Royal Lao Army

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Royal Lao Army
Armée royale du Laos
ກອງທັບລາດຊະອານາຈັກລາວ
PSYWAR
Raiding
Reconnaissance
Screening
Security checkpoint
Tracking
Size35,000 (at height)
Part ofRoyal Lao Armed Forces
Garrison/HQPhone Kheng (Vientiane)
Nickname(s)RLA (ARL in French)
Anniversaries1 July – RLA Day
EngagementsFirst Indochina War
Laotian Civil War
Vietnam War
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Sounthone Pathammavong
Phoumi Nosavan
Ouane Rattikone
Kouprasith Abhay

The Royal Lao Army (Lao: ກອງທັບລາດຊະອານາຈັກລາວ; French: Armée royale du Laos – ARL), also designated by its anglicized title RLA, was the land component of the Royal Lao Armed Forces (FAR), the official military of the Kingdom of Laos during the North Vietnamese invasion of Laos and the Laotian Civil War between 1960 and 1975.

History

Main article: List of military operations of the Laotian Civil War

The ARL traced back its origins to

Free French agents who had been trained in special jungle warfare by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) in India and were subsequently parachuted into Indochina in December 1944 with the aim of creating a local anti-Japanese resistance network. Under the command of their Free French cadres, the battalion's Laotian soldiers engaged in guerrilla actions alongside the irregular 'Maquisards' against the Japanese occupation forces in Laos until Japan's surrender on August 15, 1945. In November of that same year, the various Laotian guerrilla groups were consolidated into four regular light infantry battalions and, together with the 1st BCL, integrated into the newly-founded French Union Army.[2][3]

Meanwhile, confronted in early May 1945 with the Allied Powers' victory over Nazi Germany and sensing their own imminent defeat, the Japanese military authorities in Laos began stirring up local anti-French nationalistic sentiments. In October of that year, a group of supporters of Laotian independence led by Prince Phetsarath Ratanavongsa deposed King Sisavang Vong and announced the formation of a new government body, the Committee for Independent Laos (Lao: ຄະນະ ກຳ ມາທິການເພື່ອປະເທດລາວອິດສະຫຼະ, romanized: Khana kam mathikan pheu pathedlav idsara) or Khana Lao Issara and Lao Issara for short.[4] Taking advantage of the temporary absence of French authority in the country's main cities, the Lao Issara promptly established an armed defense force to exercise its authority with the support of Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh Hanoi-based government in the Tonkin and the Nationalist Chinese. The Lao Issara "Army" was essentially a lightly armed militia force, provided with a mixed assortment of small-arms captured from the Japanese, looted from French colonial depots, or sold by the Chinese Nationalist Army troops who occupied northern Laos under the terms of the 1945 Potsdam Conference.

The National Laotian Army 1946–1955

In early

counter-insurgency operations against remnant bands of Lao Issara insurgents over the next three years, assuming responsibility for internal security duties in the areas located along the Thai border.[citation needed] Later in May that year, the French established the Laotian Gendarmerie, a paramilitary force of 1,200 men, which was placed in 1947 under the nominal command of the King.[5]

However, faced with the potential threat posed by the growing Viet Minh insurgency in neighbouring Vietnam, the French instituted on July 1, 1949, a separated National Laotian Army (Armée Nationale Laotiènne – ANL) of the French Union to defend Laos.[6] Its formation actually began earlier in 1947, with the creation of the Land Forces of Laos (Forces Terrestres du Laos – FTL), a gathering of several indigenous irregular auxiliary units made of ex-Lao Issara guerrillas raised early by the French to reinforce their regular CEFEO units.[7]

The process of formation of the new Laotian army started on March 23, 1950, when its first regular units were raised, consisting of light infantry battalions officered by the French. By

October 1951, the ANL added two more battalions of infantry and begun training a Paratrooper battalion.[8] The ANL ended the year with a strength of 5,091 officers and enlisted men,[9] though it was plagued by lack of Laotian leadership, and its weaponry was a hodge-podge.[10] To alleviate this problem, the French began training Laotian officers and non-commissioned officers even as they continued to lead and train the new army. By the end of 1952, the ANL had been expanded to include a battalion of troops commanded by Laotian officers, as well as 17 other companies,[11] which were subsequently integrated with the FTL and the BCLs on July 16, 1954, into the new Laotian army, whose strength rose to 25,000 men.[12]

