Military Region 5 Commandos

Military Region 5 Commandos
Commandos de la Région Militaire 5
Active	1969 - May 1975
Country	Kingdom of Laos
Allegiance	Royal Lao Government
Branch	Royal Lao Army
Type	Special operations forces
Size	340 men (at height)
Part of	Royal Lao Armed Forces
Headquarters	Ban Y Lai, near Vientiane
Nickname(s)	MR 5 Cdos.
Engagements	Battle of Phou Khout Battle of Khong Sedone
Commanders
Notable commanders	(unknown)

The Military Region 5 Commandos (French: Commandos de la Région Militaire 5), MR 5 Commandos or MR 5 Cdos for short, were an elite military unit and Special Operations force of the Royal Lao Armed Forces (commonly known by its French acronym FAR), which operated during the final phase of the Laotian Civil War from 1969 to 1975.

Origins

In 1969 some 300 selected Laotian personnel from the Royal Lao Army (RLA) were sent to Thailand to attend advanced Airborne and Ranger courses manned by instructors from the Royal Thai Army Special Forces (RTSF) at their Special Warfare Centre and Recondo School co-located at Fort Narai in Lopburi Province. Upon returning to Laos after completing their training, they went to provide the core of a new Para-Commando battalion which was assigned to Military Region 5, hence became known as "Military Region 5 Commandos".

Structure and organization

By January 1970, MR 5 Cdos strength peaked at 340 officers and enlisted men, all airborne-qualified volunteers, organized into a battalion comprising one headquarters (HQ), three company HQ sections, and three Commando companies. The unit was based in Ban Y Lai, north of Vientiane, Laos capital city.

Operational history 1969-1975

See also: List of military operations of the Laotian Civil War

The MR 5 Cdos were initially employed primarily on counter-insurgency sweeps targeting Pathet Lao guerrilla units around Vientiane, though in later years they were deployed in other military regions to demonstrate symbolic support from the Royal Lao Government. During September 1971 one company participated in Operation Golden Mountain, the successful capture of Phou Khout Mountain, overlooking Muang Soui in Military Region 2 (Long Tieng), and in 1972 two companies were sent to Military Region 4 (Pakse) to assist RLA units in the recapture of Khong Sedone. As late as May 1975, after the collapse of the FAR, a single remaining company from the MR 5 Cdos was fighting Pathet Lao forces north of the Laotian capital city.

See also

• Air America (airline)
• Commando Raider Teams
• Directorate of National Coordination
• Laotian Civil War
• Lao People's Armed Forces
• Pathet Lao
• Royal Lao Armed Forces
• Royal Lao Army Airborne
• Special Guerrilla Units (SGU)
• SPECOM
• Vietnam War
• Weapons of the Laotian Civil War

References

• Kenneth Conboy and Simon McCouaig, South-East Asian Special Forces, Elite series 33, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1991. ISBN 1-85532-106-8
• Kenneth Conboy with James Morrison, Shadow War: The CIA's Secret War in Laos, Boulder CO: Paladin Press, 1995. ISBN 978-1581605358, 1581605358

Further reading

• Kenneth Conboy and Don Greer, War in Laos 1954-1975, Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., Carrollton, Texas 1994. ISBN 0897473159
• Kenneth Conboy and Simon McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960-75, Men-at-arms series 217, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1989. ISBN 9780850459388
• Ken Conboy, The Erawan War – Volume 1: The CIA Paramilitary Campaign in Laos, 1961-1969, Asia@War Volume 24, Helion & Company Limited, Warwick UK 2021. ISBN 978-1-804510-65-0
• Ken Conboy, The Erawan War – Volume 2: The CIA Paramilitary Campaign in Laos, 1969-1974, Asia@War Volume 28, Helion & Company Limited, Warwick UK 2022a. ISBN 978-1-915113-59-7
• Ken Conboy, The Erawan War – Volume 3: The Royal Lao Armed Forces 1961-1974, Asia@War Volume 37, Helion & Company Limited, Warwick UK 2022b. ISBN 978-1-804512-87-6
• Khambang Sibounheuang (edited by Edward Y. Hall), White Dragon Two: A Royal Laotian Commando's Escape from Laos, Spartanburg, SC: Honoribus Press, 2002. ISBN 978-1885354143