1st Laotian Parachute Battalion

The 1st BPL began forming in October 1951 at Chinaimo near Vientiane, and reached a strength of 853 men in a headquarters and three companies by 1 April 1952.

The Xam Neua garrison was defeated by a Viet Minh invasion of 40,000 troops commanded by General Võ Nguyên Giáp,[1] forcing the remnants of the 1st BPL to flee toward the Plain of Jars.

The 1st BPL began preparing for Operation Condor, an attempt to relieve the Dien Bien Phu garrison, during March 1954.

Between 2 and 4 August it conducted the final airborne operation of the war, in which it parachuted into the town of Phanop in Khammouane Province, linking up with local militia units and sweeping the territory up to Mụ Giạ Pass on the Vietnamese border.

[2] Following the implementation of the Indochina ceasefire on 6 August, the 1st BPL with 981 personnel returned to Seno and transferred to the Royal Lao Army (RLA).