Vung Tau served as the essential logistical and medical hub for Australian forces. Despite environmental challenges, the base successfully housed Navy, Army and Air Force units and supported the 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF) inland at Nui Dat. It also functioned as a vital rest area for personnel during the conflict.
Vung Tau was the main Australian support base in the former Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) during the war. The main combat formation, 1ATF, maintained a base inland at Nui Dat, while Vung Tau housed the logistic, port, air, medical and rest facilities that kept 1ATF operating.
The port of Vung Tau lies in southern Vietnam on a peninsula that extends from the southern tip of Phuoc Tuy province into the South China Sea. Already a popular resort before the war, Vung Tau came to be used by Australian and United States (US) servicemen as a rest area.
The influx of Americans in the early 1960s meant that much of the area's income was derived from construction projects, the presence of military bases, and spending by civilian and military holidaymakers.
Patrols of the US 173rd Airborne Brigade cleared the area that would be occupied by 1st Australian Logistic Support Group (1ALSG), between the staging area for the move to Nui Dat and a strip of sand dunes known as Back Beach.
Although far from ideal, Vung Tau's popularity as a resort area meant that the more favourable areas for construction had long since been developed.
The Australians who worked on establishing the base encountered many difficulties. The heat, reflecting off the sand dunes, was extreme. US troops who had previously used the site as a staging area had left rubbish strewn about. Blow flies abounded, and even building small structures, such as latrines, proved a problem because the sand kept shifting beneath them.
Despite these challenges, 1 ALSG established a working base at Vung Tau. The area became home to a hospital, RAAF units, engineers, transport, ordnance and service corps units.
Australian units based at Vung Tau during the war included:
- 1ALSG and its support units
- 1st Australian Field Hospital and other medical units
- No 35 Squadron RAAF and No 9 Squadron RAAF
- No 1 Operational Support Unit
- Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) units
- Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Clearance Diving Team 3 for harbour defence.