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The Regional Force Surveillance Units (RFSUs) are specialised infantry units of the Australian Army Reserve responsible for patrolling northern Australia. The RFSUs conduct regular operational patrols during peacetime, and the Reservists–who make up 90% of the RFSUs personnel–carry out most of their training during these patrols. There are currently three battalion-sized RFSUs: * North-West Mobile Force (NORFORCE) (responsible for the Northern Territory and Kimberley region of Western Australia) * The Pilbara Regiment (responsible for the Pilbara region of Western Australia) * 51st Battalion, Far North Queensland Regiment (responsible for North Queensland) The RFSUs were incorporated into the 6th Brigade on 1 March 2010 as part of its re-raising. On 1 September 2014, they were transferred to the 2nd Division. As of December 2014, the RFSUs currently have 200 Active and 1,350 Reserve personnel. ==Role== The RFSUs are unique unconventional units whose mission is to conduct long range reconnaissance and surveillance patrols in the sparsely populated and remote regions of northern Australia. Unlike most Australian Army units, the RFSUs are on a permanent operational footing, conducting real patrols with real world objectives during peacetime. The primary reason for the RFSUs existence is national defence, but the nature of their work means patrols can often provide valuable intelligence to civilian agencies such as Australian Customs, State and Federal police forces, and the intelligence community. Prior to the existence of the RFSUs, surveillance in the remote north was carried out by the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR). The SASR's primary specialty as reconnaissance and surveillance soldiers made them ideally suited to the task. However, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the SASR responded to the changing global security environment and identified counter-terrorism as the second area that they needed to specialise in. This, coupled with the possibility of overseas deployments, meant that the SASR would be hard pressed to maintain an effective domestic reconnaissance force whilst also fulfilling their other (new) roles. So the SASR came up with the concept of the RFSUs. The basic concept was to raise and train a reconnaissance and surveillance unit that would take over the SASR's tasks in northern Australia. Because the RFSUs' were raised and trained by the SASR the small unit tactics and training of the two remain virtually identical, and there is a constant exchange of personnel and ideas - especially with regard to SASR being posted to RFSUs to keep the RFSUs 'up to speed' with reconnaissance and guerilla warfare techniques, and to keep the SASR 'up to speed' with the skills required to train indigenous peoples in guerilla warfare. Each patrolling task is different, and RFSU patrols tailor their plans to the task they have been assigned. Sometimes a patrol will infiltrate the area of operations by small boat at night, hide their boats, carry out their tasks and then exfiltrate the same way. At other times they may be airlifted in by chopper or small aircraft or perhaps a patrol will choose to drive in, hide their vehicles or just jump out the back of a moving vehicle and disappear into the bush. To be effective, RFSU patrols must remain completely undetected, so bushcraft skills, particularly camouflage and concealment, are very important to the RFSU patrolman. In the event of a small or large scale insurgency in the north, the RFSUs role would be to detect enemy landings, especially near the important economic and defence infrastructure in their areas of operation. In the extremely unlikely event of an invasion of northern Australia the RFSUs would operate in a 'stay-behind' capacity. Patrols remaining in the field deep behind enemy lines would inevitably end up supplementing their diets from the land in order to survive and complete their mission as the first line of defence for continental Australia. Tasks for such a scenario are reporting on enemy movements, calling in airstrikes, killing and capturing the enemy in close quarter combat or sniping roles, demolition by explosive or sniping to impede enemy advance, and disrupting enemy supply lines for as long as possible. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Regional Force Surveillance Units」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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