In July 1959, the ANL, the Laotian Navy, and the Laotian Aviation were gathered into the newly created Laotian Armed Forces (Forces Armées Laotiènnes – FAL), renamed Royal Lao Armed Forces (Forces Armées du Royaume – FAR) in September 1961.[13]

Structure

The chain of command of the Royal Lao Army was placed under the Ministry of Defense in Vientiane. The country was divided into five military regions, roughly corresponding to the areas of the country's 13 provinces.[14]

To meet the threat represented by the

Operation White Star trainers, the instructors found that 19 out of 20 Laotian soldiers had fewer than three years of education.[18]

Field organization 1959–1970

An Auto Defense de Choc (ADC) Hmong guerrilla company assembles at Phou Vieng, Spring 1961.

Laotian National Army strength in May 1959 peaked at 29,000 officers and enlisted men organized into twelve independent battalions – ten infantry (Bataillons d'Infanterie) and two airborne (Bataillons de Parachutistes – BP) – plus one armored regiment and an artillery group (1ér Groupe d'Artillerie). A Laotian regular infantry battalion was organized according to the French Army model into a battalion headquarters (HQ), three company HQs and three rifle companies. Long-standing major formations above battalion level, such as Regiments, Half-brigades (Demi-brigades), Brigades or even Divisions, were virtually nonexistent at the time. Instead, from

Mekong River valley.[20] The Mobile Groups' structure was retained until August 1968, when all GMs in the Laotian ground forces were abolished – the GMs 801 and 802 were not disbanded until the following year – and replaced by independent battalions.[21]

The regular units were supplemented by eighteen Regional Battalions (Bataillons Regionales), eighteen Volunteer Battalions (Bataillons de Voluntaires), and 247 irregular Commando Self-Defense village militia companies (Auto Defense de Choc – ADC). However, in November 1965 the Volunteer Battalions were disbanded and merged with the Regional Battalions,[22] whilst the rural ADC militia companies were grouped with the irregular GM B to form the CIA-sponsored Special Guerrilla Units (SGUs).[23] Renamed the Royal Lao Army in

counter-insurgency
operations, and consequently its conventional military value was very low.

The earlier ANL support units, such as the

Military Fuel/Petrol, Oil and Lubricants – POL (Service de Essence), Military justice (Justice Militaire), Psychological warfare (Guerre Psychologique) and Military intelligence (Renseignement Militaire), all placed under the responsibility of the Service Directorates subordinated to the Ministry of National Defense.[24]
A uniformed female auxiliary service, the Royal Laotian Women's Army Corps – RLWAC (Corps Feminine de l'Armée Royale du Laos – CFARL), was established in the early 1960s, whose members served in the RLA on administrative, staff, communications, political warfare, medical and other non-combatant duties.

Re-organization 1971–73

Following the

Mekong River,[19] relinquishing all offensive operations to the Paratrooper battalions, Commando units, the irregular ethnic SGUs, the Project "Unity" Thai volunteer battalions and the Royal Lao Air Force (RLAF). This move however, placed an additional heavy burden on these already overstretched elite formations that actually did most of the fighting. By December 1968, total Royal Lao Army strength stood at 45,000 troops on paper, but is estimated that the actual number was no less than 30,000-35,000, with its combat elements organized solely into fifty-eight independent light infantry battalions, one armoured regiment comprising three recce squadrons and one tank squadron,[25]
and a single artillery regiment consisting of four artillery battalions.

