The Royal Lao Army Airborne was composed of the élite paratrooper battalions of the Royal Lao Army (RLA), the land component of the Royal Lao Armed Forces (commonly known by its French acronym FAR), which operated during the First Indochina War and the Laotian Civil War from 1948 to 1975.
History
The Laotian paratroopers owed their origin and traditions to the French airborne forces of the First Indochina War, and even after years of American, Filipino, Indonesian, and Thai assistance the distinctive French influence could be seen. Along with the irregular ethnic Special Guerrilla Units (SGUs), the regular airborne and para-commando battalions were the most effective units in the RLA.
First Indochina War operations 1948–1954 The first Laotian airborne unit was formed on 1 July 1948, when the detached 3rd Company from the 1st Laotian Rifle Battalion ( – 1er BCL) began airborne training and was renamed the 1st Laotian Para-Commando Company ( – 1ére CCPL) of the French Union Army. By September, 1ére CCPL strength had risen to a headquarters (HQ) section and three commando sections, totalling 132 Laotians and 22 French officers and senior NCOs seconded from the French Far East Expeditionary Corps (CEFEO) parachute units. During the same month, the 1ére CCPL headquarters and an airborne training centre taught by French instructors were established at the French Air Force's Wattay Airbase just outside Vientiane, Laos' capital city. On 11 May 1949, 1ére CCPL performed its first combat jump, dropping 18 commandos to reinforce the Luang Namtha garrison. Six more airborne operations were conducted by the company during the year, including a 112-man jump to reinforce Sam Neua in Sam Neua Province, close to the Laotian-Vietnamese border, on 16 December. On 29 April 1951 the company was increased to six commando sections. In October, however, Commandos 4, 5, and 6 were removed to form the 2nd Company of the new 1st Laotian Parachute Battalion. The remainder of 1ére CCPL conducted five airborne reinforcement jumps around the country during the year. On 1 March 1952 1ére CCPL was renamed 1st Laotian Commando Company ( – 1ére CCL). Numerous jumps were conducted during the year, mostly as part of counter-insurgency sweeps north of Vientiane. On 27 April 1953 1ére CCL was dropped at the Nam Bac valley, north of Luang Prabang to establish a forward defensive line in face of a Vietminh invasion.Stuart-Fox, Historical Dictionary of Laos (2008), pp. 368–369. The company was decimated, and could not reconstitute its headquarters section and four commando sections until 4 August. On 15 June 1954 the company was transferred from the French Union Army to the Laotian National Army ( – ANL), changing its name to 1st Group of Laotian Para-Commandos ( – 1er GCPL). All French officers left the group by August, after being replaced by hand-picked Laotian officers and NCOs..
A second airborne unit, the 1st Laotian Parachute Battalion ( – 1er BPL), began forming in October 1951.. By 1 April 1952 the battalion was brought to strength with 853 officers and enlisted men, divided into a headquarters and three companies. Based at Camp Chinaimo, a major military facility located on the eastern outskirts of Vientiane,Stuart-Fox, Historical Dictionary of Laos (2008), pp. 53–54. 1er BPL participated in twenty operations, six involving parachute jumps, during 1952. On 15–24 December 576 members of the unit conducted a reinforcement drop into Sam Neua garrison during Operation "Noel". Eighty more members of the battalion jumped into Sam Neua in February 1953, enabling the BPL to create a fourth company. On 15 April 1953, the Vietminh invaded northeastern Laos with 40,000 troops commanded by General Võ Nguyên Giáp and crushed the Sam Neua garrison,. sending remnants of the BPL fleeing toward the Plain of Jars. A month later, the battalion was reconstituted at Chinaimo, and conducted several reconnaissance and commando operations north of Luang Prabang – such as Operation "Dampieres" in September 1953. – for the remainder of the year. In March 1954 the BPL began preparing for Operation "Condor", the planned relief of the besieged Dien Bien Phu garrison in North Vietnam. During April and early May the battalion advanced toward the Laotian-Vietnamese border, but was withdrawn in mid-May after the garrison fell. On 18 June the BPL regrouped at Seno, a French military base located about 30 km (20 miles) east of Savannakhet.Stuart-Fox, Historical Dictionary of Laos (2008), p. 296. From 2–4 August the battalion performed the last airborne operation of the First Indochina War, jumping into the town of Phanop in Khammouane Province to link up with local militia units and sweep the territory up to the strategic Mụ Giạ Pass, located in the Annamite Range on the Laotian-Vietnamese border.
The fall of Dien Bien Phu brought the Indochina War to a close and drove the French government to enter into peace negotiations with the Vietminh.. Following the signing of the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities in Laos on 20 July 1954Savada, Laos: a country study (1995), pp. 34–35. and the implementation of the Indochina ceasefire on 6 August, the 981-strong BPL was brought back to Seno and turned over to the ANL. After French officers left the BPL in October, the name of the unit was simplified to 1st Parachute Battalion ( – 1er BP)..
