was designated the "Australian Army Component – Vietnam" on 1 July 1962, and then the "Australian Army Training Component", but on 12 July 1962, the unit was redesignated the "Australian Army Training Team Vietnam". This was soon abbreviated to "The Team". At the conclusion of pre-deployment training, the 30 advisors departed Australia from Mascot, New South Wales, aboard a Qantas charter flight on 29 July 1962. The unit's first commanding officer, Colonel Ted Serong, arrived in Saigon on 31 July – the date that is mistakenly considered the unit's "birthday" – and the main body arrived three days later. Serong would later be seconded, and in one capacity or another would remain in Vietnam until the Fall of Saigon in April 1975, serving as a senior advisor to both the US and South Vietnamese governments. Operations On arrival, the unit joined a large group of US advisors and were dispersed across South Vietnam in small groups. Three groups were dispatched to South Vietnam's northern provinces, training members of the ARVN at the National Training Centre at Dong Da near Phu Bai Combat Base and South Vietnamese Regional Forces (RF) at Hiep Khanh northwest of Huế, while a fourth was based at the Ranger Training Centre at Dục Mỹ Camp near Nha Trang in the south; a headquarters was established in Saigon. The groups began training the Vietnamese in barracks, providing instruction in "jungle warfare techniques and technical areas such as signals and engineering". The jungle-warfare methods practiced by the AATTV emphasised patrolling and contact drills which taught soldiers to react automatically in battle with the aim of providing them with an advantage over an enemy which was reliant on command. Initially, the team was prevented from actively taking part in combat operations, and while this restriction was later lifted, until this occurred, the advisors deployed on operations as observers only. Over time the role and of the AATTV changed, and in addition to training, individuals would often command units, advise South Vietnamese personnel and officials, serve as staff on headquarters and determine policy. On 1 June 1963, Sergeant William Francis Hacking became the AATTV's first casualty when he was accidentally killed while on duty. In late 1963 members of the team were redeployed into combat advisory roles, with two officers and eight NCOs working with Special Forces teams involved in counter-insurgency operations by February 1964. In mid-1964, the restriction on