Sigs Tony Martens, Michael Heathwood and Chelena Ash, 104 Sig Sqn, near a US AMTRACK vehicle from WW2Photo by Capt Andrew Bird, 1JPAU

Milestone on Anode
104 Sig Sqn looks back to its beginings in Vietnam

From Capt Andrew Bird in Honiara
THE deployment of 160 Darwin-based 104 Sig Sqn personnel on Op Anode in the Solomon Islands is not only a first for some soldiers, but marks the first time the unit has deployed as a whole since Vietnam.

Raised in Vietnam in November 1965, 104 Sig Sqn assumed control of brigade communications in South Vietnam in 1967 before completing its tour in late 1971.

Over the next 33 years, the unit underwent a number of changes and moved from Wacol to Holsworthy where they held their last parade on October 22, 1996, before moving to their current location at Robertson Barracks, Darwin, and became fully operational in early 1997.

104 Sig Sqn was then absorbed into 1CSU as part the Restructuring of the Army (RTA) trials and was renamed "A Sqn" on January 1, 1998.

1CSU was a combination of 104 Sig Sqn, HQ Coy 1 Bde, 7 Int Coy, 72 EW Sqn and 11 MP Pl.

On May 18, 2001, the unit was re-born when 1CSU became 1 Command Support Regiment (1CSR).

1CSR today consists of Regimental Headquarters, 104 Sig Sqn and Support Sqn.

Currently, 104 Sig Sqn is deployed as the third rotation of the CIS Squadron element in Combined Task Force 635, where they provide invaluable Communications and Information Systems support.

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