Post-war operations 1955–1960
In 1955, 1ére GCPL was integrated with 1er BP at Seno. The reinforced battalion conducted a parachute reinforcement jump into Muong Peun during the year. A 2nd Parachute Battalion ( – 2e BP) began to be formed at Wattay in 1957, being brought to strength the following year after the return from the Philippines of a Laotian contingent trained at the Scout Ranger course at Fort William McKinley in Manila.. Although both units were grouped into an understrength two-battalion Airborne Regiment, they were deployed at different locations: 2e BP, based at Wattay, was given responsibility for operations in northern Laos while 1er BP, based at Seno, handled missions in the southern provinces of the country.
The deteriorating domestic political situation towards the late 1950s, along with the threat posed by the home-grown Marxist Pathet Lao insurgency backed by the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Vietnam (e.g. North Vietnam), presented the largely unprepared Laotian Armed Forces ( – FAL) – officially created in July 1959 and redesignated in September 1961 the Royal Lao Armed Forces ( – FAR). – its first major challenges since the First Indochina War. Due to its poor state of readiness, the ANL (renamed in 1961 Royal Lao Army or RLA), had to rely almost exclusively on its crack parachute battalions to confront the Pathet Lao insurgents: in May 1959, 2e BP was dropped near Tha Thom, south of the Plain of Jars, to cut off a Pathet Lao guerrilla battalion fleeing toward the North Vietnamese border. The operation failed to prevent the guerrillas from crossing the border, however, and to further aggrieve matters, most of 2e BP fell ill with Malaria. The disease-ridden battalion was withdrawn to Wattay the following month. In July, the unit was rushed to Sam Neua to engage an alleged joint Pathet Lao/North Vietnamese Army (NVA) incursion that threatened the city. Although most of the ANL units had fled the area, 2e BP encountered only minimal insurgent activity and found no trace of NVA troops. On 29 July, 2e BP was sent again to Sam Neua Province in a futile attempt to reinforce local ANL outposts threatened by Pathet Lao attacks.. On 22 August, 1er BP was brought up from Seno to conduct a parachute reinforcement jump into Moung Peun, and both battalions engaged in small skirmishes in northern Laos. However, disgruntled by the ANL's failure to pay their wages while they were on assignment, the deputy commander of 2e BP Captain Kong Le led his disaffected paratroopers to participate in the 25 December 1959 coup d'état that brought Major general Phoumi Nosavan to power. Although Prince Somsanith Vongkotrattana was appointed prime minister,Stuart-Fox, Historical Dictionary of Laos (2008), p. 314. true power rested in the hands of Maj. Gen. Phoumi, the defense minister of the new government and the de facto ruler of Laos.
In 1960, 2e BP was rushed down to Attapeu Province to counter increased Pathet Lao guerrilla activity in the region. The battalion carried out counter-insurgency sweeps along the Laotian-Cambodian border until flown back to Wattay on 27 April. To provide additional training for the Laotian para battalions, two new airborne training centres were established in February 1960 at Vang Vieng, located 17 Kilometers (10.56 miles) from Vientiane and set up with the help of U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group (Laos) advisors, and at Seno, assisted by French Military Mission in Laos () advisors.. That same month, a company from 1er BP began receiving instruction at Vang Vieng and elements of 2e BP assembled there in April, but were withdrawn and parachuted north of Vientiane on 25 May in an unsuccessful attempt to apprehend a group of Pathet Lao political leaders that escaped from prison in the capital. Further airborne and Ranger training was provided by the Royal Thai Special Forces (RTSF) at their Special Warfare Centre and Recondo School co-located at Fort Narai in Lopburi Province, Thailand. Companies from 2e BP were rotated through Ft. Narai in the first half of 1960, followed by nearly the entire 1er BP on 6 June. At the same time, a new para battalion, 3e BP, was activated at Wattay.
Kong Le's Coup and the splintering of the Laotian Airborne Forces
As 1959 ended, the ANL undertook a wider offensive against the Pathet Lao, and most active in the counter-insurgency operations was the crack 2e BP led by Capt. Kong Le. When the situation worsened for the airborne forces after several weary months of combat, Kong Le decided to take matters into his own hands. On 9 August 1960, while most Royal Lao Government dignitaries were in Luang Prabang attending King Sisavang Vong's funeral, the 2e BP under the command of Capt. Kong Le seized control of Vientiane in a nearly bloodless coup d'état in order "to restore neutrality to Laos".Stuart-Fox, Historical Dictionary of Laos (2008), pp. 73–74. After dissolving the right-wing cabinet of Prince Samsanith, Kong Le invited Prince Souvanna Phouma to form a neutralist coalition government and then announced that the new cabinet would be open to both the Royalists and the Marxist Pathet Lao. The latter took immediate advantage of Kong Le's offer, and began sending their forces into the capital. The Soviet Union assisted the Pathet Lao by airlifting in supplies and an NVA artillery battery equipped with captured M101A1 105mm Howitzers.. However, the Royalists, with the growing approval (and active support) of the U.S. and Thailand, regrouped in Savannakhet under the command of Maj. Gen. Phoumi Nosavan and prepared for a counter-coup on Vientiane.. The ANL split along political lines, with the parachute units joining the opposing factions: 1er BP returned from training in Thailand to Seno, and declared its loyalty to the Royalists; 3e BP, still four months from graduation, had one company defect to the Kong Le Neutralist faction; the remainder of the unit refused to support the Neutralists and were held hostage at Vientiane..
Early civil war operations 1960–1964