The ''Auto Defense de Choc'' ( Self-Defense village militia) company basic training program was a short intensive course in military tactics; it was developed at the start of the Laotian Civil War to begin a guerrilla movement in Laos. The ADC training that took place in the face of the North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao communist troops was so successful it was copied elsewhere, including Operation Pincushion in Laos, and among the

Degar Montagnard () is an umbrella term for the various indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The French term () signifies a mountain dweller, and is a carryover from the French colonial period in Vietnam. In Vietnamese, they a ...

of South Vietnam. The ADC program consisted of prepacked military equipment suitable for training 100 recruits at a time.

Background

As the French lost the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

, the United States edged its way into taking over support of the Kingdom of Laos. This action was complicated by the U.S. being bound by the Geneva Agreements guaranteeing Laotian neutrality. In January 1961, 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, ...

began secret paramilitary operations within Laos. Its aim was to thwart a Vietnamese communist invasion of the kingdom. The resulting Laotian Civil War would be subsumed by the burgeoning

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

Origin of the ADC

Faced with the conundrum of founding a secret army in the face of an active enemy during wartime, CIA case officer James William Lair founded Operation Momentum. This was a three-day course in basic military training, using small arms and equipment parachuted in to the

Hmong Hmong may refer to: * Hmong people, an ethnic group living mainly in Southwest China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand * Hmong cuisine * Hmong customs and culture ** Hmong music ** Hmong textile art * Hmong language, a continuum of closely related to ...

recruits and their Thai trainers. The resulting self-defense units were called ''Auto Defense Choc'' (Self Defense Shock). The results sparked copies of the program such as Operation Pincushion. The ADC companies were constituted as follows:

Table of Organization for an ADC company

* Headquarters section ** Two officers ** 14 enlisted ranks * Three platoons of

irregulars Irregular military is any non-standard military component that is distinct from a country's national armed forces. Being defined by exclusion, there is significant variance in what comes under the term. It can refer to the type of military orga ...

** One officer ** 27 enlisted ranks Total personnel authorized: Five officers, 95 enlisted.Conboy, Morrison, p. 86.

Table of Equipment for an ADC company

* One pallet containing 100 uniforms * One pallet containing pistol belts, canteens, and cleaning kits for small arms * Nine pallets of munitions, including: ** One 57mm recoilless rifle ** One 60mm mortar ** Three Browning Automatic Rifles ** Grenades and ammunition The above eleven pallets were rigged for paradroppage by the Police Aerial Reinforcement Unit of the Thai Border Patrol Police, and weighed just shy of 2.7 metric tons.

Resupply package

There was also a standardised resupply package. * Four pallets, including: ** Ammunition for

M1 Garand The M1 Garand or M1 rifleOfficially designated as U.S. rifle, caliber .30, M1, later simply called Rifle, Caliber .30, M1, also called US Rifle, Cal. .30, M1 is a semi-automatic rifle that was the service rifle of the U.S Army during World War ...

** Ammunition for

M1 Carbine The M1 carbine (formally the United States Carbine, Caliber .30, M1) is a lightweight semi-automatic carbine that was a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The M1 carbine was produced ...

** Grenades ** Both high explosive and

white phosphorus Elemental phosphorus can exist in several allotropes, the most common of which are white and red solids. Solid violet and black allotropes are also known. Gaseous phosphorus exists as diphosphorus and atomic phosphorus. White phosphorus White ...

ammunition for 60 mm mortar ** Both white phosphorus and anti-tank ammunition for 57 mm recoilless rifle The resultant load weighed just over one metric ton.

ADC operations

Although the ADC served the purpose of self-defense of Hmong villages, it was also the basis for further military training. As Operation Momentum developed, some ADC graduates were picked for further schooling as training cadre called Special Operating Teams. Other graduates progressed to becoming members of

Special Guerrilla Units Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ...

tasked with offensive military operations. The ADC programs would continue until the end of the Second Indochina War.Warner, pp. 118–120, 362.

Notes

References

* Conboy, Kenneth and James Morrison (1995). ''Shadow War: The CIA's Secret War in Laos''. Paladin Press. . * Warner, Roger (1995). ''Back Fire: The CIA's Secret War in Laos and Its Link to the War in Vietnam''. Simon & Schuster. {{ISBN, 0684802929. 20th century in Laos CIA activities in Laos Hmong-American culture and history Laos–United States relations Laotian Civil War Tables of Organisation and Equipment