The southernmost province in III CTZ, Phuoc Tuy had been selected by the Australians because it was an area of significant Viet Cong activity, was located away from the Cambodian border, could be resupplied and, if necessary, evacuated by sea, and enabled them to concentrate their efforts in a single area to achieve greater national recognition. Rather than being attached to a US division, negotiations between senior Australian and US commanders—including Lieutenant General John Wilton and General William Westmoreland—ensured 1 ATF would be an independent command under the operational control of US II Field Force, Vietnam (II FFV), a corps-level headquarters in Bien Hoa which reported directly to Commander US MACV. This would allow the force greater freedom of action and the chance to demonstrate the Australian Army's evolving concept for counter-insurgency warfare, developed in part from its operations during the Malayan Emergency. The task force would be commanded by Brigadier David Jackson, an experienced infantry officer who had served in the Middle East and New Guinea during the Second World War, and later in Korea, and commanded the AATTV and Australian Army Force Vietnam prior to taking up the appointment. With the new force given less than two months to deploy, hasty preparations began in Australia to ready it. Meanwhile, the headquarters of the 1st Brigade was subsequently used to raise 1 ATF.