The Vietnamese National Army was unofficially created on January 1, 1949, as the armed forces of the pro-French Provisional Central Government of Vietnam.

In early May, civil war ensued in the capital of South Vietnam when the VNA fought General Lê Văn Viễn's Bình Xuyên forces in the latter's controlled areas of Saigon.

Benefiting with French cadres assistance and United States material support the VNA quickly became a modern army modeled after the CEFEO Expeditionary Corps.

[7] On the other hand, until 1954 some Vietnamese were trained four months in Infantry Instruction Centers (Centre d'Instruction de l'Infanterie, CII) based in southern Vietnam.

[8][9] On April 20, 1952, the Dalat military academy celebrated its first promotion (Hoàng Diệu) with a "baptism" which is the Saint Cyr -French West Point- fashion.

[10] The Emperor awarded the Hoàng Diệu promotion's senior and junior classes with a Saint-Cyr styled saber as new officers of the armed forces.

[14] Organized as a modern army the Ground Force included artillery, infantry, signal communications and armored cavalry units.

Airborne regiments including paratrooper "TDND" (Tieu Doan Nhay Du, "Commando Battalion"), the so-called 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th BAWOUAN, were later created.

These elite units were referred as the "BPVN" (Bataillon de Parachutistes Viêt-Namiens, "Vietnamese Paratroopers Battalions") by their French allies.

Their mission was to collect intelligence, perform hit-and-run ambushes and bring confusion in Việt Minh controlled areas (northern Vietnam) wearing enemy uniforms and using unconventional warfare such as guerrilla techniques.

[16] These were based on both, GCMA director and famous counter-insurgency theorician Roger Trinquier's experience as French Jedburgh in World War II, and on Việt Minh POWs collaboration.

Furthermore, the independent forces did not need money from the central government since they either were self-financed through clandestine activities or they were armed and financed by Savani's 2e Bureau in Vietnam.

Heavier equipment of the armoured cavalry was made of World War II vintage U.S. light tanks as they had the ability to be drop stripped and assembled by specialized engineering companies on location.

With the 1954 cease-fire, pro-French and optimistic General Nguyễn Văn Hinh stated that as early as 1955 "a Vietnamese division will be sent to France as compensation for sacrifices in Indochina by the latter.

"[19] However the European Defence Community project was rejected by France and Nguyễn Văn Hinh's French counter-intelligence SDECE/GCMA-backed planned coup (scheduled for end October 1954) against pro-USA and CIA-backed (Edward Lansdale) Ngô Đình Diệm failed.

[20][21] The French-American secret war and influence struggle in Vietnam engaging the SDECE against the CIA continued until 1956[22] when the CEFEO Expeditionary Corps was dissolved and returned to France.