People's Army of Vietnam

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Vietnamese People's Army
Quân Đội Nhân Dân Việt Nam
Flag of Vietnam and flag of the Vietnamese People's Army
Flag of Vietnam and flag of Vietnamese People's Army
ActiveDec. 22, 1944 - present
CountryVietnam
AllegianceVietnam
TypeArmy
AnniversariesTraditional Founding Date: Dec. 22, 1944. Dien Bien Phu Victory: May 7, 1954. Liberation of the South: April 30, 1975.
EngagementsWorld War II (Anti-Japanese Campaign 1944-1945), First Indochina War (Against France and French-sponsored local forces, 1946-1954), Second Indochina War (Vietnam War) (Against the United States and US-sponsored local forces, 1964-1975), Southwest Campaign (Against the Khmer Rouge, 1979-1989), 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War), 1984-1988 Second Sino-Vietnamese War), 2002-present (secret war in Laos against Hmong separatists)[citation needed]
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Vo Nguyen Giap, Tran Van Tra, Nguyen Chi Thanh, Van Tien Dung, Chu Van Tan, Vuong Thua Vu, Le Duc Anh, Nguyen Thi Dinh, Hoang Van Thai, Chu Huy Man, Le Trong Tan, Nguyen Binh etc.

The Vietnamese People's Army (VPA) (Vietnamese: Quân Đội Nhân Dân Việt Nam) is the official name of the armed forces of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. During the Second Indochina War (Vietnam War) (1957–1975), the U.S. referred to it as the North Vietnamese Army (NVA), or People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and this term is commonly found throughout Vietnam War-related subjects. The VPA was not the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (also known as Việt Cộng) (although certain elements disguised as such occasionally and after the reunification of the country in 1976, all former Việt Cộng forces that had not been demobilized were incorporated into the VPA). During the war against the French (First Indochina War, 1946-1954), the VPA was often referred to as the Việt Minh even though Việt Minh was the name of the overall independence movement that preceded the founding of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945. The VPA now includes the: Vietnamese People's Ground Forces (including VPA Strategic Rear Forces and Border Defence Forces), Vietnamese People's Navy (including VPN Naval infantry), Vietnamese People's Air Force, and Vietnamese People's Coast Guard.

History

The predecessor of the VPA was the Armed Propaganda Unit for National Liberation, an organization that was formed by President Hồ Chí Minh on December 22, 1944 to drive the French colonialists and Japanese occupiers from Vietnam.[1]

General Võ Nguyên Giáp was the first Commander and commander-in-chief of VPA and the fourth Minister of National Defence (after Chu Van Tan, Phan Anh, Ta Quang Buu). This force was to launch many offensives, and eventually survive counter-attacks by United States forces in what was known as the Vietnam War in the United States. During the 1968 & 1972 Vietnam War, VPA sustained heavy losses.

They would also participate in incursions into Cambodia, toppling the genocidal Khmer Rouge.

During peaceful periods, the VPA has actively been involved in Vietnam's workforce to develop the economy of Vietnam, in order to coordinate national defense and the economy. The VPA has regularly sent troops to aid with natural disasters such as flooding, landslides etc. The VPA is also involved in such areas as industry, agriculture, forestry, fishery and telecommunications.

The VPA has numerous small firms which have become quite profitable in recent years. However, recent decrees have effectively prohibited the commercialisation of the military.


Organization

Minister of National Defense oversees operations of the VPA and is the Commander-in-Chief. He also oversees such agencies as the General Staff and the General Logistics Department. However, military policy is ultimately directed by the Central Military Commission of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam.

The VPA is composed of a main force and local forces. As with most countries' armed forces, the VPA consists of standing, or regular, forces as well as reserve forces. During peacetime, the standing forces are minimized in number, and kept combat-ready by regular physical and weapons training, and stock maintenance.

Branches

Colonel Nguyen Trong Canh, Director of the Vietnamese Army Engineering Command's Technology Center for Bomb and Mine Disposal (BOMICEN)

The Vietnamese People's Army comprises various units of the main forces (Chủ lực), local forces (Địa phương) and the People's Defence Forces (Dân quân-Tự vệ).

It is subdivided into the following branches and sub-branches:

As mentioned above, reserves exist in all branches and are organized in the same way as the standing forces, with the same chain of command, and with officers and non-commissioned officers.

See Vietnamese military ranks and insignia.

Note:Vietnam Strategic Rear Force (Lực lượng dự bị chiến lược) is also a part of the ground force.

International presence

The Foreign Relations Department of the Ministry of National Defense organizes international operations of the VPA.

Apart from its occupation of half of the disputed Spratly Islands, which have been claimed as Vietnamese territory since the 17th century, Vietnam has not had forces stationed internationally since its withdrawal from Cambodia and Laos in early 1990.

There is some evidence to suggest that Vietnamese forces were sent to Laos to quell the recent rebellion.

Components

Main Force

Frogman of PAVN-Phu Lai River

The main force of the VPA consists of combat ready troops, as well as educational institutions for logistics, officer training, and technical training.

