NORFORCE

North-West Mobile Force
Cap Badge of the North-West Mobile Force
Active	1 July 1981 – present
Country	Australia
Branch	Army
Role	Regional Force Surveillance
Size	One battalion
Part of	2nd Division
Garrison/HQ	Larrakeyah
Nickname(s)	Nackaroos Green skins
Motto(s)	Ever Vigilant
March	Quick – The Vedette Slow – The Never-Never
Commanders
Current commander	LTCOL John Papalitsas
Colonel in Chief	HM The Queen (Royal Australian Infantry Corps)
Insignia
Unit Colour Patch
Abbreviation	NORFORCE

The NORFORCE (North-West Mobile Force) is an infantry regiment of the Australian Army Reserve. Formed in 1981, the regiment is one of three Regional Force Surveillance Units (RFSUs) employed in surveillance and reconnaissance of the remote areas of Northern Australia. It consists of a regimental headquarters, four surveillance squadrons, and an operational support squadron and training squadron.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s the need for a military presence in the north of Australia was recognised, with an integrated land, sea and air surveillance network developed in response. Part of this involved the raising of Australian Army Reserve infantry units known as Regional Force Surveillance Units (RFSUs) that would act as "eyes and ears" in the north. NORFORCE was raised for operations in the Northern Territory and the Kimberley region of Northern Australia and was formed as an independent company on 1 July 1981, from the 7th Independent Rifle Company, and was based in Darwin under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John George. This unit was renamed as the North-West Mobile Force, or NORFORCE, in 1981. Meanwhile, in 1985 two more RFSUs were raised, with the Pilbara Regiment established in Western Australia, and the 51st Battalion, Far North Queensland Regiment established in Cape York, in Far North Queensland.

The regiment's lineage goes back to 2/1st North Australia Observer Unit (also known as the "Nackaroos"), which were formed in 1942 as part of the defence of northern Australia from the Japanese during the Second World War, performing reconnaissance, scouting and coastal surveillance tasks across the Kimberley and the Northern Territory's sea and air approaches. However, patrols were reduced in July 1943 as the Japanese threat subsided, and the unit was disbanded in 1945. Due to the similarities between the two units and in order to give NORFORCE an identity it was decided that it would perpetuate the NAOU traditions, and as such NORFORCE officially adopted the NAOU's orange and green 'double diamond' colour patch and its unit heritage upon formation.