Aboriginal soldiers put white fellas in the Outback shade

With a hand signal from lead scout Jeffrey Norman, the six-man patrol drops silently to its knees. Moments later automatic weapons fire crackles through the bush.

Lance Corporal Norman, a member of the Yanulla tribe, barks commands as the patrol returns fire before melting into the bush.

'Jeffrey spotted the enemy way before anyone else,' said Sergeant Darren Rashleigh, a soldier helping to train Australia's most unusual military unit at Gunn Point, 100km east of Darwin. 'These guys are so attuned to the bush, they can see things that white soldiers don't notice.'

Norforce is a largely Aboriginal regiment whose soldiers can live off the land for weeks at a time on 'bush tucker'.

For impoverished Aboriginals in Australia's north, employment and training with Norforce helps some young men who otherwise may find themselves sucked into a spiral of unemployment and alcoholism.

Aborigines are rarely seen in the ranks of Australia's regular defence force, but they make up 60 per cent of Norforce.

Driving stripped down Land Rovers or patrolling in inflatable boats, Norforce's 640 soldiers are expected to defend 1.8 million sq km of northern Australia - roughly the size of Queensland.