Khmer National Armed Forces - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Khmer National Armed Forces (French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

: Forces Armées Nationales Khmères), often abbreviated to FANK, were the official armed defense forces of the Khmer Republic

Khmer Republic

The Khmer Republic or République Khmère, was the republican government of Cambodia that was formally declared on October 9, 1970. The Khmer Republic was disestablished in 1975 and was followed by the totalitarian communist state known as Democratic Kampuchea.-Background:Formally declared on October...

, a short-lived state that existed from 1970 to 1975, known today as Cambodia

Cambodia

Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

. The FANK was the successor of FARK (French

French language

: Forces Armées Royales Khmères) which had been responsible for the defense of the previous Kingdom of Cambodia since its independence in 1954 from France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

Being essentially a continuation of the old Royal armed forces under a new name, the FANK played a more partisan role in the Cambodian Civil War

Cambodian Civil War

The Cambodian Civil War was a conflict that pitted the forces of the Communist Party of Kampuchea and their allies the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Viet Cong against the government forces of Cambodia , which were supported by the United States and the Republic of Vietnam The Cambodian...

that escalated following the deposition as Head of State of Prince Norodom Sihanouk in 1970 by a coup d’état orchestrated by his own Prime-Minister General

General

A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

Lon Nol

Lon Nol was a Cambodian politician and general who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia twice, as well as serving repeatedly as Defense Minister...

. Though the armed forces of the Kingdom had been involved since April 1967 in the suppression of the Communist Party of Kampuchea

Communist Party of Kampuchea

The Communist Party of Kampuchea, also known as Khmer Communist Party , was a communist party in Cambodia. Its followers were generally known as Khmer Rouge .-Foundation of the party; first divisions:...

's rebellion led by Saloth Sar (better known as Pol Pot

Pol Pot

Saloth Sar , better known as Pol Pot, , was a Cambodian Maoist revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until his death in 1998. From 1976 to 1979, he served as the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea....

), up until Sihanouk's overthrow it was considered to have the consensual backing of the Cambodian society, as the Prince was considered the symbol of the people.

History

In 1953 the French protectorate of Cambodia

Cambodia

Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

was granted full independence by France

France

, allowing the young King Norodom Sihanouk

Norodom Sihanouk

Norodom Sihanouk regular script was the King of Cambodia from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 until his semi-retirement and voluntary abdication on 7 October 2004 in favor of his son, the current King Norodom Sihamoni...

to lead the government of the first post-colonial state in French-ruled Indochina

Indochina

The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...

. Under the terms of the Geneva Accords

Geneva accords

The Geneva Accords, known formally as the agreements on the settlement of the situation relating to Afghanistan, were signed on 14 April 1988 between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with the United States and the Soviet Union serving as guarantors....

signed the following year which ended the Indochina War, French Army

French Army

The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...

and Vietnamese Vietminh guerrilla units still operating in Cambodia were obliged to withdraw from its territory and that a new defense force was to be raised. Trained by the French and equipped by the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

since September 1950, the armed forces of the new Kingdom of Cambodia (FARK) were formed mainly by Khmer regular soldiers recently transferred from French colonial units, though ex-Vietminh guerrillas of Khmer origin were also allowed to join.

Most of the senior members of the Officer corps had been officials in the colonial regime. Lon Nol, for example, served as Commander of the Cambodian Police under the French protectorate. In 1955 Gen. Lon was promoted to Chief-of-Staff of the FARK, and in 1960 was appointed Minister of Defense. Under his command the FARK became a bastion of American influence on the Sihanouk regime, particularly because US military aid constituted 30% of the armed forces’ budget until 1964, when it was renounced by the Cambodian government. Following his faction's seizure of a large number of seats of the ruling Sangkum

Sangkum

The Sangkum Reastr Niyum , commonly known simply as the Sangkum, was a political organisation set up in 1955 by Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia...

party’s representation at the National Assembly

National Assembly

National Assembly is either a legislature, or the lower house of a bicameral legislature in some countries. The best known National Assembly, and the first legislature to be known by this title, was that established during the French Revolution in 1789, known as the Assemblée nationale...

in the 1966 general elections, Gen. Lon was elected Prime-Minister, thereby locking the state institutions under the firm grip of the military, just as Sihanouk had feared. However, he resigned from the post in 1967 after a car accident, only to return two years later when the monarch mounted a renewed purge against leftist dissidents.

As a representative of the conservative Khmer who had supported the French rule, Lon Nol never accepted Sihanouk's neutralist policy of non-alignment. Though the Prince's sporadic purges of leftist movements would quench Lon's wrath at the growing communist insurgency, what truly worried him was Sihanouk's covert deals with North Vietnam

North Vietnam

The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...

and the Viet Cong, which allowed them to establish base-camps on the Cambodian side of the border with South Vietnam and built a massive supply infrastructure. Lon also knew that Sihanouk's balancing appeasement of the US from 1968 onwards by allowing B-52 aerial bombings and ‘hot pursuit’ cross-border raids against NVA/VC base areas within Cambodia would be ineffective in stopping the wider, home-grown insurgency. One of the measures he was able to undertake was the build-up of a strong anti-communist faction within the FARK’s officer corps that would back him should Sihanouk shift again towards the left.

Alignment with the US

On March 17, 1970, while Sihanouk was absent from the country on a state visit to China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

and the USSR, Lon Nol – with the secret backing of the Central Intelligence Agency

Central Intelligence Agency

The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...

(CIA) and the government of South Vietnam

South Vietnam

South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...

– assumed power when the National Assembly in Phnom Penh unanimously voted the Prince out of office.
Lon Nol automatically succeeded the latter as Head of State on August 18, and although he claimed that the move was constitutionally legal, it quickly ran afoul of the conservative mentality of the Cambodians, many of whom believed that the Prince ruled through divine favour. To further aggrieve matters, Prince Sihanouk, who had sought refuge in China after being deposed, established a political base in Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

and entered into an alliance with the increasingly Maoist-oriented Khmer Rouge

Khmer Rouge

The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...

leadership and other leftist opposition groups. In April 1970 these disparate groups formed the FUNK

Funk

Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...

, an umbrella organization dedicated to the armed overthrow of the pro-western Khmer Republic.

Lon Nol also had to deal with a number of dissident FARK senior officers whom, though sharing most of his views, felt that the overthrow of Sihanouk had been one step too far. Many of these royalist officers resigned in protest from the armed forces’ structure when Gen. Lon proceeded to transform with American help the old FARK into the FANK to accommodate the character of the new Republican regime. By contrast, new recruits were readily available from the ranks of the far-right Khmer Serei

Khmer Serei

The Khmer Serei, or "Free Khmer", were an anti-communist and anti-monarchist guerrilla force founded by Cambodian nationalist Son Ngoc Thanh.-Origin:...

