5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment
| 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1965–1973 2006–Present |
| Country | Australia |
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Light Infantry |
| Part of | 1st Brigade |
| Garrison/HQ | Darwin |
| Nickname(s) | The Tiger Battalion |
| Motto(s) | Duty First (Motto of the Royal Australian Regiment) |
| Colors | Gold |
| March |
"Dominique" (band) "Men of Harlech" – slow |
| Mascot(s) | Sumatran tiger "Quintus Secundus Sabre" |
| Engagements | War in Afghanistan |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
Lieutenant Colonel Paul Shields MBE |
| Colonel-in-Chief | HM The Queen (Royal Australian Infantry Corps) |
| Insignia | |
| Unit Colour Patch |  |
"Dominique" (band)
The 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (5 RAR) is a regular infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Originally established in 1965 it would serve two tours of South Vietnam before it was linked with the 7th Battalion to form the 5th/7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment in 1973. In late 2006 the two units were de-linked, and 5 RAR again joined the Australian Army's order of battle in its own right. It has since served in Iraq, East Timor and Afghanistan.
The 5th Battalion was formed at Holsworthy Barracks, New South Wales on 1 March 1965. According to historian Robert O'Neill, since both 5 RAR and 6 RAR were the first battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment 'to be composed of a mixture of regulars and national servicemen, their formation and development was a particularly vital experiment for this was to be the model for the infantry battalions of the Army from then onwards'.
This was a time of expanding commitments for the Australian Army: an infantry battalion serving on rotation in Malaysia since 1955; a training team deployed to South Vietnam since 1962, followed by the deployment of the 1st Battalion in 1965 and then the 1st Australian Task Force from 1966 to 1972; and a battalion commitment to Borneo from 1964 to 1966. To meet the challenges of these commitments, the Army needed to expand from four to nine battalions. In 1965, the 1st Battalion, organised on the Pentropic establishment (in theory some 1,300 men) was split to provide a cadre of regulars to the new 5th Battalion, whilst conscripts were used to bring the unit up to strength. When the Battalion held its inauguration parade on 5 November 1965, some 250 conscripts from the first national service intake were present amongst the ranks. The 2nd and 3rd Battalions were drawn on in a similar fashion to raise the 6th and 7th Battalions, respectively.
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