In 1971, with the

Vietnamisation process in full swing in South Vietnam, a similar effort was attempted towards making the RLA a more effective, self-sufficient force. Following a US Army system of organization, the regular infantry battalions were consolidated into two light divisions, formally created on March 23, 1972, and locally designated as "Strike Divisions" (Divisions d'Intervention). Based at Luang Prabang, the 1st Strike Division (1ér Division d'Intervention) commanded by Brigadier general Bounchanh Savathphayphane, was tasked with operations in northern Laos whilst the 2nd Strike Division (2éme Division d'Intervention), commanded by Brig. Gen. Thao Ty and based at Seno near Savannakhet, was oriented towards the south.[26]

As stipulated by the January 1973 Paris Peace Accords, the old ethnic SGU guerrilla forces were scheduled for integration into the RLA. However, most guerrillas – in particular those from the Hmong hill tribes – felt unwelcome in the regular army, still dominated as it was by the Lowland Lao, who were highly prejudiced towards the country's ethnic minorities. In addition, the decreasing in pay and other privileges sharply dulled the cutting edge of what had been an effective fighting force, and left them incapable of halting the takeover of the country by the Pathet Lao.[27]

Final operations 1974–75

By late 1974 a thinning of RLA ranks forced the FAR High Command to replace the two ineffective strike divisions by a series of smaller, understrength brigades. These were maintained until May 1975, when the Pathet Lao entered Vientiane and dissolved the FAR.[26]

List of ANL and Royal Lao Army commanders

Major general Phoumi Nosavan, c.1960.
PEO adviser Jack F. Mathews with then Major Vang Pao, commander of the 10éme Bataillon de Infanterie (10 BI), at Nong Net, July 1960.

Notable field commanders

Elite Forces

Weapons and equipment

Throughout its existence, the Royal Laotian Army received military assistance mainly from France and the United States, who provided since the late 1940s and mid-1950s respectively everything that the RLA used, from uniforms and boots to rifles, artillery and vehicles.

Small-arms

During the

Luger P08,[32] Walther P38,[37] or Colt.45 M1911A1
pistols.

After 1955, the ANL began the process of standardisation on U.S. equipment. Airborne units took delivery of the

L1A1 SLR Assault rifle were acquired from the British for evaluation, but they were never adopted as standard weapons by the RLA. The Carl Gustaf m/45 submachine gun was provided in small numbers by the Americans, eventually finding its way into the irregular SGU units.[41]
In 1969 secret deliveries of the CAR-15 carbine, the M16A1 assault rifle and M60 machine gun[42] arrived in Laos, and were initially only given to the Laotian Royal Guard and airborne units; standardisation to the CAR-15, the M16 and M60 in the RLA and the irregular SGUs was completed by 1971.[43]

ANL and RLA infantry, airborne, and commando formations were equipped with a variety of crew-served weapons.

M29 81mm, M2 4.2-inch (107mm), M30 4.2 inch (106.7mm) models. They also received M18A1 57mm,[36] M20 75mm, M67 90mm and M40A1 106mm recoilless rifles. In addition, individual portable rocket weapons were issued, in the form of the shoulder-fired M20A1 3.5 inch Super Bazooka,[44] M79 "Blooper", XM-148[42] and M203 single-shot grenade launchers, and the expendable anti-tank, one-shot M72 LAW 66mm.[45]

Captured infantry weapons of Soviet and Chinese origin, such as

anti-tank rocket launchers were also employed by elite commando units and the irregular SGUs while on special operations in the enemy-held areas of north-eastern and south-eastern Laos.[49]

Armoured vehicles

By the mid-1950s, the ANL armoured corps inventory consisted of fifteen M24 Chaffee light tanks[50] whilst the reconnaissance armoured squadron was provided with twenty M8 Greyhound and M20 Armoured Utility Cars.[40] Mechanized infantry battalions were issued with M3 half-tracks and fifteen M3A1 Scout Cars.[40][51] These obsolete armored vehicles were used mainly for convoy escort duty and static defense of local provincial capitals, being rarely engaged in more offensive operations against the Pathet Lao or the NVA.[52]

The Neutralists received in December 1961 forty-five PT-76 Model 1951 amphibious light tanks from the Soviet Union, with the vehicles being subsequently taken into RLA service in 1963 and employed on offensive operations, only to be withdrawn from frontline service in November of the following year due to shortages of spare parts and ammunition. In August 1969, during the Operation About Face to recapture the Plain of Jars, the irregular Hmong SGU guerrilla forces managed to capture from the NVA some twenty-five PT-76B tanks and immediately pressed them into service, being subsequently engaged in the 1970 wet season offensive in the Plain of Jars, but once again maintenance problems soon rendered the vehicles inoperable.[48][53]

