Conscription ended in December 1972, and the remaining seven men in Australian prisons for refusing conscription were freed in mid-to-late December 1972. 63,735 national servicemen served in the Army, of whom 15,381 were deployed to Vietnam. Approximately 200 were killed.
The decision to withdraw Australian troops was made in July 1971 and a withdrawal timetable of October and December 1971 was established.
In 1964, the National Service Act introduced a scheme of selective conscription in Australia, designed to create an army of 40,000 full-time soldiers. Many of them were sent on active service to the war in Vietnam.
As noted, conscription was abolished by law in 1973. But the Defence Act 1903 as amended retained a provision that it could be reintroduced by proclamation of the Governor-General. Potentially all Australian residents between the ages of 18 and 60 could be called up in this way.
15,381 conscripted national servicemen served from 1965 to 1972, sustaining 202 killed and 1,279 wounded.
Vietnam War. In 1964, compulsory national service for 20-year-old males was introduced under the National Service Act 1964.
conscription was abolished by law in 1973. But the Defence Act 1903 as amended retained a provision that it could be reintroduced by proclamation of the Governor-General. Potentially all Australian residents between the ages of 18 and 60 could be called up in this way.
Whitlam had described conscription as intolerable, and one of the earliest accomplishments of his government was the granting of exemptions from conscription for all Australians.
No. The Australian Defence Force does not conscript and there has been no conscription since 1972.
The Australian Government introduced compulsory military training again in 1951, during the Korean War, but it was abolished eight years later. A new national service scheme was controversially introduced in 1964, and in 1965 Australia sent conscripts to fight in the Vietnam War (1964–75). This was abolished in 1972.
Only 20-25% of draftees served in Vietnam. The rest were either stationed stateside or sent to Europe to free up volunteer soldiers to serve in Vietnam. Conscription was for 2 years. The first year was for Basic Training followed by Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) training at a branch School.
Those who served and died in Vietnam
804,286 20-year-olds registered for national service. 63,735 national servicemen served in the Army. 15,381 served in Vietnam.
Conscription in Vietnam has existed since 1975 and requires male citizens between the ages of 18 and 25 (18 to 27 for those who attend colleges or universities) to perform compulsory military service. Women are not required to perform military service, but they may voluntarily join the military.
Men included in the ballot who were born in the period 1 July 1946 to 31 December 1946. Men included in the ballot who were born prior to 1 July 1946 but were absent from Australia when their age group was required to register.
Richard Nixon, the new U.S. president, began U.S. troop withdrawal and “Vietnamization” of the war effort that year, but he intensified bombing.
The questions arise from the Army announcement in Canberra today that Private Errol Wayne Noack, 21, single, of Gilberton, South Australia, had been killed - the first Australian National Serviceman to be killed in action in Vietnam.
A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion.
Chocolate Soldier is an expression referring to a good-looking but useless warrior, popularised by George Bernard Shaw's 1894 play Arms and the Man.
From the time of the arrival of the first members of the Team in 1962 almost 60,000 Australians, including ground troops and air force and navy personnel, served in Vietnam; 521 died as a result of the war and over 3,000 were wounded.
Selective conscription meant that a certain number of 20-year-old Australian men would be chosen to serve in the Australian army. The process for choosing them was similar to a lottery. Numbered marbles, each representing a day of the year, were placed in a barrel.
The Australian Labor Party consistently opposed it and was committed to recalling troops from Vietnam. With the election of an ALP government in December 1972, Prime Minister Whitlam announced the end of peace time conscription as one of his government's first administrative decisions.
Ending in 1963
In November 1960 the last men entered service, as call-ups formally ended on 31 December 1960, and the last National Servicemen left the armed forces in May 1963.
Those who had been rejected were forcibly enlisted in a combatant Corps, although some could opt to join the Royal Army Medical Corps. If the Objector refused to don the uniform and cooperate he would be sent to prison where the conditions were harsh.
The public felt that Australian men should not be conscripted and sent overseas, they should be used for home defence only. The Vietnam War was the first time Australian conscripts were sent abroad in peace time. Early protests against conscription were held by religious groups and the Communist Party of Australia.
One of the first pieces of legislation passed by the new Commonwealth government after Federation was the Defence Act 1903, which provided for the raising of an Australian army. The Act established the government's right to conscript men for the purpose of self-defence in the event of war.