He led the premier unit of the Royal Lao Army, the 2nd Parachute Battalion, that played a significant role during the first phases of the Laotian Civil War.

The idealistic young American-trained officer became known worldwide when, on 10 August 1960, he and his mutinous paratroopers overthrew the Royal Lao Government in a coup d'état.

Once ousted by the U.S.-backed 14 December 1960 countercoup by General Phoumi Nosavan, Kong Le and his fellow putschist officers retreated to the strategic Plain of Jars, gathering recruits to form a rebel group that would be known as the Neutral Armed Forces (FAN).

However, this rebel group would begin to splinter as its members began to favor either the Communist or Royalist forces in the Laotian Civil War.

In April 1963, the Patriotic Neutralists broke off to ally themselves with the communist Pathet Lao, while Kong Le engineered a rapprochement with the Royalists for FAN.

As Kong Le's subordinates became increasingly dissatisfied, and FAN units began to mutiny, he was forced to leave Laos on 17 October 1966.

[3] During his early paratroop service, he befriended two other officers who would become important in Laotian history, Vang Pao and Thao Ma.

[9] Kong Le's unit, 2ème bataillon de parachutistes (Parachute Battalion 2), was considered the cream of the Royal Lao Army.

[10] Kong Le's aims in seizing the capital became apparent in his radio broadcasts: What leads us to carry out this revolution is our desire to stop the bloody civil war; eliminate grasping public servants and military commanders ... whose property amounts to much more than their monthly salaries can afford.

[14] The next four months of turmoil saw Kong Le struggle to maintain control over the Kingdom of Laos in the face of a burgeoning resistance.

Lao commanding officers such as Generals Amkha Soukhavong, Kouprasith Abhay, Oudone Sananikone, and Sing Rattanasamy backed Kong Le with various levels of enthusiasm.

[14] With Central Intelligence Agency financial backing, and aided by CIA-trained commandos, Phoumi's troops set forth at 0800 hours on 21 November 1960 to reclaim Vientiane.

On 16 December, Kong Le's forces withdrew northward toward the strategic Plain of Jars, leaving Phoumi once again in charge of Laos.

In the meantime, Phoumi's American backers struggled to find a covert source of airpower to oppose Kong Le, as the RLA ground forces proved incapable of dealing with FAN.

Eventually, the Americans settled on supplying the Royal Lao Air Force with its first strike aircraft, four T-6 Texans, as well as forming the abortive Operation Millpond.

[23] By the time the International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos agreed upon on 23 July 1962 came into effect, FAN had ramped up to a strength of 8,000 troops.

There was also a small air arm, consisting of two C-47s and two Beavers flown north from Vientiane during the retreat to the Plain; in December 1962, they would be augmented by three Li-2s from the Soviet Union.

In turn, on 6 April 1963, the Pathet Lao launched several simultaneous surprise attacks on Kong Le's forces on the Plain of Jars.

[24] As the breakaway Patriotic Neutralists had allied themselves with the communists, Route 9 from Khe Sanh, Vietnam to Xepon, Laos was now open for North Vietnamese invaders.

[30] Further defeats in early 1964, followed by the April coup in Vientiane sparked further discontent within FAN's ranks; there were further defections to the pro-communist Patriotic Neutralists.

[32][33] In December 1964, another FAN offensive on the communist-held high ground planned to take advantage of the morale boost elicited by Kong Le's leadership.

Kong Le, who had sat out the assault by serving as a Buddhist monk, fired the attack's commander for embezzling 1.5 million Lao kips.

[34] By February 1965, Kong Le was locked in conflict with his battalion commanders over the unsuccessful operations against Phou Khout and squabbles about promotions and money.

In October, Kong Le toured the United States for a month, receiving military honors at Fort Myer, Virginia.

Upon returning to Laos, FAN made another unsuccessful assault on the communist ridgeline strongpoint overlooking Muang Soui.

[38] On 1 April, during a Royalist General Staff meeting, Kong Le gave a lengthy lecture on the necessity of requesting mercenary troops from Indonesia.

[43] In the mid-1980s, Kong Le spent two years in Meng La, China in a futile attempt to spark an invasion of his native country.