The FAR General Staff then requested the delivery of modern M41 Walker Bulldog light tanks to the RLA armoured corps in order to provide better armor support to the Hmong SGU guerrillas, but the request was declined by Washington, who provided instead in 1970-71 some second-hand fifteen M-706 armoured cars[54][55][25][56] and twenty tracked M113 armored personnel carriers.[57][58]

Artillery

Initially equipped with ten ex-French

M114A1 155mm towed field howitzers received in 1969.[58]
The RLA suffered from a serious fire-support shortfall throughout the War, since its small artillery corps was incapable to counter effectively the threat posed by the Soviet 122mm and 130mm long-range towed howitzers employed from 1970 onwards by the NVA and the Pathet Lao, as they outranged the US-made pieces.

Transport and liaison vehicles

RLA Willys M38 MC jeep and a Jeepster Commando hardtop SUV parked at Luang Prabang airfield, 1967.
RLA M35A2 truck carrying Pathet Lao soldiers in Vientiane, 1973.

Logistics were the responsibility of the transport corps, equipped with a variety of liaison and transportation vehicles handed down by the French or supplied by the Americans. The early ANL motor pool in the mid-1950s consisted in a mixed inventory of WWII-vintage U.S.

Sport utility vehicles (SUV), Dodge M37 ¾-ton (4x4) 1953 utility trucks, M35A2 2½-ton (6x6) cargo trucks[60][59] and M809 5-ton (6x6) cargo trucks.[59]

RLA uniforms and insignia

The Royal Lao Army owed its origin and traditions to the Laotian colonial ANL and CEFEO troops on French service of the First Indochina War, and even after the United States took the role as the main foreign sponsor for the Royal Laotian Armed Forces at the beginning of the 1960s, French military influence was still perceptible in their uniforms and insignia.

Service dress uniforms

Upon its formation at the early 1950s, ANL units were initially outfitted as were French CEFEO troops of the period – the basic Laotian Army working dress for all-ranks was the French Army's M1945 tropical light khaki cotton shirt and pants (Tenue de toile kaki clair Mle 1945). Modelled after the World War II

US Army tropical "Chino" working dress, it consisted of a shirt with a six-buttoned front, two patch breast pockets closed by clip-cornered straight flaps and shoulder straps; the short-sleeved M1946 shirt (Chemisette kaki clair Mle 1946), which had two pleated breast pockets closed by pointed flaps, or the "Chino"-style M1949 (Chemisette kaki clair Mle 1949) could be worn as an alternative in hot weather. Both shirt models' were worn with the matching M1945 pants, which featured two pleats at the front hips; the M1946 khaki shorts (Culotte courte kaki clair Mle 1946) do not appear to have been much favoured by the Laotians. The "Chino" working uniform was initially furnished by France and later by the US aid programs[61]
(together with locally produced copies), continued to be worn by RLA officers and enlisted men as a service dress or for walking-out with a khaki tie.

A French-style, colonial-era white summer cotton dress uniform was initially worn by ANL officers for formal occasions, replaced in 1954 by an almost identical light khaki cotton version first adopted by senior officers serving in the ANL General Staff, and continued to be worn by their FAR successors until 1975. The new khaki dress consisted of an eight-buttoned tunic with a standing collar, provided with two breast pockets and two side pockets, all unpleated and closed by clip-cornered straight flaps, worn with matching khaki slacks. The tunic's front fly and pocket flaps were secured by gilt metal buttons bearing the FAR wreathed "Vishnu" trident.[61]

RLA Officers continued to wear the standard ANL summer service dress uniform in khaki cotton, which was patterned after the French Army M1946/56 khaki dress uniform (French: Vareuse d'officier Mle 1946/56 et Pantalon droit Mle 1946/56). The open-collar jacket had two pleated breast pockets closed by pointed flaps and two unpleated at the side closed by straight ones whilst the sleeves had false turnbacks; the front fly and pocket flaps were secured by gilt buttons. It was worn with a Khaki shirt and black tie on service dress.

French General Raoul Salan and the Lao Prince Sisavang Vatthana inspecting an honour guard of the Laotian Royal Guard at left wearing their ceremonial dress uniform, Luang Prabang, 4 May 1953.

