predominantly paper files. There are however some exceptions, being booklets on various study subjects, and some photographs. A significant portion of the series are the files showing the unit’s development and production of leaflets and posters. These files also provide an excellent insight into the unit’s methods in reaching their target audiences and meeting their campaign aims.

While most of the items in the series are in English language, there is a lot of Vietnamese language as well. In many cases there are English translations accompanying, however for some there are not.

Each item in this series is recorded on the RecordSearch database which researchers can access via the internet. Further assistance in finding relevant information may be gained from related series of records (click on Series Links at the bottom of this page).

Sources

AWM administrative file, AWM304 Series dossier

AWM98, R310/2/138 Parts 1 & 2, Establishments - AFV - Raising Psy Ops Pl 1 ATF

AWM98, R569/1/185, Operations (Psy Ops) – General – Chieu Hoi statistics (weekly reports)

AWM304, R569/1/7, Psychological operations - General - 1 ATF - Psy Ops policy

AWM121, 9/C/15, Organisation and roles - Units - PSY OPS units