1st Battalion 22nd Infantry Australian Company Report

1st Battalion 22nd Infantry

Australian Report on training with 1/22 Infantry

1977

In September and October of 1977 Company C of the 5/7 Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment exchanged places with
Company C of 1st Battalion 22nd Infantry 4th Infantry Division for training purposes and the program was called
"American Exchange 77" by the U.S. Army. The Australian Army called the program Exercise “CONUS” –
which meant Exercise Contingent US.

Sergeant Major Richard Rees was a member of Company C 5/7 RAR at that time and was one of the Australians
who trained at Fort Carson, Colorado in 1977. He shared a copy of his Company Commander's report of the deployment
with the 1st Battalion website and that report is posted below. The Commander of Company C 5/7 RAR was
Major Brian Vickery.

The report was published in Tiger Tales, the official magazine of 5/7 RAR.

SGTMAJOR Rees writes:

"The 5th/7th Battalion was called the Tiger Battalion as it had a Sumatran Tiger
as its Mascot which was brought to all ceremonial parades in its cage and
placed on the back of a Landrover 4x4 vehicle to follow the troops.
Its name was Quintus."

In 1976 the 2/12 Infantry was redesignated as the 1/22 Infantry. The 2/12 had the nickname "Warhawks",
and this name was kept, at least for a while, by 1/22 Infantry.

Members of Company C 5/7 RAR with their Company guidon. The "FIT TO FIGHT" streamer was
presented to the Company by the U.S. 4th Infantry Division upon the completion of training in the United States.

Courtesy of Sergeant Major Richard M. Rees

The cover of Tiger Tales, the magazine
of 5/7 RAR in which the report of the training
of Company C in the United States during
September/October 1977 was published.

This December 1977 issue has a Christmas theme
with the tiger mascot (Quintus) of the Battalion as
Santa Claus, whose reindeeer are pulling
an M-113 Armored Personnel Carrier
as their sleigh.

Left and below: Issue of Tiger Tales
courtesy of Sergeant Major Richard M. Rees