[7] Crown Prince Savang Vatthana called upon all Laotians to oppose the Japanese and assist the Free French, and many risked their lives to supply and inform the French-led resistance.

[8] Under the command of their Free French cadres, the Laotian soldiers from the 1st BCL engaged in guerrilla actions alongside the irregular 'Maquisards' against the Japanese occupation forces in Laos until Japan's surrender on August 15, 1945.

[9] In November of that same year, the various Laotian guerrilla groups were consolidated into four regular light infantry battalions and, together with the 1st BCL, integrated into the newly founded French Union Army.

[10][11] Meanwhile, confronted in early May 1945 with the Allied Powers' victory over Nazi Germany and sensing their own imminent defeat, the Japanese military authorities in Laos began stirring up local anti-French nationalistic sentiments.

[20] On 21 March, the Laotian battalions provided infantry support to French Far East Expeditionary Corps (CEFEO) airborne, armoured car and artillery units fighting Lao Issara ALDL troops under Prince Souphanouvong at the Battle of Thakhek in Khammouane Province, in which the latter lost approximately 700 men and 300 civilians were killed, leaving behind 250 dead and 150 prisoners before being forced to withdraw.

[21] On 24 April, the Laotian battalions had assisted the French in the recapture of Vientiane without facing any significant resistance, followed in 9 May by Luang Prabang, which forced the Lao Issara leadership to flee to exile in Thailand in September 1946.

[22] Upon the successful conclusion of the campaign, the Laotian battalions continued with small counter-insurgency operations against remnant bands of Lao Issara ALDL insurgents over the next three years, assuming responsibility for internal security duties in the areas located along the Thai border.

[23] Although the new GNL was technically subordinated to the Laotian ministry of the interior and placed in 1947 under the nominal command of King Sisavang Vong,[24][25][26] it was kept under the close supervision of French gendarmes from the Republican Guard units stationed in Indochina.

Between 1962 and 1971, the U.S. provided Laos with direct military assistance, but not including the cost of equipping and training irregular and paramilitary forces by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

[49][50] By July 1962 the Laotian Army fielded nine such Groups, eight composed of regular units – GMs 12, 13, 14, 15 (Airborne), 16, 17, and 18 – and one of irregular guerrilla forces – GM B –, with two or more being allocated per each Military Region (MR).

In late August 1971, with the Vietnamisation process in full swing in South Vietnam, a similar effort was attempted towards making the RLA a more effective, self-sufficient force.

However, most guerrillas – in particular those from the Hmong hill tribes – felt unwelcome in the regular army, still dominated as it was by the Lowland Lao, who were highly prejudiced towards the country's ethnic minorities.

In addition, the decreasing in pay and other privileges sharply dulled the cutting edge of what had been an effective fighting force, and left them incapable of halting the takeover of the country by the Pathet Lao.

Although Thao Ma's coup attempt was crushed by loyalist troops of the RLA under the command of Major general Kouprasith Abhay,[66][67] it proved to be the last gasp of the rightists.

[68] By May 1974 a thinning of RLA ranks forced the FAR High Command to replace the two strike divisions disbanded the previous year by a series of smaller, understrength brigades.

A fourth parachute battalion was soon added when they absorbed SPECOM, a Special Forces' unit also part of the 2nd Strike Division, which became the 714e BP commanded by Major Oroth Insisiengmay.

[61] Throughout its existence, the Royal Laotian Army received military assistance mainly from France and the United States, who provided since the late 1940s and mid-1950s respectively everything that the RLA used, from uniforms and boots to rifles, artillery and vehicles.

During the First Indochina War the Laotian National Army (ANL) weaponry was a hodgepodge, with most of its poorly trained units equipped in a haphazard way with an array of French, American, Australian, British and German weapon systems, mostly of WWII-vintage.

In 1969 secret deliveries of the CAR-15 carbine, the M16A1 assault rifle[107][108] and the M60 machine gun[109][110] arrived in Laos, and were initially only given to the Laotian Royal Guard and airborne units; standardisation to the CAR-15, the M16 and M60 in the RLA and the irregular SGUs was completed by 1971.

In addition, individual portable rocket weapons were issued, in the form of the shoulder-fired M20A1 3.5 inch Super Bazooka,[116] M79 "Blooper",[113] XM-148[109][117] and M203 single-shot grenade launchers, and the expendable anti-tank, one-shot M72 LAW 66 mm.

[105][134] These obsolete armored vehicles were used mainly for convoy escort duty and static defense of local provincial capitals, being rarely engaged in more offensive operations against the Pathet Lao or the NVA.

Modelled after the World War II U.S. Army tropical "Chino" working dress, it consisted of a shirt with a six-buttoned front, two patch breast pockets closed by clip-cornered straight flaps and shoulder straps; the short-sleeved M1946 shirt (Chemisette kaki clair Mle 1946), which had two pleated breast pockets closed by pointed flaps, or the "Chino"-style M1949 (Chemisette kaki clair Mle 1949) could be worn as an alternative in hot weather.

[150] The "Chino" working uniform was initially furnished by France and later by the U.S. aid programs[151](together with locally produced copies), continued to be worn by RLA officers and enlisted men as a service dress or for walking-out with a khaki tie.

ANL officers received a service peaked cap copied after the French M1927 pattern (Casquette d'officier Mle 1927) with a lacquered black leather peak in both light khaki and white summer versions (the latter with gold embroidered flame decoration on the black cap band for general officers), to wear with the khaki service dress and the white high-collared full dress uniforms, respectively.

The Laotian Royal Guards received a French-style red kepi with a straight lacquered black leather peak and gold braid chinstrap to wear with their ceremonial full dress uniform.

The most common headgear for the ANL personnel during the 1950s was the French M1946 "Gourka" tropical beret (Bérét de toile kaki clair Mle 1946), made of light khaki cotton cloth,[158] but later the RLA standardized on a beret pattern whose design was based on the French M1953/59 model (Bérét Mle 1953/59); it was made of wool in either one or two pieces, attached to a black leather rim with two black tightening straps at the back.

Berets made of camouflage cloth in the "Duck hunter", "Leopard", "Tigerstripe" and "Highland" patterns were also used in the field, particularly by elite units within the RLA and by the irregular SGU formations.

Combat Vehicle Crew (CVC) T-56-6 helmet (dubbed the "bone dome"), though neither models offered any satisfactory protection against shrapnel or small arms rounds.

Black leather combat boots were also provided by the Americans who issued both the early U.S. Army M-1962 "McNamara" model and the M-1967 model with "ripple" pattern rubber sole; the highly prized U.S. Army Jungle boot was not issued to the RLA but saw limited use after 1971 amongst members of elite units (e.g. Paratroopers, Special Forces) or by irregular guerrilla troops fighting in the jungle environment of southern Laos.

Field Marshals and General officers (Marechaux et Officiers Géneraux) had a gold leaf design around the lower half of their shoulder boards plus two or more five-pointed silver stars.