The Laotian Royal Guard (Garde Royale du Laos) were given a ceremonial dress uniform of French pattern, comprising a red kepi, white eight-buttoned cotton tunic with a standing collar and red fringed epaulettes, plus red cotton trousers with a line of gold braid down the outer side-seams.

Fatigue and field uniforms

The standard ANL field dress during the Indochina War was the French all-arms M1947 drab green fatigues (Treillis de combat Mle 1947),

M1942 windproof pattern brushstroke camouflage Denison Smocks.[26][64] Such early camouflage fatigues were gradually phased out from the early 1950s in favour of French-designed Lizard (Ténue Leopard) camouflage M1947/51, M1947/52 and M1947/53-54 TAP jump-smocks and M1947/52 TTA vests with matching trousers.[65][38]

By the mid-1960s, RLA units in the field were using a wide variety of uniforms depending on availability from foreign aid sources, namely the U.S., Thailand, and South Vietnam. The old French M1947 fatigues soon gave way to the US Army OG-107 jungle utilities, which was adopted as standard field dress by all the Laotian military regular and paramilitary irregular forces; M1967 Jungle Utility Uniforms also came into use in 1970-71. Local variants of the OG-107 fatigues often featured modifications to the original design – shirts with shoulder straps, two "cigarrete pockets" closed by buttoned straight flaps on both upper sleeves, or a pen pocket added on the left sleeve above the elbow, an affection common to all Laotian, South Vietnamese and Cambodian military officers, and additional side "cargo" pockets on the trousers. Olive green US M-1951 field jackets were sometimes worn by RLA and irregular SGU personnel.[66]

Camouflage was very popular among the Laotian military. Airborne formations continued to wear

Tigerstripe patterns from the United States, Thailand (Thai Tadpole and the so-called 'Rubber' Tigerstripe variant) and South Vietnam (Tadpole Sparse) and finally, by Highland
patterns (ERDL 1948 Leaf pattern or "Woodland pattern"), the latter being either supplied by the same sources or locally produced.

Headgear

ANL officers received a service peaked cap copied after the French M1927 pattern (Casquette d'officier Mle 1927) with a lacquered black leather peak in both light khaki and white summer versions (the latter with gold embroidered flame decoration on the black cap band for general officers), to wear with the khaki service dress and the white high-collared full dress uniforms, respectively. The peaked caps were worn with the standard gilt metal ANL cap device, a wreathed Airavata crest bearing the Laotian Royal Arms – a three-headed white elephant standing on a pedestal and surmounted by a pointed parasol – set on a black cloth teardrop-shaped background patch. Upon the creation of the

sidecaps (Bonnet de police de toile kaki clair Mle 1946 and Bonnet de police de toile kaki clair Mle 1957) were also worn by all-ranks. The Laotian Royal Guards received a French-style red kepi
with a straight lacquered black leather peak and gold braid chinstrap to wear with their ceremonial full dress uniform.

Royal Lao Armed Forces cap badge 1961-75

The most common headgear for the ANL personnel during the 1950s was the French M1946 "Gourka" tropical beret (Bérét de toile kaki clair Mle 1946), made of light khaki cotton cloth,[68] but later the RLA standardized on a beret pattern whose design was based on the French M1953/59 model (Bérét Mle 1953/59); it was made of wool in either one or two pieces, attached to a black leather rim with two black tightening straps at the back. In the FAR, berets were still being worn pulled to the left in typical French fashion, with the color sequence for the ground forces as follows: General Service –

maroon; Armoured Cavalry – black; Military Police – dark blue
. Berets made of camouflage cloth in the "Duck hunter", "Leopard", "Tigerstripe" and "Highland" patterns were also used in the field, particularly by elite units within the RLA and by the irregular SGU formations. According to the 1959 regulations, General Service and corps' berets were worn with the standard RLA beret badge placed above the right eye. Issued in gilt metal for officers and in silver metal for the rank-and-file, it consisted of a
Buddhist "Wheel of Law" (Chakra) whose design recalled a circular saw.[69]
There were however exceptions to this rule, such as the Laotian airborne battalions who retained the silver winged dagger metal airborne beret badge modelled after the French pattern previously adopted in the early 1950s,[35] simply replacing the dagger by a Laotian trident after 1961.[31]

Laotian troops in the field could be encountered wearing a wide range of Khaki or OG jungle hats and patrol caps, ranging from

US Marines utility cap).[70] Camouflage versions of these headpieces also found their way into the RLA and the SGUs from the United States, Thailand and South Vietnam
, to which were soon added Laotian-made copies.

