The Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces ( vi, Lực Lượng Đặc Biệt Quân Lực Việt Nam Cộng Hòa or ') were the elite military units of the
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; french: Armée de la république du Viêt Nam) composed the ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon in April ...
(ARVN). Following the establishment of the Republic of Vietnam (commonly known as
South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
) in October 1955, the Special Forces were formed at
Nha Trang
Nha Trang ( or ; ) is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa Province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the north by Ninh Hòa District, Ninh Hoà town, on the south by Cam Ranh city and on the west by Diên Khánh Distri ...
in February 1956. During the rule of
Ngô Đình Diệm
Ngô Đình Diệm ( or ; ; 3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963) was a South Vietnamese politician. He was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955), and then served as the first president of South Vietnam (Republic of ...
, the Special Forces were run by his brother,
Ngô Đình Nhu
Ngô Đình Nhu (; 7 October 19102 November 1963; baptismal name Jacob) was a Vietnamese archivist and politician. He was the younger brother and chief political advisor of South Vietnam's first president, Ngô Đình Diệm. Although he held ...
, until both were
assassinated in November 1963 in a
coup. The Special Forces were disbanded in 1975 when South Vietnam ceased to exist after the
Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon by North Vietnamese or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government, and known as Black April by anti-communist overseas Vietnamese was the capture of Saigon, the capital of ...
.
Early years
The Special Forces came into being at
Nha Trang
Nha Trang ( or ; ) is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa Province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the north by Ninh Hòa District, Ninh Hoà town, on the south by Cam Ranh city and on the west by Diên Khánh Distri ...
in February 1956 under the designation of the First Observation Battalion/Group (FOG). By 1960, most Special Forces units were involved in the FOG program. At
Long Thành, they were trained in intelligence gathering, sabotage and psychological operations (PSYOP). The main duties of the Special Forces entailed the recruitment and training of one-to-four man teams in intelligence, sabotage, and psychological warfare missions in
North Vietnam
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...
. The success of these missions was poor.
Although minor sabotage and unrest was fomented,
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
declared that all agents were to be killed or captured. Those who were captured were interrogated and executed. In 1961, the Special Forces and the
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; french: Armée de la république du Viêt Nam) composed the ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon in April ...
(ARVN)
1st Infantry Division, based in the northernmost area of South Vietnam, conducted a joint operation against Communist infiltrators in northern
Quảng Trị Province. In the autumn of 1961, Special Forces units began Operation Eagle at Bình Hưng with a night parachute assault. In September 1962,
United States Special Forces
The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army.
The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal ...
personnel assumed responsibility of the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
(CIA)'s border surveillance and
Civilian Irregular Defense Group
The Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG, pronounced "sid-gee") was a military program developed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the Vietnam War, which was intended to develop South Vietnamese irregular military units from indi ...
(CIDG) programs and began working with the ARVN Special Forces. The Special Forces continued to expand and began to increasingly operate with the CIDG.
Diệm era
![ARVN and US Special Forces](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/ARVN_and_US_Special_Forces.jpg)
During the rule of President
Ngô Đình Diệm
Ngô Đình Diệm ( or ; ; 3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963) was a South Vietnamese politician. He was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955), and then served as the first president of South Vietnam (Republic of ...
, the Special Forces were used mainly for repressing dissidents. Despite the fact that South Vietnam was struggling against the communist insurgency of the
Viet Cong
,
, war = the Vietnam War
, image = FNL Flag.svg
, caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green.
, active ...
in the rural areas, the Special Forces were mostly kept in the capital
Saigon
, population_density_km2 = 4,292
, population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2
, population_demonym = Saigonese
, blank_name = GRP (Nominal)
, blank_info = 2019
, blank1_name = – Total
, blank1_ ...
, where they were used to prevent coups or harass regime opponents. Under Diệm, the Special Forces were headed by Colonel
Lê Quang Tung
Colonel Lê Quang Tung (13 June 1919 – 1 November 1963) was the commander of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces under the command of Ngô Đình Nhu. Nhu was the brother of South Vietnam's president, Ngô Đình Diệm. A fo ...
