Training Centurion tank drivers at the Royal Australian Armoured Corps' Armoured Centre at Puckapunyal, Victoria, was carried out using a standard gun tank for the majority of the type's service career, but the maximum number of trainees that could be comfortably and safely carried was only three. These occupied the normal crew positions, with the instructor as the crew commander. The use of a fully equipped gun tank just for driver training was not ideal, but as there was no dedicated variant, it was the only option available. By 1973, a replacement for the Centurion was under consideration, and a new fleet of modern armoured vehicles was within the foreseeable future. There was also a surplus of Centurions tanks for peace-time requirements. Indeed, there was no urgency to undertake the base overhaul of all the tanks that had been returned from South Vietnam in September 1971, with several of those still held in storage in the same state as they had arrived back in Australia.
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