Osprey Publishing's 'The NVA and Vietcong' (1991), written by Conboy, Bowra, and McCouaig, (henceforth Conboy et al) traces the development of the VPA Ground Forces from their earliest origins.[1] As early as January 1947, its first regiment, the 308 'Capital' Regiment, was created for operations around Hanoi. Over the next two years, partially at training camps in the Chinese towns of Wenshan, Long Zhou, and Jing Xi, Regimental Group 308, a divisional size force formed from the 308 Regiment, was established. It consisted of Regiments 98, 102, and 308, and soon became the 308 'Capital' Division. By late 1950 the 308 Division had a full three infantry regiments, one heavy weapons regiment, and support units, and was backed by two further independent regiments, the 174 and 209. Following disastrous failures against three French strongpoints in the Red River Delta, in late 1951 refocused on building up its ground forces further, with four new divisions, each of 10-15,000 men, created: the 304 Division at Thanh Hoa, the 316 Division in the northeast border region, the 320 Division in the north Red River Delta, formed in Spring 1951, and the 351 Heavy Weapons Division. With the 312 Division, formed at around the same time, and the 325 Division, formed in the northern summer period in central Vietnam, the six rifle formations (304, 308, 312, 316, 320, and 325) became known as the original PAVN 'Steel and Iron' divisions. In 1954 four of these divisions (the 308, 312, 316, supported by howitzers and AA guns of the 351 Division) overwhelmed the French Union forces at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.

Soon after the 1954 Geneva Accords, the 330 and 338 Divisions were formed from southern Communists who had moved north in conformity with that agreement, and by 1955, six more divisions were formed: the 328, 332, and 350 in the north of the DRV, the 305 and the 324 near the DMZ, and the 335 Division of regroupees who had returned from Laos. In 1957, the 'interzones' of the war with the French were reorganised as the first five military regions, and in the next two years, several divisions were reduced to brigade size in order to meet the manpower requirements of collective farms. In May 1959 the first major steps to prepare infiltration routes into South Vietnam were taken; Group 559 was established, a logistical unit charged with establishing routes into the south via Laos and Cambodia, which later became famous as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. At about the same time, Group 579 was created as its' maritime counterpart to smuggle supplies into the South by sea. Most of the early infiltratees were members of the 338 Division, former southerners who had been settled at Xuan Mai from 1954 onwards. Regular formations were sent to South Vietnam from 1965 onwards; the 325 Division's 101B Regiment and the 66 Regiment of the 304 Division met U.S. forces on a large scale, a first for the PAVN, at the Battle of Ia Drang Valley in November 1965.

In 1991, Conboy et al said that the VPA Ground Forces had four 'Strategic Army Corps' in the early 1990s, numbered 1-4 from north to south.[2] 1 SAC, in the Red River Delta region, consisted of the 308th (one of the six original 'Steel and Iron' divisions) and 312th Divisions and the 309th Infantry Regiment. The other three corps, 2 SAC, 3 SAC, and 4 SAC, were further south, with 4 SAC, in what was South Vietnam, consisting of two former PLAF divisions, the 7th and 9th.

The IISS Military Balance 2008 attributes the Vietnamese ground forces with an estimated 412,000 personnel.[3] Formations, according to the IISS, include nine military regions, 14 corps headquarters, 10 armoured brigades, three mechanised infantry divisions, 58 infantry divisions whose strengths range from 5,000 to 12,500, 15 independent infantry regiments, one airborne brigade, one demolition engineer regiment ('Sapper'?), more than 10 brigades of field artillery, eight divisions and more than 20 independent brigades of engineers, and 10-16 economic construction divisions.

Local Forces

Local forces are an entity of the VPA that, together with the militia and "self-defense forces," act on the local level in protection of people and local authorities. While the local forces are regular VPA forces, the militia consists of rural civilians, and the self-defense forces consist of civilians who live in urban areas and/or work in large groups, such as at construction sites or farms. The current number stands at 3-4 million part-time soldiers.

Equipment

File:Cuu ho.jpg
Amphibious military vehicles of the Vietnamese army on their way to rescue the victims of the 2008 Vietnam floods.

From the 1960s to 1975, the Soviet Union was the main supplier of military hardware to North Vietnam. After the latter's victory in the war, it remained the main supplier of equipment to the united Vietnam. The United States had been the primary supplier of equipment to South Vietnam; some of the equipment abandoned by the US Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam came under control of the communist government in Hanoi.

  • 1800 tanks
  • 4900 APC
  • 7350 Artillery
  • 159 Helicopters

The Vietnamese have also produced their own equipment and repaired existing equipment.

Tanks

IFV / APCs

Trucks

Infantry Weapons

Artillery

Missile

Helicopters

Manpower

The Vietnamese People's Army consists of:

  • Military manpower - military age: age for compulsory service: 18-25 years old; conscript service obligation - 18 months
  • Military manpower - availability:
    • males age 15-49: 21,341,813 (2005 est.)
  • Military manpower - fit for military service:
    • males age 15-49: 16,032,358 (2005 est.)
  • Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
    • males: 915,572 (2005 est.)
  • Military manpower - total troops:
    • 9,564,000 (2nd)
  • Military expenditures: $4 billion (Military Balance2007)
  • Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2% (Military Balance2007)

References

  1. ^ Conboy, Bowra, and McCouaig, 'The NVA and Vietcong', Osprey Publishing, 1991, p.5
  2. ^ See also http://www.defencetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6367
  3. ^ IISS Military Balance 2008, Routledge for the IISS, London, 2008, p.408

See also

External links

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