Steel helmets, in the form of the

fibreglass
US Combat Vehicle Crew (CVC) T-56-6 helmet (dubbed the "bone dome"), though neither models offered any satisfactory protection against shrapnel or small arms rounds.

Footwear

White low laced leather shoes were prescribed to wear the earlier ANL white cotton full dress, whilst brown ones were worn with the khaki service/work uniform for all-ranks and, after 1954 the latter were required for RLA officers wearing the new FAR officers’ khaki dress uniform on formal occasions. ANL personnel on the field initially wore a mixture of American and French regulation footwear, including brown leather US

M-1943 Combat Service Boots, French M1917 brown leather hobnailed ankle boots (Brodequins modéle 1917), French M1953 brown leather "Rangers" (Rangers modéle 1953) and French canvas-and-rubber Pataugas tropical boots;[62]
paratroopers received the calf-length French M1950 or M1950/53 TAP (Bottes de saut modéle 1950 et 1950/53) black leather jump-boot models. Black leather combat boots were also provided by the Americans who issued both the early US Army M-1962 "McNamara" model and the M-1967 model with "ripple" pattern rubbler sole; the highly prized US Army
South Vietnamese "Goalong" tropical boots were also worn in the south.[27][36]

Army ranks

Initially, ANL troops wore the same rank insignia as their French counterparts, whose sequence followed the French Army pattern defined by the 1956 regulations[72] until 1959, when the Royal Lao Army adopted a new distinctively Laotian-designed system of military ranks, which became in September 1961 the standard rank chart for all branches of service of the newly created Royal Lao Armed Forces.

Under the new regulations, officers were entitled to wear on their service or dress uniforms stiffened red shoulder boards (pattes d'épaule) edged with gold braid and a gold wreathed trident at the inner end. Junior officers (Officiers subalternes) added an appropriate number of five-pointed gold stars to their boards whilst field grade officers (Officiers supérieures) had a single lotus leaf rosette, plus an appropriate number of five-pointed gold stars. Field Marshals and General officers (Marechaux et Officiers Géneraux) had a gold leaf design around the lower half of their shoulder boards plus two or more five-pointed silver stars. Senior and junior NCOs (Sous-officiers) – including Private 1st class – wore cloth chevrons on both upper sleeves; enlisted men (Hommes de troupe) wore no insignia.

In the field, officers' shoulder boards were initially replaced by metal rank insignia pinned to simple rectangular red cloth tabs sewn over the right shirt or combat jacket pocket,[67] but some senior officers kept the custom of wearing instead a single chest tab (patte de poitrine) buttoned or pinned to the shirt's front fly following French Army practice.[73] By the late 1960s, an American-style system was adopted in which metal pin-on or embroidered cloth rank insignia – either in yellow-on-green full-colour or black-on-green subdued form – were worn on the right collar, though photographic evidence shows that officers on the field also had the habit of displaying their rank insignia on berets, baseball caps, bush hats and (more rarely) on steel helmets.[74]

Rank insignia

Royal Lao Army
Field marshal
Choum Phoun
General

Phoun Êek 		Lieutenant general
Phoun Thö 		Major general
Phoun Trïï 		Brigadier general
Phoun Chatäävä 		Colonel
Phan Êek
Lieutenant Colonel

Phan Thö 		Major
Phan Trïï
Captain

Loei Êek 		1st lieutenant
Loei Thö 		2nd lieutenant
Loei Trïï
Royal Lao Army No insignia
Sergeant major
Cãã Êek 		Master sergeant
Cãã Thó 		Sergeant 1st class
Cãã Trii 		Staff sergeant
Sip Êek 		Sergeant
Sip Thó 		Corporal
Sip Trii
Private 1st class

