Operation Crimp Westmoreland requested further reinforcement and US and allied forces increased to 44 battalions which would be used to directly bolster the ARVN. Australia's growing involvement in Vietnam reflected the American build up. In 1963, the Australian government had committed a small advisory team, known as the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV), to help train the South Vietnamese forces. However, in June 1965 the decision to commit ground troops was made, and the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment—originally commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Ivan 'Lou' Brumfield—was dispatched. Supporting 1 RAR was 1 Troop, A Squadron, 4th/19th Prince of Wales's Light Horse
1965 in the Vietnam War Vietnam was a matter of much debate. One U.S. government estimate was that the Viet Cong army consisted of 40,000 full-time fighters and 80,000 to 100,000 part-time guerrillas. The Department of Defense's fact book estimated that the Viet Cong numbered less than 200,000 plus 39,175 political cadre. These numbers presumably included thousands of fighters and cadre infiltrated from North Vietnam during the previous five years. The first North Vietnamese army units dispatched to South Vietnam, consisting of three regiments (about 5,000 men), had arrived in South Vietnam in late 1964. A junior-level CIA analyst, Samuel A. Adams, had just begun