Republic of Vietnam Military Forces

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Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces
Quân lực Việt Nam Cộng hòa
Nguyen Van Thieu (1967–1975)
Chief of Joint General Staff	See list
Personnel
Active personnel	586,838
Deployed personnel	1,000,000 in 1972
Industry
Foreign suppliers	United States  Australia  New Zealand  Philippines  South Korea  Thailand
Related articles
History	Military history of Vietnam
Ranks	Ranks and insignia of the Republic of Vietnam

The Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces (RVNAF; Vietnamese: Quân lực Việt Nam Cộng hòa – QLVNCH), were the official armed defence forces of the defunct Republic of Vietnam and were responsible for the defence of the state and the republican regime since its independence from France on 26 October 1955 to its collapse from its northern communist counterparts and the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (Viet Cong) on 30 April 1975. The Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces day is celebrated in June 19th every years since 1965.

Branches

The QLVNCH (also known as the RVNAF) was formally established on December 30, 1955, by the strongman and republican first South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem, which he declared on October 26 that year after winning a rigged referendum^[1] on the future of the State of Vietnam. Created out from ex-French Union Army colonial Indochinese auxiliary units (French: Supplétifs), gathered earlier in July 1951 into the French-led Vietnamese National Army or VNA (Vietnamese: Quân Đội Quốc Gia Việt Nam – QĐQGVN), Armée Nationale Vietnamiènne (ANV) in French, the armed forces of the new state consisted in the mid-1950s of ground, air, and naval branches of service, respectively,the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces day is also celebrated (mostly by the overseas Vietnamese people) every years in 19 June

• Army of the Republic of Vietnam
  (ARVN)
• Republic of Vietnam Air Force
  (VNAF)
• Republic of Vietnam Navy including Marine Corps

Their roles were defined as follows: to protect the sovereignty of the free Vietnamese nation and that of the Republic; to maintain the political and social order and the rule of law by providing internal security; to defend the newly independent

regime and the other in the south under Diem's regime.

Command structure

Regional commands

The Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces consisted of four military corps (Quân đoàn) as follows:

I Corps headquartered in Da Nang, included five provinces: Tactical zone 11, including 2 provinces Quang Tri and Thua Thien Tactical zone 12, including 2 provinces Quang Tin and Quang Ngai Quang Nam Special Zone, including Quang Nam Province and Da Nang City

II Corps headquartered in Nha Trang, but the 2nd Army Corps Command is located in Pleiku (had to move to Nha Trang from mid-March 1975), included 12 provinces: Tactical Zone 22, including 3 provinces Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Phu Bon Tactical Zone 23, including 7 provinces Darlac, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Tuyen Duc, Quang Duc, Lam Dong and Cam Ranh city Special area 24, including 2 provinces Kon Tum and Pleiku

III Corps headquartered in Bien Hoa, include 10 provinces: Tactical Zone 31, including 3 provinces Tay Ninh, Hau Nghia, Long An Tactical zone 32, including 3 provinces Phuoc Long, Binh Long, Binh Duong Tactical Zone 33, including 4 provinces Binh Tuy, Phuoc Tuy, Long Khanh, Bien Hoa and Vung Tau city Capital Military District of Saigon - Gia Dinh

IV Corps headquartered in Can Tho, included 16 provinces: Dinh Tuong tactical zone, including 4 provinces Kien Tuong, Dinh Tuong, Go Cong, Kien Hoa Tactical Zone 41, including 7 provinces Kien Phong, Chau Doc, Vinh Long, Vinh Binh, An Giang, Kien Giang, Sa Dec Tactical Zone 42, including 5 provinces Phong Dinh, Chuong Thien, Ba Xuyen, Bac Lieu, An Xuyen

On July 1, 1970 the four Corps were redesignated as Corps Tactical Zones (CTZs).

See also

• Cambodian Civil War
• First Indochina War
• Khmer National Armed Forces
• Laotian Civil War
• Royal Lao Armed Forces
• Royal Thai Armed Forces
• Republic of Vietnam National Police
• Republic of Vietnam Marine Division
• Provincial Reconnaissance Unit
• South Vietnamese military ranks and insignia
• People's Army of Vietnam
• Vietnamese National Army
• Vietnam War
• Weapons of the Vietnam War

Notes

References

Further reading