Sip 		Private
Sip

Branch insignia

RLA skill and trade badges also came in gilt metal and/or enamelled pin-on and cloth embroidered yellow or black-on-green subdued variants. On dress and service uniforms, they were worn on both collars by all-ranks if shoulder boards were worn, but in the field officers wore them on the left shirt collar only if worn alongside collar rank insignia; enlisted ranks usually wore branch insignia on both collars instead.[74]

Unit insignia

Yellow and subdued nametapes were occasionally worn above the right shirt or jacket pocket on field dress; plastic nameplates were worn with the service and dress uniforms. Elite formations such as the Special Commando Company of the 2nd RLA Strike Division had their unit designation printed over their left pocket.

See also

Notes

  1. doi:10.3917/gmcc.230.0005
    .
  2. ^ Conboy and Greer, War in Laos, 1954-1975 (1994), p. 5.
  3. ^ Conboy & Morrison, Shadow War: The CIA's Secret War in Laos (1995), p. 2.
  4. ^ "History of Laos - the official website for Visit Laos Years 1999-2000". Archived from the original on 2008-07-05. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
  5. ISBN 978-0-8248-7512-1
    .
  6. ^ Laos, 1948-1989; Part 1: A Failed Experiment – http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_347.shtml
  7. ^ Bodin, Michel (March 2019). "Naissance et développement des armées nationales cambodgienne et laotienne, 1946-1950" (PDF). Soldats de France (in French). No. 12.
  8. ^ Conboy and Greer, War in Laos (1994), pp. 4-5.
  9. ^ Conboy & Morrison, Shadow War: The CIA's Secret War in Laos (1995), p. 4.
  10. ^ Conboy & Morrison, Shadow War: The CIA's Secret War in Laos (1995), pp. 3-4.
  11. ^ http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query2/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+la0030)
  12. ^ Bodin, Michel (March 2019). "Naissance et développement des armées nationales cambodgienne et laotienne, 1946-1950" (PDF). Soldats de France (in French). No. 12.
  13. ^ Conboy and Greer, War in Laos 1954-1975 (1994), pp. 5-7; 13.
  14. ^ Conboy and McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960-75 (1989), p. 4.
  15. ^ Conboy and McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960-75 (1989), pp. 24; 33.
  16. ^ Castle, At War in the Shadow of Vietnam (1993), pp. 9-12; 15-19.
  17. ^ Ahern, Undercover Armies: CIA and Surrogate Warfare in Laos (2006), pp. 52; 55.
  18. ^ Anthony and Sexton, The War in Northern Laos (1993), p. 12.
  19. ^ a b Conboy and McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960-75 (1989), p. 12.
  20. ^ Conboy and Greer, War in Laos 1954–1975 (1994), p. 14.
  21. ^ Conboy and McCouaig, South-East Asian Special Forces (1991), p. 18.
  22. ^ Conboy and McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960-75 (1989), pp. 12-13.
  23. ^ Conboy and Morrison, Shadow War: The CIA's Secret War in Laos (1995), pp. 97–99.
  24. ^ Sananikone, The Royal Lao Army and U.S. Army advice and support (1981), pp. 169-173.
  25. ^ a b Grandolini, Armor of the Vietnam War (2): Asian Forces (1998), p. 13.
  26. ^ a b c Conboy and McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960-75 (1989), p. 13.
  27. ^ a b Conboy and McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960-75 (1989), p. 19.
  28. ^ Sananikone, The Royal Lao Army and U.S. Army advice and support (1981), p. 30.
  29. ^ Conboy and Morrison, Shadow War: The CIA's Secret War in Laos (1995), pp. 3-4.
  30. ^ "Post-WWII use of the MAS-36 rifle: Part II (export users)". wwiiafterwwii.wordpress.com. 2015-08-23. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
  31. ^ a b Conboy and McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960-75 (1989), p. 15.
  32. ^ a b Conboy and McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960-75 (1989), p. 38.
