Ted Serong
Encyclopedia
Brigadier
Francis Philip "Ted" Serong DSO
, OBE
(11 November 1915 – 1 October 2002) was a senior officer of the Australian Army
, most notable for his contributions to counter-insurgency and jungle warfare tactics, and as commander of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam
from 1962 until 1965.
suburb of Abbotsford
. Francis Philip Serong was the first son of William and Mabel Serong. He grew up in a family with a strong allegiance to the Catholic faith and permeated with a military background, through his father's work as a supervisor of weapons standards for the Defence Department.
The Serong children breathed in tales of the Empire, derring-do and military exploits. But it was the intellectual and religious ideas absorbed through the teaching of the Christian Brothers
, after Serong won a scholarship to St Kevin's College, that shaped his world view. He formed a lifelong friendship at St Kevin's with B. A. Santamaria
, later prominent as controversial Catholic political activist
and both men shared strongly anti-communist
views.
. Failing to gain admission through the normal route, he joined the Citizens Military Force which afforded him entry when he passed an examination open only to servicemen. From there he never looked back. He graduated from Duntroon in 1937, served first with the artillery, then with an armoured regiment until, switching to the infantry, he saw combat as a staff and regimental officer with the 6th Division in New Guinea, 1942–1945.
That was where he became interested in the challenges of jungle fighting and where he came under the eye of Colonel Reg Pollard
, 6th Division's senior staff officer. Pollard noted the young man's adaptability and originality of mind, marking him as a future prospect for special assignments.
After the war, Pollard, along with another 6th Division staff officer, Brigadier Charles Spry
, of ASIO
fame, were able, in the words of Serong's biographer, Anne Blair, "to smooth his path to his postwar assignment of reorienting army training to jungle warfare" and later in his security work in Vietnam.
With the rank of colonel, Serong was given command in 1955 of the reopened Jungle Warfare Training Centre at Canungra, in south-eastern Queensland. That was where his techniques and strategies first attracted attention. Though not everyone agrees, the courses he helped to develop and teach there were credited with contributing to the success of operations carried out by Australian troops in Malaysia, Borneo
and later Vietnam. By 1957 his expertise was sufficient for the Burmese government to select him over candidates from Israel
, America and Yugoslavia
as counterinsurgency instructor to the Burmese armed forces. This led to a second appointment in Burma as strategic adviser to the armed forces from 1960 to 1962.
His techniques and strategies were honed during his long service in the Vietnam War
from August 1962 to April 1975. Initially, he made his mark as the inspirational commanding officer of the Australian Army instructors' team, known officially as the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam
(AATTV), which was there to assist in the training of South Vietnam's armed forces.
Serong had considerable scope in raising the 30-strong training group, enabling him to attract similar highly motivated souls. Apart from his own ability, what Hassett termed his "remarkable success" in this role owed much to the calibre of his men, who became the most highly decorated Australian unit to serve in Vietnam. They won four Victoria Cross
es and a Presidential Unit Citation (United States), while Serong was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and several American and South Vietnamese decorations to add to the OBE he had received in the 1962 Queen's Birthday Honours
.
In Vietnam
, as well as heading the Australian training team, Serong was appointed senior adviser on counterinsurgency to the commander of the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, serving under General Paul D. Harkins
and then General William Westmoreland. These links, forged with the US military, were to determine his future career path. When his command of the AATTV ended in 1965, he was seconded to the US State Department, essentially under the auspices of the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA), to become senior adviser to South Vietnam's Police Field Force to develop paramilitary security, civil action and political operations.
That began his separation from the Australian Army, before he left formally in 1968 with the rank of brigadier. He was later to say of that decision, that his "relationship with the Australian Army, by and large, was a very happy one", adding, "I left it because I found a way of being of more service to the country outside it than in it. It was a matter of staying in the wagon and trying to steer it or getting out and pushing, so I got out and pushed."