, a US-backed anti-communist guerrilla group led by the hardline Nationalist Son Ngoc Thanh

Son Ngoc Thanh

Son Ngoc Thanh was a Cambodian nationalist and republican policitian, with a long history as a rebel and a government minister.-Early life:...

which had fought against Sihanouk’s regime during the 1960s and who always viewed him as a communist crony.
The measures quickly implemented by Lon Nol’s administration included the issue of ultimata demanding North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Vietcong units to vacate the bases they had established on Khmer soil, and prevented arms shipments bound to the Vietcong from being unloaded at his sea ports. These same measures however, coupled by the effects of the joint US Army/ARVN Cambodian Incursion

Cambodian Incursion

The Cambodian Campaign was a series of military operations conducted in eastern Cambodia during mid-1970 by the United States and the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. These invasions were a result of policy of President Richard Nixon whose decision it was to invade...

launched that same year against NVA/VC sanctuaries in Cambodia, resulted in a heavy backlash. In reality, the newly-created Khmer Republic and its ill-prepared armed forces were soon caught off-guard in the early 1970s by the aggressive reaction of the NVA, which had previously limited its actions to providing support to Vietcong units operating at South Vietnam even after its devastating defeat in the January 1968 Tet Offensive. The outcome was that the period of Lon Nol’s rule actually saw an increase of North Vietnamese military presence in the lower Mekong and Bassac corridors and in the north and northeast Cambodia, particularly from 1972 onwards. In response to the earlier FANK’s failed ground offensives to expel them, strong NVA units launched in turn throughout 1971-72 ferocious counter-offensives on these areas – using heavy artillery, tanks, and SAM-7 anti-aircraft missiles for the first time in Cambodia –, which dwarfed the Tet Offensive numerically. These massive-scale operations only served to exhaust both sides however, and led to the signing in January 1973

January 1973

January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in January 1973.-January 1, 1973 :...

of the Paris Peace Accords

Paris Peace Accords

The Paris Peace Accords of 1973 intended to establish peace in Vietnam and an end to the Vietnam War, ended direct U.S. military involvement, and temporarily stopped the fighting between North and South Vietnam...

which marked the official end of American direct involvement on combat operations in Vietnam. The Accords hit both the Khmer Republic and South Vietnam hard, as the military and financial aid that they received from the US was cut by over fifty percent (though American military personnel in Cambodia continued to coordinate the various military aid programs, sometimes finding themselves involved in prohibited advisory and combat tasks until 1975.) The FANK, which until that date had been armed, supplied, and maintained by American advisors and technicians, had to wake up to a new reality in which they had to repair their own equipment and train their troops as best as they could with far less of a budget.

The Civil War years

The creation of the Chinese-sponsored FUNK coalition by Sihanouk and the lending of his popular support to the anti-Republican insurgency gave it greater legitimacy in the eyes of the pro-Sihanoukist Cambodian peasantry, many of whom began to flock into its ranks. This move inadvertedly also allowed the Khmer Rouge

Khmer Rouge

to recruit peasants from the villages on the rural areas under their control that otherwise would have been uninterested. In addition, many politically moderate Cambodians came to dislike Lon Nol’s authoritarian (and unstable) republican regime, due to his corrupt ways and oppressive rule that curbed political and civil rights far more than Sihanouk had done.

In the wake of the 1973 Paris Peace Accords, Lon Nol proved unable to halt the illegal build-up of North Vietnamese forces in the lower Mekong-Bassac area in preparation for a renewed offensive in neighbouring South Vietnam. He also failed to engage in a properly coordinated war effort with either the American CIA or the Southern Vietnamese Nguyen Van Thieu

Nguyen Van Thieu

Nguyễn Văn Thiệu was president of South Vietnam from 1965 to 1975. He was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , became head of a military junta, and then president after winning a fraudulent election...

regime.

Meanwhile, FANK troops committed numerous Human Rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

abuses against civilians, particularly the persecution of ethnic Vietnamese (who were accused of supporting the NVA/VC) and the repression of Khmer peasant villagers who rioted in support of Sihanouk, misguided policies that drove the latter into the arms of Pol Pot.
In the remote areas of the country, notably in the highland regions, the FANK proved incapable of restraining the Khmer Rouge's fearsome intimidation campaigns that targeted the peasantry, let alone protecting them. After mid-1971 the Republican government focused on consolidating its hold over the key urban centers, the main garrisons and the lower Mekong-Bassac corridors, thus leaving most of the countryside virtually open to Khmer Rouge recruiting drives.
Whilst during the 1967-68 operations waged against the Khmer Rouge's Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea (RAK) strongholds in Battambang Province

Battambang Province

Battambang is a province in northwestern Cambodia. It is bordered to the North with Banteay Meanchey, to the West with Thailand, and to the East and South with Pursat. The capital of the province is the city of Battambang. The name, meaning 'lost staff', refers to the legend of Preah Bat Dambang...

Lon Nol could rely on the peasantry's loyalty to Prince Sihanouk, he was now alone. His deteriorating army, reduced to a garrison force confined to the main cities, was increasingly regarded as the military wing of the Phnom Penh regime rather than of the nation itself.

Facing them was the FUNK’s armed wing, the Cambodian People's National Liberation Armed Forces (CPNLAF) which received arms and ammunition freely from the nation's porous borders. While the CPNLAF was far smaller, the FANK High Command was always faced with the problem of how to provide adequate equipment for the swelling number of volunteers who flocked to fight the NVA and the Khmer Rouge from their dwindling stocks. As the war progressed, weapons and ammunition, not to mention training grounds, became rarer, the FANK was unable to train in-country their new recruits, leaving it an army of raw conscripts and demoralized veterans. The FANK was already placed at a strategic disadvantage since May 1970, following the seizure of the northeastern areas of the country (the provinces of Stung Treng

Stung Treng

Stung Treng is the capital of Stung Treng Province, Cambodia. It is located in the western part of the Virachey National Park.It is the major city of both the district and province and has a population of 29,665 ....

, Ratanakiri

Ratanakiri

Ratanakiri is a province in northeastern Cambodia that borders Laos to the north, Vietnam to the east, Mondulkiri Province to the south, and Stung Treng Province to the west. The province extends from the mountains of the Annamite Range in the north, across a hilly plateau between the Tonle San...

, Kratie

Kratié Province

Kratié or Kracheh is a province in northeastern Cambodia. It borders Stung Treng to the north, Mondulkiri to the east, Kampong Thom to the west, Kampong Cham and Vietnam to the south....

, and Mondolkiri) by the NVA in response to the Lon Nol ultimatum and the loss to the Khmer Rouge of several peripherical eastern and southwestern Cambodian provinces (Kampot, Koh Kong

Koh Kong Province

Koh Kong is a province of Cambodia. The name means "Kŏng Island Province". Its capital is Koh Kong.-Geography:The most south-western province of Cambodia, Koh Kong has a long undeveloped coastline and a mountainous, forested and largely inaccessible interior which embraces part of the Cardamom...

