The Republic of Vietnam Military Forces (RVNMF; – QLVNCH), were the official armed defense forces of the defunct

Republic of 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 ...

and was responsible for the defense of the state since its independence from France in October 1955 to its demise in April 1975.

Branches

The QLVNCH was formally established on December 30, 1955, by the strongman and republican first South Vietnamese president

Ngo Dinh Diem 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 ...

, which he declared on October 26 that year after winning a rigged referendumRottman and Bujeiro, ''Army of the Republic of Vietnam 1955-75'' (2010), p. 7. on the future of the

State of Vietnam The State of Vietnam ( vi, Quốc gia Việt Nam; Chữ Nôm: 國家越南; french: État du Viêt-Nam) was a governmental entity in Southeast Asia that existed from 1949 until 1955, first as a member of the French Union and later as a country ...

. Created out from ex-

French Union The French Union () was a political entity created by the French Fourth Republic to replace the old French colonial empire system, colloquially known as the " French Empire" (). It was the formal end of the "indigenous" () status of French subje ...

Army colonial Indochinese auxiliary units (French: ''Supplétifs''), gathered earlier in July 1951 into the French-led

Vietnamese National Army The Vietnamese National Army or Vietnam National Army ( vi, Quân đội Quốc gia Việt Nam, lit=Army of the State of Vietnam, french: Armée Nationale Vietnamienne, lit=Vietnamese National Army) was the State of Vietnam's military force create ...

(VNA) (Vietnamese: ''Quân Đội Quốc Gia Việt Nam'' – QĐQGVN), Armée Nationale Vietnamiènne (ANV) in French, the armed forces of the new state consisted in the mid-1950s of ground, air, and naval branches of service, respectively: *

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) *

Republic of Vietnam Air Force The South Vietnam Air Force, officially the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF; vi, Không lực Việt Nam Cộng hòa, KLVNCH; french: Force aérienne vietnamienne, FAVN) (sometimes referred to as the Vietnam Air Force or VNAF) was the aer ...

(VNAF) *

Republic of Vietnam Navy The Republic of Vietnam Navy (RVNN; ; ''HQVNCH'') was the naval branch of the South Vietnamese military, the official armed forces of the former Republic of Vietnam (or South Vietnam) from 1955 to 1975. The early fleet consisted of boats fro ...

including

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

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

from external (and internal) threats; and ultimately, to help reunify

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 ...

– divided since the Geneva Accords in July 1955 into two transitional states, one at the north ruled by

Ho Chi Minh (: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as ('Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), (' Old father of the people') and by other aliases, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. He served as Prime ...

’s Marxist

Lao Dong Party The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), also known as the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole legal party of the Vietnam, Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Founded in 1930 by Hồ Chí Minh, the CPV became t ...

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

Command structure

Regional commands

Notes

References

*Gordon L. Rottman and Ron Volstad, ''US Army Special Forces 1952-84'', Elite series 4, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1985. *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. . *Leroy Thompson, Michael Chappell, Malcolm McGregor and Ken MacSwan, ''Uniforms of the Indo-China and Vietnam Wars'', Blandford Press, London 1984. ASIN: B001VO7QSI *Martin Windrow and Mike Chappell, ''The French Indochina War 1946-54'', Men-at-arms series 322, Osprey Publishing Ltd, Oxford 1998. *Phillip Katcher and Mike Chappell, ''Armies of the Vietnam War 1962-1975'', Men-at-arms series 104, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1980.

Branches

Command structure

Regional commands

See also

Notes

References

Further reading