On 8 March 1966, the Australian government announced that the 1st Battalion, Royal Australia Regiment (1RAR), which

now was a part of the U.S. Army 173rd Airborne Brigade at Bien Hoa would be replaced by an independent 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF). The 1ATF would operate in a selected area and independent from the U.S. Forces. Phuoc Tuy province, located southeast of Saigon, was selected for the deployment of the Task Force. Phuoc Tuy was chosen because there was a reasonable amount of enemy activities. It was familiar with Vietminh presence as a base for anti French activities after WWII. Phuoc Tuy had excellent air and sea access, an ensuring supply and evacuation route. In addition, the pacification of Phuoc Tuy was essential to South Vietnam and the U.S. because its location on the supply line from Vung Tau port to Saigon and Bien Hoa. The 1st Task Force, was based in Nui Dat, was to be comprising of 2 Infantry Battalions (5/6 RAR), and artillery field regiment with three batteries, one of them was New Zealand battery, an armoured personnel carrier (APC) squadron, a field engineer squadron, an aviation reconnaissance flight equipped with light reconnaissance aircraft and helicopters; and a Special Air Service (SAS) squadron. Although, 1ATF was considered as an independent force, the U.S. also provided it with artillery, offensive air, and helicopter support. In the early day, the Australian aim to gain control of their area. Because of that goal, they rarely conducted a large-scale battle, but preferred searching, patrolling and ambushing the enemy. Patrolling, in this time, was the cornerstone of the Australian operations. Their infantry operations were based on small light infantry units, at a company (about 120 men) or platoon (about 30 men) level. The Australian patrols were described as discipline, stealth, and patience teams. Having experience on fighting Communist guerrillas in the jungles of Southeast Asia, they were able to chase the Vietcong without exposing themselves to lethal ambushed like the Americans. Besides patrolling, cordon and search operations, which tried to isolate and search Vietcong in civilians areas, were carried out to separate Vietcong from the population. In November 1967, 1ATF was increased in size by an extra battalion, allowed them to operate more tangible outside Phuoc Tuy province. During this time, the Australian began to conduct many search and clear operations against enemy camps. These operations, used the information from ground searching by infantry patrols to locate the enemy, attempted to battle them with larger forces. The effective of the search and clear tactics were proved in many operations such as Operation Pinnaroo, five Australians were killed compared to 40 Vietcong deaths, or Operation Hammersley, when the ratio of kill between Australian and Vietcong was 5:1. By 1969, when the U.S. began to withdraw their forces from South Vietnam, the Australians also prepared to reduce their military operations. In November 1970, the 8th Battalion (8RAR) departed South Vietnam. In December 1971, the 1ATF withdrew the Vietcong gradually returned in Phuoc Tuy province.

In Vietnam, the Australian Army had achieved valuable experiences in improving the mobility, firepower, communications, and many aspects of joint warfare. They also established themselves as the experts in light infantry operations in jungle operations and counter revolutionary warfare.