, who had been trained by the CIA in the United States and commanded some 1,840 men under the direction of Nhu. Tung's most notable military activity was leading a group run by the CIA, in which ARVN personnel of northern origin were sent into North Vietnam, posing as locals, in order to gather intelligence as well as sabotaging communist infrastructure and communications. They were trained in bases at Nha Trang,
Đà Nẵng
Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is on ...
and sometimes offshore in
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
,
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
and
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
. Of the eighty groups of operatives, numbering six or seven per group, that were deployed in 1963 via parachute drops or night time sampan journeys, nearly all were captured or killed. Those who were captured were often used for propaganda by the North Vietnamese. Tung was heavily criticised for his management of the operations.
Buddhist crisis
In 1963, South Vietnam faced civil unrest in the face of
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
protests against discrimination by the
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
-oriented Diệm regime. In the wake of the
shootings of nine Buddhist protesters on the
birthday
A birthday is the anniversary of the birth of a person, or figuratively of an institution. Birthdays of people are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with birthday gifts, birthday cards, a birthday party, or a rite of passage.
Many re ...
of
Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
for defying a ban on the
Buddhist flag
The Buddhist flag is a flag designed in the late 19th century as a universal symbol of Buddhism. It is used by Buddhists throughout the world.
History
The flag was originally designed in 1885 by the Colombo Committee, in Colombo, Ceylon (''no ...
, mass protests calling for religious equality erupted around the country. With opposition to Diệm growing, Nhu plotted an attack against
Xá Lợi Pagoda, the largest Buddhist centre in Saigon, where the movement was organizing its activities. Tung's Special Forces under Nhu's orders were responsible for the raid on 21 August 1963, in which 1,400 monks were arrested and hundreds were estimated to have been killed, as well as extensive property damage. These attacks were replicated across the country in a synchronised manner. Following the attacks, U.S. officials threatened to withhold aid to the Special Forces unless they were used in fighting communists, rather than attacking dissidents.
Another infamous religious assault on the Buddhist community was carried out by Tung's men in 1963. In a small pond near Đà Nẵng, a hugely oversized
carp
Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...
was found swimming. Local Buddhists began to believe the fish was a
reincarnation
Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is a ...
of one of Gautama Buddha's disciples. As pilgrimages to the pond grew larger and more frequent, so did disquiet among the district chief and his officials, who answered to
Ngô Đình Cẩn, another younger brother of Diệm. The pond was mined, but the fish swam on unhindered. After raking the pond with machine gun fire, the fish still lived. To deal with the problem, Tung's forces were called in. The pond was
grenade
A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...
d, killing the carp. The incident generated more publicity as newspapers across the world ran stories about the miraculous fish. ARVN helicopters began landing at the site, with ARVN paratroopers filling their bottles with water which they believed had magical powers. Tung was reported to have been planning an operation at the request of Nhu to stage a government organised student demonstration outside the
US Embassy, Saigon
The United States Embassy in Saigon was first established in June 1952, and moved into a new building in 1967 and eventually closed in 1975. The embassy was the scene of a number of significant events of the Vietnam War, most notably the Viet Co ...
. In this plan, Tung and his operatives would assassinate U.S. ambassador
Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., other key officials and Buddhist leader
Thích Trí Quang
Thích Trí Quang ( Hán Nôm: 釋智光) (21 December 1923 – 8 November 2019) was a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk best known for his role in leading South Vietnam's Buddhist population during the Buddhist crisis in 1963, and in later Bud ...
, who was given asylum after being targeted in the pagoda raids. On 1 November 1963, a coup was launched by the ARVN against Diệm. Knowing Tung was a loyalist who would order his Special Forces to defend Diệm, the generals invited him to Joint General Staff (JGS) headquarters on the pretext of a routine meeting. He was arrested and later executed along with his deputy and younger brother, Lê Quang Triệu. Diệm and Nhu were also executed after being captured at the end of the successful coup and the ARVN's leadership consequently changed.
In 1964, the U.S. Army's 5th Special Forces Group was officially assigned to Vietnam. The LLDB worked closely with the U.S. command and although the Americans funded the CIDG camps, the LLDB assumed ultimate responsibility. These camps were commanded by the ARVN Special Forces, supplemented by U.S. Special Forces advisors. From 24 June to 1 July 1964 under
Project DELTA Project DELTA was the first of the Reconnaissance Projects, which were special reconnaissance (SR) units named with a Greek letter. The Reconnaissance Projects were formed by the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) during the Vietnam Wa ...
, LLDB teams performed five parachute drops into
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
to gather intelligence. By 1965, LLDB personnel were working with the ARVN in recruiting and training as well as sending groups into communist areas in South Vietnam to gather information. US Special Forces referred to the LLDB as "LL" or "LIMA-LIMA" using the phonetic alphabet. Over the radio they were called "XRAY" so it would not reveal the unit as CIDG.
1970s
In March 1970, aware of the impending withdrawal of U.S. Special Forces from Vietnam as part of a general withdrawal, the U.S.
Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) was a joint-service command of the United States Department of Defense.
MACV was created on 8 February 1962, in response to the increase in United States military assistance to South Vietnam. MACV ...
(MACV) agreed to convert CIDG camps into ARVN
Border Ranger camps. The most highly regarded of the CIDG units, the
Mobile Strike Force followed the conversion and integration into the ARVN as well. The LLDB were eventually disbanded. The former indigenous reconnaissance team personnel previously assigned to work with
MACV-SOG (the US military reconnaissance office for MACV) were regrouped into the Intelligence Directorate of the JGS. This directorate was usually known by the nickname "the 7th Technical Directorate" and was divided into three sections:
* the Coastal Defense Office to deal and manage with all maritime-related reconnaissance activities.
* the Liaison Office to manage the reconnaissance and military intelligence in the northern part of South Vietnam and the adjoining tri-border area (Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia).
* the Topography Office to manage the field reconnaissance activities within South Vietnam.
The ARVN also fielded an airborne-qualified special strike unit,
81st Airborne Ranger group (
Vietnamese
Vietnamese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia
** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam.
* Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam
** Overse ...
: ''Liên đoàn 81 Biệt cách dù''), under the direct command of the JGS. It can be counted as part of the Special Forces and was under the Special Forces command, later being placed under the JGS command. The unit was bloodied during the 1968
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the forces o ...
and the 1972
Easter Offensive
The Easter Offensive, also known as the 1972 spring–summer offensive ('' vi, Chiến dịch Xuân–Hè 1972'') by North Vietnam, or the red fiery summer (') as romanticized in South Vietnamese literature, was a military campaign conducted b ...
when it was launched into battle to relieve the garrison of
An Lộc northwest of Saigon from a
People's Army of Vietnam
The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Vietnam, Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the ...
siege. Some former LLDB personnel were formed into a new clandestine unit, the Vietnamese Special Mission Service (SMS), while others went to serve in the
Republic of Vietnam National Police Field Force
The Republic of Vietnam National Police Field Force (Vietnamese: ''Cảnh Sát Dã Chiến'' – CSDC), also designated Police de Campagne by the French and variously as National Police Field Force (NPFF), Field Police or Field Force for short by ...
(
Vietnamese
Vietnamese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia
** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam.
* Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam
** Overse ...
: ''Cãnh Sát Dã Chiên'' – CSDC). Approximately 5,000 personnel served in the Special Forces during the Vietnam War. After the
Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon by North Vietnamese or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government, and known as Black April by anti-communist overseas Vietnamese was the capture of Saigon, the capital of ...
, those who did not manage to escape were sent to
reeducation camps.