, Kampong Cham, Preah Vihear, plus portions of Siem Reap

Siem Reap

Siem Reap is the capital city of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia, and is the gateway to Angkor region.Siem Reap has colonial and Chinese-style architecture in the Old French Quarter, and around the Old Market...

, Oddar Meanchey, Kampong Thom, Prey Veng, and Svay Rieng Provinces) during that same year.

Collapse

On January 1975, coinciding with the North Vietnamese winter offensive that shattered the South's defences apart, the Khmer Rouge closed in on Phnom Penh, already overcrowded with 250,000 civilian refugees, and besieged it. President Lon Nol, FANK Commander-in-Chief Gen. Sosthene Fernandez

Sosthene Fernandez

General Sosthène Fernandez was the commander-in-chief of the Khmer National Armed Forces and chief of general staff after Norodom Sihanouk was deposed as head of state in 1970, and is of Khmer Krom-Filipino descent...

and other Khmer Republic officials could not coordinate an effective resistance and at the same time feed the refugees and residents of Phnom Penh. On April 1 Marshal Lon Nol resigned from the Presidency and left the Country by plane to Thailand, although most of the senior civilian and military government officials decided to stay. Later on April 17, the armed forces’ Chief of the General Staff Let. Gen. Sak Sutsakhan

Sak Sutsakhan

General Sak Sutsakhan was a Cambodian politician and soldier who had a long career in the country's politics. He was the last Head of State of the Khmer Republic, the regime overthrown by the Khmer Rouge in 1975. Sak Sutsakhan formed a pro-US force known as the "Khmer Sâ" .-Early life:Sutsakhan...

was evacuated together with his family and relatives of other officials by helicopter to Kampong Thom, thus effectively ending the FANK's existence as a coherent fighting force.

The last stand of the army of ill-fated Khmer Republic in any form took place around the Preah Vihear Temple in the Dângrêk Mountains

Dângrêk Mountains

The Dângrêk Mountains , meaning "Carrying-Pole Mountains" in Khmer, is a mountain range forming a natural border between Cambodia and Thailand....

, close to the Thai border. Remnants of the FANK’s 9th Brigade Group occupied the area for a few weeks in late April 1975, following the collapse of the ineffective and beleaguered Lon Nol regime. Even though their government had surrendered, FANK soldiers continued to fiercely hold their ground for nearly a month after the fall of Phnom Penh against several unsuccessful attempts by Khmer Rouge forces to reduce this last holdout. The Khmer Rouge finally succeeded on May 22, after shelling the hill where the temple stands, scaling it up and routing the defenders, as Thai officials reported at the time.

Regional Commands

Prior to March 1970 Cambodia was divided into six military regions (MR, Régions Militaires in French) encompassing two or five military sub-districts corresponding to the country’s provinces – 1st MR, 2nd MR, 3rd MR, 4th MR, 5th MR, and 6th MR –, each headquartered at the provincial capitals of Kampong Cham, Kampong Speu, Battambang

Battambang

Battambang is the capital city of Battambang province in northwestern Cambodia.Battambang is the second-largest city in Cambodia with a population of over 250,000. Founded in the 11th century by the Khmer Empire, Battambang is well known for being the leading rice-producing province of the country...

, Siem Reap

Siem Reap

, Stung Treng

Stung Treng

, and Kratie

Kratié Province

Kratié or Kracheh is a province in northeastern Cambodia. It borders Stung Treng to the north, Mondulkiri to the east, Kampong Thom to the west, Kampong Cham and Vietnam to the south....

, whilst a Phnom Penh Special Military Zone (PPSMZ, Région Militaire Spéciale de Phnom Penh – RMSPP in French) covered the National Capital and its environs. Shortly after the beginning of the war a special military zone for the lower Mekong River, designated the Special Mekong Zone – SMZ (French

French language

: Zone Spéciale du Mekong – ZSM) was established at Kandal Province

Kandal Province

Kandal is a province of Cambodia. Its capital is Ta Khmao town . The province completely surrounds, but does not include, the national capital Phnom Penh...

, situated between the Cambodian Capital and the South Vietnamese border. Two additional military regions (8th MR and 9th MR) were created in 1973.

Branches

The FANK’s predecessor was first established on November 9, 1953 under the terms of a French-Khmer convention and received the designation of Royal Khmer Armed Forces (French

French language

: Forces Armées Royales Khmères – FARK). In the mid-1950s the FARK consisted of ground, air and naval branches of service, respectively the Royal Khmer Army, the Royal Khmer Air Force, and the Royal Khmer Navy. Their roles were defined as follows: to guarantee the sovereignty of the nation and that of the King; to ensure internal security by maintaining the social order and the rule of law; and to defend the newly-independent Kingdom of Cambodia from external threats.

Ground Forces

The oldest and largest branch of the Cambodian armed forces in terms of personnel and matériel, the Royal Khmer Army (French

French language

: Armée Royale Khmère – ARK) was officially created on November 20, 1946 after the signing of a French-Khmer military agreement.

Pre-1970 organization

By January 1970, the Royal Khmer Army standed at about 35,000 Officers and enlisted men and women, organized according to French practice into 53 regiments (actually, battalions) and 13-15 regional independent companies; slightly over half were designated infantry battalions (French

French language

: Battaillons d’Infanterie) and the remainder light infantry battalions (French

French language

: Battaillons de Chasseurs). Elite troops and some support units, including the Khmer Royal Guard (French

French language

: Garde Royal Khmère), Phnom Penh garrison, Airborne troops (French

French language

: Parachutistes), Signals

Military communications

Historically, the first military communications had the form of sending/receiving simple signals . Respectively, the first distinctive tactics of military communications were called Signals, while units specializing in those tactics received the Signal Corps name...

(French

French language

: Transmissions), Engineers (French

French language

: Génie), Artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

(French

French language

: Artillerie), Anti-Aircraft (French

French language

: Defense Antiaérienne), and Transport

Transport

Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...

(French

French language

: Train) were organized into six larger formations termed half-brigades (French

French language

: Demi-Brigades). Other technical branch services such as Medical (French

French language

: Service de Santé), Ordnance

Military logistics

Military logistics is the discipline of planning and carrying out the movement and maintenance of military forces. In its most comprehensive sense, it is those aspects or military operations that deal with:...

(French

French language

: Service de Matériel), Quartermaster

Quartermaster

Quartermaster refers to two different military occupations depending on if the assigned unit is land based or naval.In land armies, especially US units, it is a term referring to either an individual soldier or a unit who specializes in distributing supplies and provisions to troops. The senior...

(French

French language

: Service de Intendance), and the Military Police

Military police

Military police are police organisations connected with, or part of, the military of a state. The word can have different meanings in different countries, and may refer to:...

(French

French language

: Prevôtée Militaire) were placed under the responsibility of the Service Directorates subordinated to the Ministry of National Defense.
Most ARK units were concentrated in the northeast at Ratanakiri Province and on the Phnom Penh area; the latter was the headquarters of the six main Half-Brigades and supporting services whereas infantry formations were deployed throughout the country. The small armoured corps was also organized into an Armoured Half-Brigade (French

French language

: Demi-Brigade Blindée Khmère) consisting of two independent tank battalions – one stationed at Phnom Penh and the other at Kampong Cham – and an armoured reconnaissance regiment, 1st ARR (French

French language

: 1re Régiment de Reconnaissance Blindée) at Sre Khlong.
Although a sizeable reserve cadre of trained Officers and NCOs did existed, there was a persistent lack of reserve units. Some units were posted to the General reserve forces, which consisted merely of the Phnom Penh garrison troops – a half-brigade made of two light infantry battalions – and the combat support units (signals, engineers, armoured, and artillery half-brigades).

With the exception of a few specialized units, most of these formations actually fell below strength, were poorly trained and equipped in a haphazard way with an array of French, American, British, Czechoslovakian, Chinese, and Soviet weapon systems.
The armoured corps inventory consisted of thirty-six M24 Chaffee

M24 Chaffee

The Light Tank M24 was an American light tank used during World War II and in postwar conflicts including the Korean War and with the French in the War in Algeria and First Indochina War. In British service it was given the service name Chaffee, after the United States Army General Adna R...

light tanks, forty AMX-13

AMX-13

The AMX-13 is a French light tank produced from 1953 to 1985. It served with the French Army and was exported to over twenty-five other nations...

light tanks, and some M8 HMC

Howitzer Motor Carriage M8

The 75 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M8, sometimes known as the M8 Scott, was a self-propelled howitzer vehicle of the United States developed during the Second World War.-Development:...

75mm self-propelled Howitzers; reconnaissance squadrons were provided with M8 Greyhound

M8 Greyhound

The M8 Light Armored Car was a 6x6 armored car produced by the Ford Motor Company during World War II. It was used by the U.S. and British troops in Europe and the Far East until the end of the war. The vehicle was widely exported and as of 2006 still remains in service with some third world...

light armoured cars, M20 Armoured Utility Cars

M8 Greyhound

, Panhard AML-60

Panhard AML

-Former Operators:: unknown number of AML-60s and AML-90s in service between 1960-1975.: 34 Eland 90s and Eland 60s in service with the Rhodesian Security Forces in 1979, passed on to successor state.-Trivia:...

and AML-90

Panhard AML

armoured cars. Mechanized infantry battalions were issued with M3 Half-Track

M3 Half-track

The Carrier, Personnel Half-track M3 was an armored vehicle used by the United States, the British Empire and the other Allies during World War II and the Cold War. Nearly 43,000 were produced, and supplied to the U.S...

s, M3 Scout Car

M3 Scout Car

The M3 Scout Car was an armored car in U.S. service during World War II. It was also known as the White Scout Car, after its manufacturer, the White Motor Company. It was used in various roles including patrol, scouting, command vehicle, ambulance and gun tractor.-History:Design of the vehicle...

s, BTR-40

BTR-40

The BTR-40 is a Soviet non-amphibious, wheeled armoured personnel carrier and reconnaissance vehicle. It is often referred to as the Sorokovka in Soviet service. It is also the first mass-produced Soviet APC...

and BTR-152

BTR-152

The BTR-152 was a non-amphibious Soviet wheeled armored personnel carrier that entered Soviet service in 1950. By the early 1970s it had been replaced in the infantry vehicle role by the BTR-60...

armoured personnel carriers (APC).
The artillery corps fielded US 4.2in heavy mortars and M101A1 105mm towed field howitzer

M101 howitzer

The 105 mm M2A1 howitzer was the standard light field howitzer for the United States in World War II, seeing action in both European and Pacific theaters. Entering production in 1941, it quickly entered the war against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Pacific, where it gained a reputation...

s, whilst Air Defense units were equipped with British-made Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft guns.

Expansion 1970-71

Following the March 1970 coup, the new Head of State Marshal Lon Nol issued a general mobilization order and, after securing American, Thai, and South Vietnamese military support, promptly set up plans to expand the Khmer armed forces. By June 1970, the rechristened National Khmer Army (French

French language

: Armée Nationale Khmère – ANK), commonly known as the ’Cambodian Army’, had rapidly expanded to 110,000 men and women, though most of them were untrained raw recruits organized into a confusing array of French- and American-modelled combat formations, staffed by elderly NCOs and unexperienced Officers.

At the same time, there were several changes regarding field organization. Infantry battalions were at first amalgamated into regiments (French

French language

: Régiments d’Infanterie), soon abolished in favor of a brigade grouping several battalions. By early May 1970, 18 new Infantry Brigades (French

French language

: Brigades d’Infanterie) had been created, but only 12 – the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th Inf. Bdes – were properly manned, the other six – 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th Inf. Bdes – were never brought to strength or remained on paper. In mid-1970, Infantry units began to be formed into larger 15 Brigade Groups, each comprising two brigades. Of these, only three were military effective by January 1972

January 1972

January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in January 1972.-January 1, 1972 :...

, other three were still undergoing training, and the remaining nine were only marginally reliable.
The Artillery, Signals, Engineer, and Armoured Half-Brigades were also brought to brigade strength, with the latter becoming the 1st Khmer Armoured Brigade (1st Armd. Bde, 1re Brigade Blindée Khmère in French).

Reorganization 1972-73

To streamline the mass of ground forces’ combat formations, a major reshuffle was implemented between July and December 1972

December 1972

January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in December 1972.-December 1, 1972 :...

under American lines. The old colonial organizational structure inherited from the French was abandoned in favour of a modern conventional organization based on the US Army model. By January 1973

January 1973

January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in January 1973.-January 1, 1973 :...

, all brigade group headquarters (HQs), 17 regimental HQs, 16 brigade HQs, and 13 battalions had been dissolved, replaced by newly-created 32 Infantry Brigades, 202 Infantry Battalions, and 465 Territorial Infantry Companies. Out of these totals, 128 battalions formed the maneuver elements for the 32 brigades, of which 20 would remain independent and 12 were to be distributed among new four Mechanized Infantry Divisions (French

French language

: Divisions d’Infanterie) – 1st Inf. Div., 2nd Inf. Div., 3rd Inf. Div., and 7th Inf. Div. – whilst a fifth, the understrength 9th Guards Division was later raised in April 1974. The Armour, Artillery, Signals, and Engineer arms were left untouched by this reorganization and retained their separate brigade structure under their own commands.
The General Reserve was also reorganized by Marshal Lon Nol in April 1972

April 1972

January – February – March. – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November –DecemberThe following events occurred in April 1972.-April 1, 1972 :...

by sub-dividing it into three groups: the Forces A, attached to a MR for combat operations; Forces B, the General Staff reserve comprising five brigades; and Forces C, two airborne battalions under the personal command of Lon Nol.

Cambodian army strength stood at 220,000-230,000 troops on paper by mid-1972, but is estimated that the actual number was no less than 150,000, armed by the United States with an $US 1.18 billion-worth of weaponry and equipment. Its inventory included 241,630 rifles, 7,079 machine guns, 2,726 mortars, 20,481 grenade launchers, 304 recoilless rifles, 289 howitzers, 202 M113 APCs (including 17 M106 mortar carriers equipped with a 107mm heavy mortar), and 4,316 trucks.

Air Forces

Although an air wing for the fledging Khmer Royal Army was first planned in 1952, it wasn't until April 1954 however that the Royal Khmer Air Force (French

French language

: Aviation Royale Khmère – AVRK) was officially commissioned by Royal decree.
Commanded by Prince Sihanouk’s personal physician, Colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

Dr. Ngo Hou and known sarcastically as the ‘Royal Flying Club’, the AVRK initially operated a small fleet of four Morane-Saulnier MS.500 Criquet liaison aircraft

Liaison aircraft

A liaison aircraft is a small, usually unarmed aircraft primarily used by military forces for artillery observation or transporting commanders and messages. The concept developed before World War II and included also battlefield reconnaissance, air ambulance, column control, light cargo delivery...

, two Cessna 180

Cessna 180

The Cessna 180 is a four- or six-seat, fixed conventional gear general aviation airplane which was produced between 1953 and 1981. Though the design is no longer in production, many of these aircraft are still in use as personal aircraft and in utility roles such as bush...

light utility aircraft

Utility aircraft

A utility aircraft is a general-purpose light plane or helicopter, usually used for transporting people or freight, but also for other duties when a more specialised aircraft is not required or available....

, one Cessna 170

Cessna 170

|-See also:-External links:* *...

light personal aircraft, and one DC-3 modified for VIP transport.

During its early expansion phase from 1955 to 1962, the AVRK received assistance from France

France

, the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, and Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, who provided training programs, technical aid, and additional aircraft. Deliveries by the United States Military Assistance Advisory Group (USMAAG) of fourteen T-6G Texan

T-6 Texan

The North American Aviation T-6 Texan was a single-engine advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces, United States Navy, Royal Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II and into the 1950s...

trainers, eight Cessna L-19A Bird Dog observation aircraft, three DHC L-20 Beaver utility transports, and seven C-47 transports (soon joined by with two additional C-47s bought in Israel) allowed the AVRK to acquire a limited light strike capability, as well as improving its own reconnaissance and transportation capabilities.

The first flight training courses in-country were initiated on October 1954 by French instructors at the newly-founded Royal Flying School at Pochentong airfield near Phnom Penh, though Khmer pilot students were later sent to France. In 1964 the US MAAG aid program was suspended when Cambodia adopted a neutrality policy, so the AVRK continued to rely on French military assistance but at the same time turned to Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

and China

China

for aircraft and training.

Because of its low strength and limited flying assets, the Air Force was far from being able to accomplish its primary mission which was to defend the national airspace. Although there were several airstrips other than Pochentong, they were only used temporarily as emergency landing strips and never as secondary airbases. Therefore, the Air Force was merely considered a combat support arm which provided air transport services to infantry units and occasionally, close air support to combat operations.

Pre-1970 organization

The Royal Cambodian Air Force had a strength of 1,250 Officers and airmen, consisting in most part of flight crew personnel (pilots, flight engineers, radio operators, and flight mechanics) and ground technicians. The main air elements of the ARK in March 1970 consisted of four flight groups – one advanced training, one attack, one transport and liaison, and one helio – provided with a mixed inventory of 122 aircraft of various types, mostly of French, American, Soviet, Chinese, Yugoslavian, and Canadian origin. Most of the aircraft and personnel were concentrated at the military airbase adjacent to the Pochentong International Airport at Phnom Penh, which also housed the Air Academy and the AVRK Headquarters.

The Air Academy (Royal Flying School) at Pochentong operated an Advanced Training Squadron consisting of eight Yakovlev Yak-18 Max

Yakovlev Yak-18

|-See also:-External links:*...

and 12 Gardan GY-80 Horizon

Socata Horizon

|-See also:...

light trainers, plus four Potez CM.170R Fouga Magister

Fouga Magister

The Fouga Magister is a 1950s French two-seat jet trainer. The related CM.175 Zéphyr was a carrier-capable version for the French Navy....

(converted to the ground attack role) and four Cessna T-37B Tweet jet trainers;

The Intervention Group had six Shenyang J-5

Shenyang J-5

The Shenyang J-5 , originally designated Dongfeng-101 - , and also Type 56 before being designated J-5 in 1964, is a Chinese-built single-seat jet interceptor and fighter aircraft derived from the Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17. The J-5 was exported as the F-5...

, 12 MiG-17F fighter jets, and one MiG-15UTI jet trainer; 16 Douglas AD-4N Skyraider three-seat night attack aircraft (only eight were operational by 1968), and 17 North American T-28D Trojan trainers converted to the fighter-bomber role;

The Observation and Combat Accompanying Group had eight Cessna L-19 Bird Dog

Cessna L-19 Bird Dog

The Cessna L-19/O-1 Bird Dog was a liaison and observation aircraft. It was the first all-metal fixed-wing aircraft ordered for and by the United States Army since the U.S. Army Air Forces separated from the Army in 1947, becoming its own branch of service, the U.S. Air Force. The Bird Dog had a...

observation light aircraft;

The Transport and Liaison Group operated one Douglas C-54B Skymaster four-engine transport (used as a VIP transport), one Ilyushin Il-14

Ilyushin Il-14

The Ilyushin Il-14 was a Soviet twin-engine commercial and military personnel and cargo transport aircraft that first flew in 1950, and entered service in 1954. Il-14 was also manufactured in East Germany by VVB Flugzeugbau, in Czechoslovakia as the Avia 14, and in China under the Chinese...

, two Cessna 180 Skywagon

Cessna 180

s, three de Havilland Canada DHC L-20 Beaver

De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver

The de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver is a single-engined, high-wing, propeller-driven, STOL aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, primarily known as a bush plane. It is used for cargo and passenger hauling, aerial application , and has been widely adopted by armed forces as a utility aircraft...

STOL utility transports, three UTVA 60AT1 utility and liaison aircraft, six Dassault MD 315R Flamant

Dassault MD 315 Flamant

|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography*Bridgman, Leonard Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1953-54. London:Jane's, 1953....

light twin-engined transports, eight Antonov An-2 Colt, and 12 Douglas C-47 Skytrain transports;

The Helicopter Group operated one Mil Mi-4 Hound

Mil Mi-4

The Mil Mi-4 was a Soviet transport helicopter that served in both military and civilian roles.-Design and development:...

, one Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw, and two Sikorsky H-34 Choctaw utility and transport helicopters, plus eight Sud Aviation SA 3130 Alouette II, and three or five Sud Aviation SA 316B Alouette III

Aérospatiale Alouette III

The Aérospatiale Alouette III is a single-engine, light utility helicopter developed by Sud Aviation. It was manufactured by Aérospatiale of France, and under licence by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in India as Hal Chetak and Industria Aeronautică Română in Romania.The Alouette III is the...

light helicopters.

Reorganization 1971-73

Provisionally re-designated National Khmer Air Force (French

French language

: Aviation Nationale Khmère – AVNK) in the wake of the March 1970 coup, the Cambodian Air Force remained however under Army command until June 8, 1971, when it became the third independent branch of the FANK. This new status was confirmed on December 15, when the AVNK officially changed its name to Khmer Air Force (French

French language

: Armée de l'Air Khmère – AAK), commonly known by the English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

acronym KAF (or KhAF).

New airbases were established at Battambang (Air Base 122), Kampong Cham, Kampong Chnang, and Ream whilst secondary airfields and assorted helipads were set up at Kampot, Oudong

Oudong

Udong is a town in Cambodia, situated in the north-western part of Kandal Province. The town is located on top of the mountain Phnom Udong, about 40 km northwest of the capital Phnom Penh...

, and Stung Mean Chey near Phnom Penh. In 1973 following several attacks on Cambodian airfields, Air Force Security Battalions – officially designated “Defense Regiments” (French

French language

: Regiments de Défense) – were raised and trained by the Khmer Special Forces

Khmer Special Forces

The Khmer Special Forces, also designated Khmer SF for short or Forces Speciales Khmères in French, were the elite Special Operations unit of the Khmer National Armed Forces during the 1970-75 Cambodian Civil War.-Origins:The history of the Khmer Special Forces began in October 1971, when the 1st...

to patrol major facilities.

By March 1975 KAF’s inventory reached a total of 211 aircraft of several types, including 64 T-28D fighter-bombers, 14 Douglas AC-47D Spooky gunships, and 14 AU-24A mini-gunships; the helicopter force had 10 Bell UH-1G

UH-1 Iroquois

The Bell UH-1 Iroquois is a military helicopter powered by a single, turboshaft engine, with a two-bladed main rotor and tail rotor. The helicopter was developed by Bell Helicopter to meet the United States Army's requirement for a medical evacuation and utility helicopter in 1952, and first flew...

gunships, 46 Bell UH-1H

UH-1 Iroquois

transports, and two Sikorsky H-34 Choctaw utility transports. The transport fleet aligned 17 Fairchild C-123K Provider transports, 19 C-47 transports, 24 Cessna O-1D Bird Dog reconnaissance/observation light aircraft, and 16 U-1A Otter

De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter

The de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter is a single-engined, high-wing, propeller-driven, STOL aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada. It was conceived to be capable of performing the same roles as the earlier and highly successful Beaver, but was overall a larger aircraft.-Design and...

liaison aircraft

Liaison aircraft

. Training aircraft comprised 12 Gardan GY-80 Horizon

Socata Horizon

|-See also:...

light trainers, nine Cessna T-41 Mescalero

T-41 Mescalero

The Cessna T-41 Mescalero is a military version of the popular Cessna 172 used by the United States Air Force and Army as well as the armed forces of various other countries as a pilot training aircraft.-Design and development:...

trainers, and four Cessna T-37B Tweet jet trainers.

Naval Forces

The Royal Khmer Navy (French

French language

: Marine Royale Khmère – MRK) was established on March 1, 1954, to provide limited patrolling of Cambodia’s maritime coastline and territorial waters, monitoring the security of its main deep-water ports and major waterways. Closely modelled after the French Navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

, the MRK received training, technical and material assistance from France

France

and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

until 1964, receiving thereafter some aid from the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

, China

China

, and Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

. Has with the other branches of the FARK, the Cambodian Navy’s own military capabilities in the late 1960s remained low and the missions that they performed mirrored those of a peacetime River Police force or Coast Guard

Coast guard

A coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with...

rather than a true Navy. Therefore, MRK activities were restricted to inland patrols on the Bassac River

Bassac River

The Bassac River is a distributary of the Tonle Sap and Mekong River. The river starts in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and flows southerly, crossing the border into Vietnam near Châu Đốc....

, the Mekong

Mekong

The Mekong is a river that runs through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is the world's 10th-longest river and the 7th-longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annually....

, and the Tonle Sap

Tonlé Sap

The Tonlé Sap is a combined lake and river system of major importance to Cambodia.The Tonlé Sap is the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia and is an ecological hot spot that was designated as a UNESCO biosphere in 1997....

in the vicinity of the namesake Great Lake whilst high seas operations were limited to routine inshore patrolling.

Pre-1970 organization

In February 1970, MRK strength standed at about 1,300 Officers and ratings who manned a small fleet comprising two flotillas (one sea and one riverine), reportedly equipped with surplus WWII-vintage US LSSLs, LCM (3), French STCAN (aka “stay-can”) and FOM armoured river patrol and escort crafts previously employed by the French Navy

French Navy

during the First Indochina War

First Indochina War

The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...

, plus a few Patrol River Boats and other sea craft of unspecified type of Chinese, Soviet, and Eastern Bloc

Eastern bloc

The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...

origin. The Navy’s inventory also included a small number of US riverine craft seized while straying into Cambodian territory, including two airboats captured from the US Special Forces in 1968.
Main naval bases were located at the Chrui Chhang War Peninsula (which harboured the MRK headquarters’, the Naval Academy, and the riverine flotilla) across the Mekong outside Phnom Penh and at Ream

Ream

Ream may refer to:* Ream, Cambodia* Paper ream, unit of 500 sheets of paper* Ream, a textual e-mail client* Reamer, tool used to widen a hole* Vinnie Ream, an American sculptor* Ream National Park, a national park in Cambodia...

, near the port city of Sihanoukville

Sihanoukville

Sihanoukville , also known as Kampong Saom, is a province in southern Cambodia on the Gulf of Thailand. This port city is a growing Cambodian urban center, located southwest of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. The province is named after King Father Norodom Sihanouk and grew up around the...

(rechristened Kampong Som in 1970). The latter served not only as the headquarters of the sea flotilla, but also of the Cambodian Marine Corps – comprising four naval infantry battalions (French

French language

: Bataillons de Fusiliers-Marins – BFM) maintained primarily for static defense –, and a French-trained Combat Swimmer Unit.

