and patrolling to protect the local population and training South Vietnamese troops to increasingly replace US and allied forces. The withdrawal of Australian forces from South Vietnam began in November 1970 when 8 RAR completed its tour of duty and was not replaced. Where possible, the Australians still sought to bring VC units to battle, such as during Operation North Ward, where V Company, 4 RAR/NZ fought elements of the Chau Duc and Ba Long guerrilla units in August and September 1971. On 18 August 1971, Prime Minister William McMahon announced that 1 ATF would cease operations in October, with the last combat elements of the regiment (D Company, 4 RAR) returning to Australia in February 1972. The regiment sustained losses of 325 killed and over 2,000 wounded in South Vietnam. Peacetime service, 1973–1998 With the withdrawal of the battalion serving in Singapore as part of the Far East Strategic Reserve, 1973 finally saw all units of the regiment stationed in Australia for the first time. Thus began a period of peace-time soldiering of a sort not before seen in the regiment. The end of National Service significantly diminished the strength of the Army, and at this time the government directed that the number of battalions in the regiment be reduced to six, which was achieved by linking 2 and 4 RAR, 5 and 7 RAR, and 8 and 9 RAR. The strength of units and resources were also reduced, with a shift in strategic and tactical concepts from forward defence to defence of continental Australia. Regardless, from September 1973 the battalions of the regiment provided a company on three monthly rotations to Rifle Company Butterworth in Malaysia as part of the Five Power Defence Arrangements. Meanwhile, the 10th Independent Rifle Company, Royal Australian Regiment (10 IRC) was raised on 23 May 1974 to provide an opposing force for units training at the Jungle Training Centre at Canungra. The 1980s saw the introduction of battalion specialisations—light, parachute, mechanised and motorised—in the regiment and the formation of a ready deployment force. The later concept was first tested during Operation Morris Dance, the contingency mounted in response to the 1987 Fiji coup. 5/7 RAR subsequently developed as a mechanised battalion equipped with M113 armoured personnel carriers, while 3 RAR re-roled as a parachute battalion. In 1988, during the Australian Bicentennial celebrations, a contingent drawn from the battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment