3 June 2025
Australian Army psychologists delivered a two-day mental health pre-deployment training package to Vietnam People’s Army medical personnel soon to deploy on a United Nations peacekeeping operation in South Sudan.
The pilot package was the first time Australia had delivered mental health training to Vietnamese military personnel and builds on an already significant relationship focused on pre-deployment training, education and cooperation with Vietnam’s peacekeepers.
More than 80 members of Vietnam’s Level-2 Field Hospital Rotation 7 undertook the training at Military Hospital 175 in Ho Chi Minh City on May 20 and 21.
The medical officers attended seminars that leveraged the ADF mental health continuum, including how to prepare for their upcoming deployment, the importance of peer support, how to recognise signs of mental distress, and tools to improve mental health and psychological resilience.
Director of Vietnam’s Military Hospital 175, Major General Tran Quoc Viet, said it was the first time Vietnam had included dedicated mental health seminars in their pre-deployment training.
Major General Tran Quoc Viet said peacekeeping missions were challenging, stressful and could be dangerous places, with many associated risks.
“That is why preparing for physical and mental health is very important,” he said.
“Preparing mentally before and during the mission will help our peacekeepers stay strong and continue their service.”
Vietnam’s Level-2 Field Hospital Rotation 7 will provide intensive care to peacekeepers and refugees in the northern city of Bentiu. The UN Mission in South Sudan was established to protect civilians, monitor human rights, and create stable conditions for elections after civil war.
Australian Army psychologist Major Caroline Anderson said it was an honour to present the workshops and training seminars with her colleague Captain Brendan Nguyen.
'Preparing mentally before and during the mission will help our peacekeepers stay strong and continue their service.'
Major Anderson, who deployed to the Middle East in 2016-17, empathised with her Vietnamese counterparts.
“Mental health is still a challenging topic in Australian culture. It’s easy to talk about being sick when you have a cold or flu, but it can be very challenging to talk about matters of the mind,” Major Anderson said.
“Especially in the armed forces, we tend to be very strong and stoic and we don’t like to be vulnerable, but mental health is very important because serving in the military can be very challenging.
“Mental health and wellbeing is everyone’s responsibility. All individuals, leaders, commanders, teams and health providers have a role to play in building a culture that empowers individual and collective mental health and wellbeing.”
First Secretary at the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, Chloe Maric, said Australia and Vietnam had been conducting peacekeeping cooperation for more than 10 years, and delivering education and training through the Defence Cooperation Program since 1999.
Australia has delivered training to Vietnam’s deploying UN peacekeeping contingents since Vietnam’s first deployment in 2014. Training for the deploying peacekeepers includes English language training, aeromedical evacuation training and, this year, pre-deployment training on mental health and rules of engagement.
This year, Australia is providing English language training to 68 deploying peacekeepers, of whom 26 per cent are women.
“Our engagement is maturing and it’s excellent to see that mental health is gaining some profile in the Vietnamese military,” Ms Maric said.
“This cooperation was made possible following the signing of the Australia-Vietnam Peacekeeping Partnership Arrangement in 2024 and the shared commitment to do more on military medicine.”
The mental health training was also delivered to about 200 personnel from the Engineering Company Rotation 4 in Hanoi. The engineers will deploy to the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei.
The training was delivered as part of Indo-Pacific Endeavour, one of Australia’s key flagship regional engagement programs.
