The 39th Operational Support Battalion (39 OSB) is a logistics and administrative unit in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

, which provides force preparation training and mounting support to individuals and specialist teams for

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Fo ...

operations. 39 OSB also sustains specified operations by providing first line administrative and logistic support to these deployed forces. The unit was renamed from its former title 39th (Personnel Support) Battalion (39 PSB) on 27 March 2014. 39 PSB was formerly known as the Deployed Forces Support Unit until being formally renamed at a special ceremony on 8 August 2006 at the

Shrine of Remembrance The Shrine of Remembrance (commonly referred to as The Shrine) is a war memorial in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Kings Domain on St Kilda Road. It was built to honour the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I, bu ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

. The unit perpetuates the name of the famous 39th Battalion, an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and m ...

battalion that fought during both

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, which played a significant part in the

Kokoda Track Campaign The Kokoda Track campaign or Kokoda Trail campaign was part of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign consisted of a series of battles fought between July and November 1942 in what was then the Australian Territory of Papua. It was prima ...

in 1942–43, fighting against the Japanese. It is a Tri-Service Direct Command Unit of Forces Command, and is based at

Randwick, New South Wales Randwick is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Ra ...

. It currently fills a variety of roles, including providing cultural and language training for soldiers deploying to Africa as part of UN peacekeeping operations.

References

Military units and formations established in 2006 Combat service support battalions of the Australian Army {{Australia-mil-stub