WI Different Vietnam conscription.

This is likely way too niche for most members, but I'll throw it out there anyway.

In early 1964 the Australian Government changed the Defence Act to allow greater use of the Citizen Military Forces (old name for the Army Reserve) but then when push came to shove for more manpower in November 1964 a selective service conscription scheme was introduced to increase the manpower of the Regular Army. This called up 2 lots of 2100 men in 1965 and 4 lots of 1750 men thereafter, with the option to serve in the CMF rather than RA on combat operations, the selection made by a ballot of birth dates.

Another scheme was floated at the time where the Government would utilise CMF manpower to top up the Regular Army on operations and then use a short service conscription scheme to keep the CMF up to strength, much like the 1951-59 scheme which was 3 months full time then years in the reserve. WI if was the conscription scheme used during Vietnam, with the CMF providing a battalion for active service in Vietnam and being kept up to strength via mass, short-term conscription?
 
When the United States started the draft lottery on Dec. 1, 1969, I've read that it decreased campus activism because most guys were off the hook.

And campus anti-war activism may be picturesque and iconic of the '60s, but I bet other forms of activism could have been more effective. For example, if labor unions had taken the lead and asked confidently and persistently, just what sort of government are we supporting in South Vietnam?
 
And campus anti-war activism may be picturesque and iconic of the '60s, but I bet other forms of activism could have been more effective. For example, if labor unions had taken the lead and asked confidently and persistently, just what sort of government are we supporting in South Vietnam?

The problem with such is that the Labor Unions were overwhelmingly veterans of WWII and Korea, and were the family men of the 1950s with all that entails. With such said, their response to what the Anti-War movement came to represent was rather interesting, to say the least.
 
The problem with such is that the Labor Unions were overwhelmingly veterans of WWII and Korea, and were the family men of the 1950s with all that entails. With such said, their response to what the Anti-War movement came to represent was rather interesting, to say the least.
The Hard Hat Riot was a sorry chapter, no question about it. Although it started with the Flag flying at half mast at New York City Hall, and not about the war itself.

And yes, I am talking about the situation in the U.S. and wondering how analogous it is to Australia.
 
Conscription was an abuse, Sydney Morning Herald, Bruce Haigh, Editorial, Jan. 19, 2013.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/conscription-was-an-abuse-20130118-2cz0x.html

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The prime minister, Robert Menzies, announced the introduction of conscription on November 10, 1964; the necessary amendments to the Defence Act were made on April 6, 1965. Menzies announced the commitment of 1 RAR, a battalion of regular soldiers, to Vietnam the next day. He gave no indication that he intended to send the first of the conscripts when their training was completed at the end of 1965.

In citing the need for a limited ballot to draft 20-year old men into the army for two years, Menzies referred vaguely to the growing communist threat from the north and the need for Australia to be prepared to meet any sudden threat quickly.

There was also a hint that Indonesia might again threaten regional security. . .
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This guy is arguing that Prime Minister Robert Menzies didn't level with his fellow citizens, not by a country mile.
 
This guy is arguing that Prime Minister Robert Menzies didn't level with his fellow citizens, not by a country mile.

That's about the size of it. We pushed our way into Vietnam the C-COSC exceeded his authority and offered the US a btn rather than the advisors they wanted, Menzies endorsed this offer and then went about engineering a request for assistance from Sth Vietnam.

However at the time we also were deploying forces against the Indonesian Konfrontasi, the FESR and has a fighter sqn in Thailand, so the situation was very fluid and its unlikely Menzies anticipated the situation 18 months in advance. Inscription was to increase the size of the Army in a general sense, to meet a range of circumstances, rather than raising infantry battalions using the CMF.
 

Pangur

Donor
Odd idea however this crossed my mind. The CMF units were locally raised so calling up a unit may not be a good plan however why not take the Irish take to raising a force for the UN? Basically you form a new battalion and any member of the CMF can put their hand up to be in the new battalion? They do a year and then come home
 
Odd idea however this crossed my mind. The CMF units were locally raised so calling up a unit may not be a good plan however why not take the Irish take to raising a force for the UN? Basically you form a new battalion and any member of the CMF can put their hand up to be in the new battalion? They do a year and then come home

By 1960 the CMF battalions were state based as part of the entropic re-org, but yes I imagine a composite battalion rather than actual subunits.
 
How similar are Australian CMF units to US Army National Guard units?

The CMF isn't under the control of states at all, but the units are based and administered on a local /state basis. They are more like the Army reserve and traditionally used for home defence with the AIF used for imperial commitments. Once the RAR was raised in 1949, the first regiment in the RA, it was used for overseas commitments instead of the AIF.
 
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