the battalion's personnel consisted of a mixture of National Servicemen and Regular Army personnel, many of whom had seen combat service in Vietnam, although national service was abolished in December 1972. During its deployment, it participated in a number of tri-national exercises in Johore; it also rotated its rifle companies through Butterworth Air Base, situated in north-western Malaysia as a ready reaction force known as Rifle Company Butterworth, a commitment made by Australia under the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA), to support Malaysia which was fighting against a communist insurgency. During its deployment, the battalion was based first at Selarang Barracks and then later at Kangaw Barracks and Nee Soon, and it had two commanding officers during this time: Lieutenant Colonel David Drabsch and then Lieutenant Colonel John Healy. In April 1974, the battalion having returned to Enoggera from Singapore, received a new commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Tony Hammett who established an unofficial parachute role. Hammett encouraged soldiers throughout the battalion to undertake parachute training, and in the short-lived role, in September formed a airborne company group for Exercise Strikemaster held at Shoalwater Bay training area. That same year, the battalion also provided assistance to the civil community in response to Cyclone Tracy, undertaking clean up tasks in Darwin. In early 1980, 'D' Company was reorganised as a parachute company group and in April 1981 conducted its first full scale deployment in Exercise Distant Bridge to Ross in Tasmania. D Company continued in this role until December 1983 relinquishing it to 3 RAR. As a result of shortcomings in the capability of the Australian Defence Force were highlighted in the wake of the 1987 Fijian coups d'état, the battalion was trained in the amphibious role. In April 1989, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel David Mead, the battalion took part in the combined arms Exercise Caltrop Force in California, during which it undertook amphibious operations in US Marine AAVP7s. Later, in February 1992, 6 RAR began conversion to a motorised organisation and added a Ready Reserve company later the same year. It reverted to an integrated-regular/reserve battalion in February 1997 and trialed the experimental Army 21 organisation. East Timor 2000 On Anzac Day 2000 6 RAR relieved 5/7 RAR at Balibo in East Timor, commencing a six-month tour of duty on the western border as part of Operation Tanager. Heavy rain in March had resulted in widespread flooding throughout the