Effectiveness
The LLDB's largest operation occurred with the CIDGs, an immense network of ethnic minorities and
montagnards
Montagnard (''of the mountain'' or ''mountain dweller'') may refer to:
* Montagnard (French Revolution), members of The Mountain (''La Montagne''), a political group during the French Revolution (1790s)
** Montagnard (1848 revolution), members of t ...
funded and trained with CIA-U.S. Special Forces resources. Historically, the South Vietnamese considered such minorities inferior, especially the semi-primitive mountain tribes, and this diminished effective cooperation and a mutual sense of purpose between the LLDB and its Central Highland militia. Command and control was frequently strained, a factor that contributed to an unsuccessful rebellion in September 1964, by tribal groups loyal to the
United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races
The United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races (FULRO; french: Front unifié de lutte des races opprimées, vi, Mặt trận Thống nhất Đấu tranh của các Sắc tộc bị Áp bức) was an organization whose objective was auton ...
(FULRO).
[Stanton, Shelby. Green Berets at War. 1985.]
The degree to which the tribal minorities influenced the war cannot be underestimated. They provided intelligence, acted as scouts, and in many cases became effective guerrilla soldiers. Thus, the South Vietnamese, despite their racist attitudes, needed the assistance they received from the montagnards, and U.S. Special Forces and
Australian Special Air Service
The Special Air Service Regiment, officially abbreviated SASR though commonly known as the SAS, is a special forces unit of the Australian Army. Formed in 1957, it was modelled on the Special Air Service, British SAS sharing the motto, "Who ...
(SAS) advisers acted as intermediaries when clashes occurred between the LLDB and the montagnards. Ultimately, however, the advisers could not exercise complete jurisdiction because the South Vietnamese were technically, though not realistically, in charge of these programs. During the period of Vietnamization (1969-1972), the number of U.S. advisers was reduced, then eliminated, which forced the LLDB to assume complete control over tens of thousands of ethnic troops, which the ethnic troops resented.
See also
*
List of defunct special forces units
*
Civilian Irregular Defense Group program
The Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG, pronounced "sid-gee") was a military program developed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the Vietnam War, which was intended to develop South Vietnamese irregular military units from indi ...
*
Vietnamese Rangers
The Vietnamese Rangers ( vi, Biệt Động Quân), commonly known as the ARVN Rangers, were the light infantry of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. Trained and assisted by American Special Forces and Ranger advisers, the Vietnamese Rangers ...
*
United States Army Special Forces
The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service Berets of the United States Army, headgear, are a special operations special operations force, force of the United States Ar ...
*
SPECOM
*
Republic of Vietnam National Police Field Force
The Republic of Vietnam National Police Field Force (Vietnamese: ''Cảnh Sát Dã Chiến'' – CSDC), also designated Police de Campagne by the French and variously as National Police Field Force (NPFF), Field Police or Field Force for short by ...
*
Khmer Special Forces
The Khmer Special Forces, also designated 'Khmer SF' for short or Forces Speciales Khmères (FSK) in French, the tier 1 special forces of the Khmer National Armed Forces (commonly known by their French acronym, FANK) during the 1970-75 Cambodia ...
References
*Gordon L. Rottman and Ron Volstad, ''Vietnam Airborne'', Elite series 29, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1990. .
*Gordon L. Rottman and Ramiro Bujeiro, ''Army of the Republic of Vietnam 1955-75'', Men-at-arms series 458, Osprey Publishing Ltd, Oxford 2010.
*Kenneth Conboy and Simon McCouaig, ''South-East Asian Special Forces'', Elite series 33, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1991.
*Lee E. Russell and Mike Chappell, ''Armies of the Vietnam War 2'', Men-at-arms series 143, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1983. .
*Phillip Katcher and Mike Chappell, ''Armies of the Vietnam War 1962-1975'', Men-at-arms series 104, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1980.
*Spencer Tucker, ''Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War'',
ABC-CLIO 2000.
*Valéry Tarrius, ''La Police de Campagne du Sud-Vietnam 1967–1975'', in Armes Militaria Magazine, March 2005 issue, Histoire & Collections, Paris, pp. 37–43. (in
French)
{{Authority control
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
Military units and formations of South Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
Buddhist crisis
Military units and formations disestablished in 1975