Army of the Republic of Viet Nam

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The main ground force of the Republic of Viet Nam in the Vietnam War, was commonly called the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN). There were smaller separate Air Force (e.g., RVNAF) and Navy branches, but ARVN was used generically for the RVN armed forces as well as for the Army. Its major U.S. counterpart headquarters was Military Assistance Command, Vietnam.

To varying extents, some of the leadership came from roles in the French military, or from groups that resisted the World War II Japanese invasion.

Command

  • Joint General Staff

Ground forces and organization

An early structure, before large buildups, included: [1]

  • Three corps headquarters and a special military district:
    • I Corps at Da Nang for the northern and central areas; the Central Highlands were separate
    • II Corps at Pleiku for the Central Highlands provinces
    • III Corps at Saigon for the southern part of the country; this later split off IV Corps for the Mekong Delta
    • Saigon city special military district.
  • Seven divisions of 10,450 men
    • three infantry regiments
    • artillery battalion
    • mortar battalion
    • engineer battalion
    • company-size support elements
  • Airborne group of five battalion groups
  • four armored cavalry "regiments" (approximately the equivalent of a U.S. Army cavalry squadron)
    • one squadron (U.S. troop) of M24 light tanks
    • two squadrons of M8 self-propelled 75-mm. howitzers
  • Eight independent artillery battalions with U.S. 105-mm, and 155-mm. pieces.

ARVN forces in the field were organized as four Corps, although these were geographically organized tactical zones rather than the more common use of corps as an operational headquarters commanding several divisions.

Special units

Rangers, Airborne, and Marines were elite troops under headquarters control; there were small specialized units such as the LDNN (combat divers, comparable to U.S. Navy SEALs of the Navy.

The Lac Luong Dac Biet, Vietnamese Special Forces did have a conceptual politicomilitary and village-oriented function similar to United States Army Special Forces, but, especially under Diem, they acted as a political police. Even so, there were competent individuals that improved specific situations. Later, they worked with

Navy

The Vietnamese Navy operated small coastal and river patrol craft.

They had a small but competent naval special operations unit modeled after the United States Navy SEALs, the Lien Doc Nguoi Nhia (LDNN).

Air Force

References

  1. ↑ Collins, James Lawton, Jr., Chapter I: The Formative Years, 1950-1959, Vietnam Studies: The Development and Training of the South Vietnamese Army, 1950-1972, pp. 9-10
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