Reorganization 1970-72

Re-designated National Khmer Navy (French

French language

: Marine Nationale Khmère – MNK) on October 9, 1970, the Cambodian Navy and its tiny ageing fleet were given responsibility for escorting supply convoys on the lower Mekong-Bassac corridors. Such operations were carried out in conjunction with the Khmer Air Force, which began to provide since mid-1971 air cover to MNK convoys with their AC-47 ‘Spooky’ and AU-24 gunships. In addition, the Navy also provided logistic support (including troop transport and casualty evacuation) for the FANK ground forces.
During this phase, the MNK was assisted in its new rôles by the South Vietnamese Navy (VNN), which lent extensive convoy protection to riverine commercial shipping and helped patrol the Cambodian coastline to prevent North Vietnamese infiltration attempts.

As the newly-reestructured MNK had gained by late 1971 enough experience to commence its own escort and combat patrol operations, an expansion of its naval assets and support facilities was therefore deemed necessary. The two pre-existing Naval Bases were modernized, while another two additional riverine bases were established on the lower Mekong

Mekong

corridor at Neak Luong in Kandal Province

Kandal Province

Kandal is a province of Cambodia. Its capital is Ta Khmao town . The province completely surrounds, but does not include, the national capital Phnom Penh...

, and at the provincial capital of Kampong Chhnang, on the Tonle Sap

Tonlé Sap

river.

However, after several attacks against merchant vessels anchored at Chrui Chhang War Naval Base in early 1972, the MNK Command created a Harbour Defense Unit (HDU) to patrol its port facilities; HDU security companies were supported on their duties by the Naval Infantry, who performed active riverbank patrolling. An American-trained SEAL

Seal

Seal commonly refers to:* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals many of which are commonly called seals* Seal , a device which helps prevent leakage, contain pressure, or exclude contamination where two systems join...

unit was raised in mid-1973, being employed on reconnaissance missions along the banks of the Mekong and as shock troops on amphibious operations.

Expansion 1973-74

In 1970 the Cambodian Navy began to receive an influx of modern American-made rivercraft after the US Navy disbanded its own Mobile Riverine Force

Mobile Riverine Force

In the Vietnam War, the Mobile Riverine Force , initially designated Mekong Delta Mobile Afloat Force, and later euphemistically the Riverines, were a joint US Army and US Navy force that comprised a substantial part of the Brown Water Navy...

(aka Brown Water Navy) in Vietnam, and handed over its units to his South-east Asian allies under the Vietnamization policy. Deliveries continued until 1973, allowing the MNK to standartise its equipment tables on US lines and gradually phase out its obsolete, worn-out ex-French and Eastern Bloc craft from active service.

Initially expanded in December 1973

December 1973

January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in December 1973.-December 1, 1973 :...

to 13,000-14,000 men, the MNK strength reached by September 1974 a total of 16,500 men under the command of Commodore

Commodore (rank)

Commodore is a military rank used in many navies that is superior to a navy captain, but below a rear admiral. Non-English-speaking nations often use the rank of flotilla admiral or counter admiral as an equivalent .It is often regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6, but is not always...

Vong Sarendy, with one-third of its personnel being assigned to the Marines. The remaining 10,000 or so sailors and ratings manned an impressive surface fleet of 171 vessels of various types, though consisting mostly of patrol, coastal, and amphibious crafts.
Escort and combat patrol craft comprised three LSSLs, 20 PCF/Inshore Mark Mk 1 and 2

Fast Patrol Craft

Patrol Craft Fast , also known as Swift Boats, were all-aluminum, long, shallow-draft vessels operated by the U.S. Navy, initially to patrol the coastal areas and later for work in the interior waterways as part of the Brown Water Navy to interdict Vietcong movement of arms and munitions,...

coastal patrol crafts (also known as “Swift boats”), 64 PBR Mk 1 and 2

Patrol Boat, River

Patrol Boat, River , or PBR, is the United States Navy designation for a small rigid-hulled patrol boat used in the Vietnam War from March 1966 until the end of 1971...

river patrol boats (aka “Bibber”), seven Monitor

River monitor

River monitors were heavily armored, and normally mounted the largest guns of all riverine warships. The name originated from the US Navy's Brown Water Navy's USS Monitor, which made her first appearance in the American Civil War, and being distinguished by a single revolving turret.On 18 December...

s (MON, heavily-gunned riverine crafts, aka “River Battleships” or “Mike boats”) – out of this number six were the Monitor (H) Howitzer version armed with 40mm cannons and M49 105mm Howitzers, and one Monitor (F) version equipped with M10-8 Flamethrowers (aka “Zippo”) –, four Assault Support Patrol Boats Mk 1 (ASPB, aka “Alpha boats”), and two Patrol Craft/Tug (YTL).
For troop transport, amphibious assault, and logistical operations, the MNK aligned two Infantry Landing Ships (LSIL/LCI), four Landing Craft Utility (LCU/YFU), 18 Armored Troop Carriers (ATC, aka “Tango boats”) – including three ATC refuelers and one ATC recharger –, and 30 Landing Craft Mechanized Mk 6 Mod 1-LCM (6) and five LCM (8) LCU

Landing Craft Utility

The Landing Craft Utility is a type of boat used by amphibious forces to transport equipment and troops to the shore. They are capable of transporting tracked or wheeled vehicles and troops from amphibious assault ships to beachheads or piers....

s.
Support craft included two Command and Communications Boats (CCB, aka “Charlie boats”), five Minesweeper River boats (MSR/MSM), one Combat Salvage Boat (CSB), three Yard Tug Light (YTL), two Mobile Support Bases (MSB), one Floating Crane (YD), and one Drydock.

Elite Forces

Cambodian Airborne Brigade
Cambodian Para-Commando Battalion
Cambodian Para-Commando Battalion
The Cambodian Para-Commando Battalion was one of the main elite military units of the Khmer National Armed Forces , which fought in the final phase of the Cambodian Civil War of 1970-75.-Origins:The BCP had its origins in a 60-man contingent sent in March 1972 to Indonesia to...
Khmer Special Forces
Khmer Special Forces
The Khmer Special Forces, also designated Khmer SF for short or Forces Speciales Khmères in French, were the elite Special Operations unit of the Khmer National Armed Forces during the 1970-75 Cambodian Civil War.-Origins:The history of the Khmer Special Forces began in October 1971, when the 1st...
9th Brigade Group
Lake Brigade
Cambodian Marine Corps (Fusiliers-Marins)
Cambodian Navy SEALs
Cambodian Navy SEALs
The Cambodian Navy SEALs were the main elite Maritime Special Operations Force of the National Khmer Navy during the 1970-75 Cambodian Civil War.-Origins:...

Training Facilities

The Air Force Academy was transferred from Pochentong to the provincial capital of Battambang

Battambang

whilst the Officer Candidate School was moved from Phnom Penh to Longvek in Kampong Chhnang Province, just north of Oudong

Oudong

Udong is a town in Cambodia, situated in the north-western part of Kandal Province. The town is located on top of the mountain Phnom Udong, about 40 km northwest of the capital Phnom Penh...

