In late 1964, the South Vietnamese government requested increased military assistance from Australia to help stop the Vietcong (VC) insurgency.

[8] As a part of this expansion, the 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, was raised on 1 September 1965 at Puckapunyal in Victoria, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Eric Smith.

[2] Due to the large numbers of national servicemen that the battalion received from the outset, upon formation 7 RAR's average age was estimated at only 22 years.

[10] At this time the battalion adopted a pig as its mascot, following an observation by the commanding officer about the state of the soldiers' mess at Puckapunyal.

[12][Note 1] Initially, 7 RAR undertook security operations around Nui Dat as well as carrying out a few search and destroy taskings at a local level, however, their first major operation saw them take up a blocking position near Xuyen Moc in support of US and South Vietnamese forces who advanced through the May Tao mountains in an effort to locate the VC 275th Regiment and drive them towards 7 RAR's position.

[13] In August 1967 the battalion was tasked to undertake an independent search and destroy operation to the north-west of Nui Dat, in the Hat Dich area.

Later in September, the battalion lost a large number of its national servicemen who, having completed their two-year obligation, were rotated back to Australia for discharge.

The following month they took part in an Australian, US and South Vietnamese Operation Santa Fe which was launched in the May Tao Secret Zone in an attempt to find the VC 5th Division.

[12] Members of the battalion received the following decorations: one Distinguished Service Order (DSO), two Members of Order of the British Empire (MBEs), two Military Crosses (MCs), two Distinguished Conduct Medals (DCMs), three Military Medals (MMs) and 14 Mentions in Despatches (MIDs).

It was there, on 6 October 1968, that the battalion finally received its Queen's and Regimental Colours in a ceremony presided over by the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Roden Cutler.

[17] During April and May 1970, 7 RAR took part in the task force level Operation Concrete which took place around Xuyen Moc with the aim of destroying the VC D445 Battalion.

[20] Throughout June 1970 and February 1971, 1 ATF undertook a four-phased pacification operation known as Cung Chung in concert with South Vietnamese forces.

[2] During one such operation on the night of 30 December 1970 Headquarters 'B' Company, 7 RAR and four APCs from 3rd Cavalry Regiment were engaged by a large group of VC.

[2] For its second tour, members of 7 RAR received the following decorations: one DSO, two MBEs, two MCs, two MMs, five MIDs and one British Empire Medal.

[17] Casualties included 17 killed and 89 wounded, many of them caused by mines lifted by the VC from the controversial barrier minefield laid previously by the Australians at Dat Do.

[1] Upon return to Australia the battalion commenced the process of reforming under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Ian Mackay, in preparation for an expected third tour of South Vietnam in mid-1972.

[25] The M113 armoured personnel carrier was first introduced in 1976, and 5/7 RAR officially adopted the "mechanised" suffix in June 1984 and has been a significant part of the battalion's heritage ever since.

[26] The unit deployed on operational service with the vehicles during INTERFET in East Timor in 1999 and maintained a QRF presence with M113s in Timor-Leste from 2006 to 2009.

The ceremonial handover took place at Robertson Barracks, where one of the vehicles on display was fitted with extra armour, spall curtains and track shrouds.

[27] On 24 August 2006, Prime Minister John Howard announced that there would be an expansion of the Australian regular infantry by two battalions, as part of the Enhanced Land Force plan.

[30] The battalion contributed a mechanised platoon to two rotations of the ANZAC Battle Group deployment to Timor in 2007 and 2008 as part of Operation Astute.

[31] In 2008–09, elements of the battalion deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Slipper, forming the basis for the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force (MRTF-1).

[40] With Bushmaster PMVs and Light Armoured Vehicles, 1 RTF was able to secure the job sites incorporated into its expanded role.

[45] Through the Afghan winter and into the traditional summer fighting season, 7 RAR Task Group supported the 4th ANA Brigade in its conduct of more than 13 independent brigade-level operations, maintaining pressure on the insurgency.

[50] Under Land 400 phase 3, 7 RAR will become the sole Mechanised Infantry Battalion for the Australian Army equipped with AS IFV Redback.

[55] The marches of each sub-unit are as follows:[2] During Operation Santa Fe in October and November 1967, 7th Battalion conducted a search and destroy task in the north east of Phouc Tuy Province.

Subsequently, the CO, Lieutenant Colonel Eric Smith, decided that the bed would be best put to use as a map table on which to plot his callsigns from his command post.

[citation needed] Graham Cornes OAM (born 31 March 1948 in Melbourne, Victoria) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach, as well as a media personality.

An annual football match is played between 7 RAR and 16th Air Land Regiment for the Graham Cornes trophy, in recognition of his service to the battalion, AFL, and the nation.