  33. Bonn International Center for Conversion; Bundeswehr Verification Center. "Sten MP"
    . SALW Guide: Global distribution and visual identification.
  34. ^ Conboy and McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960-75 (1989), p. 36.
  35. ^ a b c Conboy and McCouaig, South-East Asian Special Forces (1991), p. 8.
  36. ^ a b c Conboy and Greer, War in Laos 1954–1975 (1994), p. 12.
  37. ^ Walter, Walther Pistols – PP, PPK and P 38 (2022), pp. 68-70.
  38. ^ a b Conboy and Greer, War in Laos 1954–1975 (1994), p. 9.
  39. ^ Thompson, The M1 Carbine (2011), p. 67.
  40. ^ a b c Conboy and Greer, War in Laos 1954–1975 (1994), p. 18.
  41. ^ Conboy and McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960-75 (1989), p. 46.
  42. ^ a b c Conboy and Greer, War in Laos 1954–1975 (1994), p. 59.
  43. ^ Conboy and McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960-75 (1989), pp. 15-21.
  44. ^ Conboy and Greer, War in Laos 1954–1975 (1994), p. 39.
  45. ^ Conboy and McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960-75 (1989), p. 43.
  46. ^ Conboy and Greer, War in Laos 1954–1975 (1994), pp. 10; 18.
  47. ^ Rottman, The AK-47 Kalashnikov-series assault rifles (2011), p. 78.
  48. ^ a b Conboy and Greer, War in Laos 1954–1975 (1994), p. 34.
  49. ^ Conboy and McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960-75 (1989), pp. 41-42.
  50. ^ Zaloga and Laurier, M24 Chaffee Light Tank 1943–85 (2003), p. 22.
  51. ^ Grandolini, Armor of the Vietnam War (2): Asian Forces (1998), p. 12.
  52. ^ Grandolini, Armor of the Vietnam War (2): Asian Forces (1998), p. 20.
  53. ^ Grandolini, Armor of the Vietnam War (2): Asian Forces (1998), pp. 13; 27.
  54. ^ Conboy and Greer, War in Laos 1954–1975 (1994), pp. 40; 63.
  55. ^ Conboy and Morrison, Shadow War: The CIA's Secret War in Laos (1995), p. 290.
  56. ^ Lathrop, McDonald and Laurier, Cadillac Cage V-100 Commando 1960-71 (2002), p. 38.
  57. ^ Christopher F. Foss, Jane's Tank & Combat Vehicle recognition guide (2002), p. 215.
  58. ^ a b SIPRI Arms Transfers Database
  59. ^ a b c "Annex C Appendix II". US Army Technical Manual of Foreign Military Sales: Battlefield Damage Assessment and Repair (PDF). Washington, D.C. 18 December 1987. p. 262. TM 9-2320-356-BD. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2013.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  60. ^ Conboy and Greer, War in Laos 1954–1975 (1994), pp. 63-64.
  61. ^ a b c Conboy and McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960-75 (1989), p. 40, Plate B3.
  62. ^ a b Conboy and Greer, War in Laos 1954–1975 (1994), p. 6.
  63. ^ Conboy and McCouaig, South-East Asian Special Forces (1991), p. 6.
  64. ^ Conboy and Greer, War in Laos 1954–1975 (1994), p. 7.
  65. ^ Conboy and McCouaig, South-East Asian Special Forces (1991), pp. 7-8.
  66. ^ Conboy and McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960-75 (1989), p. 44.
  67. ^ a b Conboy and McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960-75 (1989), p. 3.
  68. ^ Dutrône and Roques, L'Escadron Parachutiste de la Garde Sud-Vietnam, 1947-1951 (2001), p. 14, photo caption 1.
  69. ^ "The Secret War in Laos - About Laos". Archived from the original on October 16, 2021.
  70. ^ Conboy, FANK: A History of the Cambodian Armed Forces, 1970-1975 (2011), p. 278.
  71. ^ Conboy and McCouaig, South-East Asian Special Forces (1991), p. 7.
  72. ^ Gaujac, Officiers et soldats de l'armée française d'après le TTA 148 (1943-1956) (2011), pp. 38-45.
  73. ^ Lassus, Les marques de grade de l'armée française, 1945-1990 (1er partie-introduction) (1998), pp. 12-15.
  74. ^ a b Conboy and McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960-75 (1989), p. 14.

References

Secondary sources

External links
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