.
New infantry training centres were built at Kandal

Kandal Province

Kandal is a province of Cambodia. Its capital is Ta Khmao town . The province completely surrounds, but does not include, the national capital Phnom Penh...

, Kampong Speu, Ream

Ream

, Sisophon

Sisophon

Sisophon is the provincial capital of Banteay Meanchey, Cambodia. The city separates Cambodia's National Highway 5 and National Highway 6. Serei Saophoan is difficult to pronounce, so often the area is written transliterated as "Sisophon", even on Cambodian signs...

, and Longvek whist an additional Recondo School run by the Khmer Special Forces

Khmer Special Forces

was opened near Battambang.

Foreign assistance

Soon after its creation in 1970, the Khmer Republic requested and received military assistance from the United States, South Vietnam, Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

, Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, the Republic of China

Republic of China

The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

(Taiwan), and Australia

Australia

. To upgrade FANK capabilities, a regimented training programme began in early 1971 in South Vietnam under US auspices. Between February 1971

February 1971

January – February 1971 – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in February 1971.-February 1, 1971 :...

and November 1972

November 1972

January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in November 1972.-November 1, 1972 :...

training camps were set up at Long Hai

Long Hải

Long Hải is a township and town in Long Điền District, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, in Vietnam....

, Chi Lang

Chi Lang

Chi Lang is a district of Lang Son Province in the Northeastern region of Vietnam.As of 2003 the district had a population of 77,910. The district covers an area of 703 km². The district capital lies at Dong Mo....

, and Phuc Tuy to re-train Cambodian Army and Naval Infantry troops in basic light infantry, armour, artillery, and marine tactics.

More specialized training was also provided to selected FANK personnel. Paratroops’ courses were held at the Australian-operated Van Kiep LRRP Training Center, and at the ARVN Airborne Training Centers of Long Thanh

Long Thanh

Long Thanh is a district of Dong Nai Province in the Southeast region of Vietnam.As of 2003 the district had a population of 204,793. The district covers an area of 535 km². The district capital lies at Long Thanh Town....

and Tan Son Nhut, near Saigon; some 60 Cambodian students were later sent to Indonesia

Indonesia

to attend the Para-Commando course at the Batujajar Airborne Commando School, near Bandung

Bandung

Bandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, and the country's third largest city, and 2nd largest metropolitan area in Indonesia, with a population of 7.4 million in 2007. Located 768 metres above sea level, approximately 140 km southeast of Jakarta, Bandung has cooler...

in West Java

West Java

West Java , with a population of over 43 million, is the most populous and most densely populated province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, it is slightly smaller in area than densely populated Taiwan, but with nearly double the population...

. Special Forces’ (SF) courses were undertaken at the LLDB

Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces

The Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces were the elite military units of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam . Following the establishment of the Republic of Vietnam in October 1955, the Special Forces were formed at Nha Trang in February 1956...

Training Center in Dong Ba Thin, South Vietnam, but also in Thailand

Thailand

, at the Royal Thai Army (RTA) Special Warfare Center at Ft. Narai, Lopburi province

Lopburi Province

Lop Buri is one of the central provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Phetchabun, Chaiyaphum, Nakhon Ratchasima, Saraburi, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Ang Thong, Sing Buri and Nakhon Sawan.-Geography:...

, while Guerrilla and ‘Commando’ techniques were taught by the Royal Thai Police

Royal Thai Police

The Royal Thai Police are the national police of Thailand.-About:Primary responsibility for the maintenance of public order through enforcement of the kingdom's laws was exercised by the Thailand National Police Department , a subdivision of the Ministry of Interior...

Police Aerial Resupply Unit

Naresuan 261 Counter-Terrorism Unit

-History:Special Operations Unit "Naraesuan 261" was set up in 1983, Buddhist year 2526, by a Thai Cabinet Resolution. The Resolution, dated February 1, 2526 , was a major policy decision designed to provide a force for counter-terrorism efforts....

(PARU) at their Phitsanulok

Phitsanulok

Phitsanulok is an important and historic city in lower northern Thailand and is the capital of Phitsanulok Province, which stretches all the way to the Laotian border. Phitsanulok is one of the oldest cities in Thailand, founded over 600 years ago...

training camp. Ranger

Ranger

-Law enforcement:* Arizona Rangers* California State Rangers* Colorado Mounted Rangers* Council ranger, a type of officer in Australia* Newfoundland Rangers* New Mexico Rangers* Pakistan Rangers, a Pakistani paramilitary force* Texas Ranger Division...

/LRRP courses were conducted at the American-operated Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) Recondo School at Nha Trang

Nha Trang

Nha Trang is a coastal city and capital of Khanh Hoa province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the North by Ninh Hoà district, on the East by the South China Sea, on the South by Cam Ranh town and on the West by Diên Khánh district...

, South Vietnam, and at the RTA Recondo School co-located at Ft. Narai, Thailand. Additional SF and SEAL

Seal

training was undertaken respectively at Fort Bragg, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

and Naval Amphibious Base Coronado

Naval Amphibious Base Coronado

Naval Amphibious Base Coronado is a naval installation located across the bay from San Diego, CA. The base, situated on Silver Strand, between the San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean, is a major Navy shore command, supporting over 30 tenant commands, and is the West Coast focal point for special...

, in San Diego, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, and at Subic Bay Naval Base in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

.

Instructor pilots from Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

were posted on loan at the KAF Battambang Air Academy to train its pilots whereas Khmer cadets and air crews were sent for L-19, 0-1, T-28, AC-47, AU-24, and C-123 training to South Vietnam, Thailand, and the United States. Most of the advanced courses and specialized training of Khmer combat pilots was conducted by American advisers of Detachment 1, 56th Special Operations Wing at Udorn

Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base

Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base is a Royal Thai Air Force base, the home of 2nd Air Division/23rd Wing Air Combat Command.The 231 Squadron "Hunter" is assigned to Udorn, equipped with the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet-A.-History:...

, U-Tapao

U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield

U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield is a military airfield of the Royal Thai Navy located approximately southeast of Bangkok, near Sattahip on the Gulf of Siam...

, and Takhli

Takhli

Takhli is a town in the province of Nakhon Sawan in northern Thailand. The population is 42,700.The town lies on the train line between Bangkok and Chiang Mai....

airbases in Thailand, while others were dispatched to attend observer courses at Bien Hoa

Bien Hoa

Biên Hòa is a city in Dong Nai province, Vietnam, about east of Ho Chi Minh City , to which Bien Hoa is linked by Vietnam Highway 1.- Demographics :In 1989 the estimated population was over 300,000. In 2005, the population wss 541,495...

, South Vietnam. A small number also went to train with the US Navy at the Pensacola Air Station, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

and attended courses at the RAAF East Sale airbase in Victoria, Australia.