He stayed on in Vietnam, where various roles came his way. He was a security and intelligence adviser to the South Vietnamese government for some years as well as preparing strategic analyses for the Rand Organisation, the Hudson Institute
and other US corporations. During those Vietnam years he was also a consultant to The Pentagon
and to the policy planners of three American presidents—John F. Kennedy
, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon
. He was one of the last to leave, flying out in the final helicopter airlift by from the US Embassy, Saigon on 29 April 1975, the day before the fall of Saigon.
Serong became a hawk on the prosecution of the war in Vietnam, believing a victory for the US and South Vietnamese forces would help prevent the new independent countries of South-East Asia falling under the communist orbit. The hoped-for victory did not eventuate, nor did communism engulf the so-called "domino" countries. But what had been gained, in Serong's view, was time for the threatened nations to strengthen their political and economic structures, enhancing their ability to deal with any insurgencies.
His later years in Australia were devoted largely to advancing right-wing nationalist causes. He appeared on anti-communist platforms, both in Australia and abroad. His connection as patron of a citizens' militia group called AUSI Freedom Scouts (Australians United for Survival and Individual Freedom). After the mass shootings at Port Arthur in 1996, Serong contended that the alleged gunman, Martin Bryant
, could not have been the shooter.
But his main concern was Australia's defence. He wrote extensively on defence issues, coming down strongly in favour of a forward-defence strategy. Another theme he pushed was the development of the Australian interior as part of a national defence plan. Though the extent of his achievements is not so well known in Australia, he was undoubtedly a major Cold War figure, who fought for what he believed in with skill and determination.
In his later years, Serong suffered from heart disease; he is survived by his wife, Kathleen, three daughters, Julie, Elise and Rosemary, and three sons, Michael, Richard and Anthony.
Serong was a "quiet, deep thinker, brilliant tactician, very brave in the field and a good leader", according to one of Australia's most respected soldiers, General Sir Francis Hassett
. Those were among the qualities that led to this unassuming Australian Army officer winning international recognition for his innovative counter-insurgency and jungle warfare tactics.
Uncle Frank, Ted/Francis, was the inspiration for a second generation military career for his nephew, Ivan Bernard Bates, Maj,Rtd, 1930, son of Ted's sister, Mary Ellen Bates née Serong (Minnie) (1903–1981). Ivan Bernard Bates, tank commander, 1st Armoured Regiment. Paratus, a tank emblem, remains as Ivan Bernard Bates' life.
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
Francis Philip "Ted" Serong DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
, OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(11 November 1915 – 1 October 2002) was a senior officer of the Australian Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
, most notable for his contributions to counter-insurgency and jungle warfare tactics, and as commander of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam
Australian Army Training Team Vietnam
The Australian Army Training Team Vietnam was a specialist unit of the Australian Army that operated during the Vietnam War. Raised in 1962, the unit was raised solely for service as part of Australia's contribution to the war in Vietnam, providing training and assistance to South Vietnamese forces...
from 1962 until 1965.
Early life
The path that took Serong from the periphery of power to its centre began in the MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
suburb of Abbotsford
Abbotsford, Victoria
Abbotsford is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra. At the 2006 Census, Abbotsford had a population of 4,327....
. Francis Philip Serong was the first son of William and Mabel Serong. He grew up in a family with a strong allegiance to the Catholic faith and permeated with a military background, through his father's work as a supervisor of weapons standards for the Defence Department.
The Serong children breathed in tales of the Empire, derring-do and military exploits. But it was the intellectual and religious ideas absorbed through the teaching of the Christian Brothers
Congregation of Christian Brothers
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. The Christian Brothers, as they are commonly known, chiefly work for the evangelisation and education of youth, but are involved in many ministries, especially with...
, after Serong won a scholarship to St Kevin's College, that shaped his world view. He formed a lifelong friendship at St Kevin's with B. A. Santamaria
B. A. Santamaria
Bartholomew Augustine "B. A." Santamaria, otherwise 'Bob' , was an Australian political activist and journalist and one of the most influential political figures in 20th century Australian history...
, later prominent as controversial Catholic political activist
Political Catholicism
Political catholicism is a political and cultural conception which promotes the ideas and social teaching of the Catholic Church in public life...
and both men shared strongly anti-communist
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
views.
Military career
Before leaving St Kevin's, Serong set his sights on the Royal Military College, DuntroonRoyal Military College, Duntroon
The Royal Military College, Duntroon is the Australian Army's officer training establishment. It was founded at Duntroon, in the Australian Capital Territory, in 1911 and is situated on picturesque grounds at the foot of Mount Pleasant near Lake Burley Griffin, close to the Department of Defence...
. Failing to gain admission through the normal route, he joined the Citizens Military Force which afforded him entry when he passed an examination open only to servicemen. From there he never looked back. He graduated from Duntroon in 1937, served first with the artillery, then with an armoured regiment until, switching to the infantry, he saw combat as a staff and regimental officer with the 6th Division in New Guinea, 1942–1945.
That was where he became interested in the challenges of jungle fighting and where he came under the eye of Colonel Reg Pollard
Reg Pollard
Reginald Thomas Pollard was an Australian politician.Pollard was born in Castlemaine, Victoria and educated at Woodend State School, West Melbourne Technical School and Workingmen's College. He worked as an agricultural labourer near Werribee and from 1912 to 1915 as a fitter in Melbourne...
, 6th Division's senior staff officer. Pollard noted the young man's adaptability and originality of mind, marking him as a future prospect for special assignments.
After the war, Pollard, along with another 6th Division staff officer, Brigadier Charles Spry
Charles Spry
Brigadier Sir Charles Chambers Fowell Spry, CBE, DSO was an Australian soldier, who from 1950 to 1970 was the second Director-General of Security, the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation .-Early life:...
, of ASIO
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation is Australia's national security service, which is responsible for the protection of the country and its citizens from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign interference, politically-motivated violence, attacks on the Australian defence system, and...
fame, were able, in the words of Serong's biographer, Anne Blair, "to smooth his path to his postwar assignment of reorienting army training to jungle warfare" and later in his security work in Vietnam.
With the rank of colonel, Serong was given command in 1955 of the reopened Jungle Warfare Training Centre at Canungra, in south-eastern Queensland. That was where his techniques and strategies first attracted attention. Though not everyone agrees, the courses he helped to develop and teach there were credited with contributing to the success of operations carried out by Australian troops in Malaysia, Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
and later Vietnam. By 1957 his expertise was sufficient for the Burmese government to select him over candidates from Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, America and Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
as counterinsurgency instructor to the Burmese armed forces. This led to a second appointment in Burma as strategic adviser to the armed forces from 1960 to 1962.
Vietnam
Then came the challenge of Vietnam when Pollard, now knighted and a lieutenant-general, as Chief of the General Staff selected Serong to lead the Australian Army instructors' team. From the Vietnam struggle, with which he was thereafter invariably identified, Serong emerged as one of the world's foremost authorities on counterinsurgency and counterguerilla warfare. In Vietnam, Serong had found scope for the fullest expression of his talents, particularly as a strategic planner.His techniques and strategies were honed during his long service in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
from August 1962 to April 1975. Initially, he made his mark as the inspirational commanding officer of the Australian Army instructors' team, known officially as the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam
Australian Army Training Team Vietnam
The Australian Army Training Team Vietnam was a specialist unit of the Australian Army that operated during the Vietnam War. Raised in 1962, the unit was raised solely for service as part of Australia's contribution to the war in Vietnam, providing training and assistance to South Vietnamese forces...
(AATTV), which was there to assist in the training of South Vietnam's armed forces.
Serong had considerable scope in raising the 30-strong training group, enabling him to attract similar highly motivated souls. Apart from his own ability, what Hassett termed his "remarkable success" in this role owed much to the calibre of his men, who became the most highly decorated Australian unit to serve in Vietnam. They won four Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
es and a Presidential Unit Citation (United States), while Serong was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and several American and South Vietnamese decorations to add to the OBE he had received in the 1962 Queen's Birthday Honours
Queen's Birthday Honours
The Queen's Birthday Honours is a part of the British honours system, being a civic occasion on the celebration of the Queen's Official Birthday in which new members of most Commonwealth Realms honours are named. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, currently Queen...
.
In Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, as well as heading the Australian training team, Serong was appointed senior adviser on counterinsurgency to the commander of the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, serving under General Paul D. Harkins
Paul D. Harkins
Paul Donal Harkins was Deputy Chief of Staff during World War II to George S. Patton Jr. and later became a U.S. Army General and the first Military Assistance Command, Vietnam commander from 1962 to 1964.-Early life:...
and then General William Westmoreland. These links, forged with the US military, were to determine his future career path. When his command of the AATTV ended in 1965, he was seconded to the US State Department, essentially under the auspices of the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
(CIA), to become senior adviser to South Vietnam's Police Field Force to develop paramilitary security, civil action and political operations.
That began his separation from the Australian Army, before he left formally in 1968 with the rank of brigadier. He was later to say of that decision, that his "relationship with the Australian Army, by and large, was a very happy one", adding, "I left it because I found a way of being of more service to the country outside it than in it. It was a matter of staying in the wagon and trying to steer it or getting out and pushing, so I got out and pushed."
He stayed on in Vietnam, where various roles came his way. He was a security and intelligence adviser to the South Vietnamese government for some years as well as preparing strategic analyses for the Rand Organisation, the Hudson Institute
Hudson Institute
The Hudson Institute is an American think tank founded in 1961, in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation...
and other US corporations. During those Vietnam years he was also a consultant to The Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
and to the policy planners of three American presidents—John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
. He was one of the last to leave, flying out in the final helicopter airlift by from the US Embassy, Saigon on 29 April 1975, the day before the fall of Saigon.
Serong became a hawk on the prosecution of the war in Vietnam, believing a victory for the US and South Vietnamese forces would help prevent the new independent countries of South-East Asia falling under the communist orbit. The hoped-for victory did not eventuate, nor did communism engulf the so-called "domino" countries. But what had been gained, in Serong's view, was time for the threatened nations to strengthen their political and economic structures, enhancing their ability to deal with any insurgencies.
Later life
Serong found it hard to settle back into life in suburban Melbourne after the Vietnam years. Having been separated from wife and family for so long, it was difficult to pick up those threads again. All, including his wife, Kathleen, had developed independent lives.His later years in Australia were devoted largely to advancing right-wing nationalist causes. He appeared on anti-communist platforms, both in Australia and abroad. His connection as patron of a citizens' militia group called AUSI Freedom Scouts (Australians United for Survival and Individual Freedom). After the mass shootings at Port Arthur in 1996, Serong contended that the alleged gunman, Martin Bryant
Martin Bryant
Martin Bryant is an Australian who has been convicted of murdering 35 people and injuring 21 others in the Port Arthur massacre, a shooting spree in Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia, in 1996. He is currently serving 35 life sentences plus 1,035 years without parole in the psychiatric wing of...
, could not have been the shooter.
But his main concern was Australia's defence. He wrote extensively on defence issues, coming down strongly in favour of a forward-defence strategy. Another theme he pushed was the development of the Australian interior as part of a national defence plan. Though the extent of his achievements is not so well known in Australia, he was undoubtedly a major Cold War figure, who fought for what he believed in with skill and determination.
In his later years, Serong suffered from heart disease; he is survived by his wife, Kathleen, three daughters, Julie, Elise and Rosemary, and three sons, Michael, Richard and Anthony.
Serong was a "quiet, deep thinker, brilliant tactician, very brave in the field and a good leader", according to one of Australia's most respected soldiers, General Sir Francis Hassett
Francis Hassett
General Sir Francis George "Frank" Hassett AC, KBE, CB, DSO, LVO was an Australian general who rose to the position of Chief of the Defence Force Staff; a position marking him as the professional head of the Australian Defence Force...
. Those were among the qualities that led to this unassuming Australian Army officer winning international recognition for his innovative counter-insurgency and jungle warfare tactics.
Uncle Frank, Ted/Francis, was the inspiration for a second generation military career for his nephew, Ivan Bernard Bates, Maj,Rtd, 1930, son of Ted's sister, Mary Ellen Bates née Serong (Minnie) (1903–1981). Ivan Bernard Bates, tank commander, 1st Armoured Regiment. Paratus, a tank emblem, remains as Ivan Bernard Bates' life.