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Operation Strength II
Operation Strength II (6–31 March 1972) was a Royalist military offensive of the Laotian Civil War. It was devised as another diversion in the mode of the original Operation Strength. Planned as a pincer movement on the Plain of Jars, Operation Strength II's beginning was grossly hampered by combat refusals and desertions from one of its two task forces. Loss of tactical air support as the Easter Offensive began in South Vietnam also weakened the Laotian effort. In any event, neither pincer did much toward its goal of distracting the People's Army of Vietnam from its attempts to overrun the strategic guerrilla base at Long Tieng and end the war. Overview From the moment the Kingdom of Laos was founded in 1953, it harbored a Communist insurrection. The United States government supported the kingdom with military aid. As part of this aid, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) raised a "Secret Army" of Hmong hill tribesmen to oppose the invading People's Army of Vietnam (PAV ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laotian Civil War
The Laotian Civil War was waged between the Communist Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao Government from 23 May 1959 to 2 December 1975. The Kingdom of Laos was a covert Theatre (warfare), theater during the Vietnam War with both sides receiving heavy external support in a proxy war between the global Cold War superpowers. The fighting also involved the People's Army of Vietnam, North Vietnamese, Army of the Republic of Vietnam, South Vietnamese, Military Assistance Command Vietnam, American and Royal Thai Armed Forces, Thai armies, both directly and through irregular proxies. The war is known as the Secret War among the American Special Activities Center, CIA Special Activities Center, and Hmong people, Hmong and Iu Mien people, Mien veterans of the conflict. The Franco–Lao Treaty of Amity and Association (signed 23 October 1953) transferred remaining French powers to the Royal Lao Government (except control of military affairs), establishing Laos as an independent member of the Fre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Campaign Z
Campaign Z (17 December 1971 – 30 January 1972) was a military offensive by the People's Army of Vietnam; it was a combined arms thrust designed to defeat the last Royal Lao Army troops defending the Kingdom of Laos. The Communist assault took Skyline Ridge overlooking the vital Royalist base of Long Tieng and forced the restationing of Royalist aviation assets and civilian refugees. However, Communist forces eventually receded back onto their lines of communication without capturing the base. Campaign Z was notable for escalations of the Laotian Civil War conflict. The Vietnamese Communists brought 130 mm field guns and T-34 tanks into action in Laos for the first time. The Vietnamese People's Air Force also launched MiG 21 attacks into Lao air space to challenge the Royalist side's air supremacy. On its side, the Royal Lao Government and its Central Intelligence Agency backers imported copious numbers of mercenaries from the Kingdom of Thailand as reinforcements, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commando Raiders
The Commando Raiders or Commando Raider Teams (CRTs) were a Laotian paramilitary commando unit, which operated closely with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the final phase of the Laotian Civil War, from 1968 to 1973. Origins In late 1968, the Savannakhet Unit of the CIA decided to raise a special irregular commando raider unit for specialised crash site recovery along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in south-eastern Laos.Conboy and Greer, ''War in Laos 1954–1975'' (1994), p. 39. Taking especial care to select educated and physically fit young Laotian candidates, two separate groups or "classes" of 40 men each were raised during early 1969. There was a class from Military Region 2 of northern Laos and another from southern Laos; in Autumn 1969, another class of 60 volunteers from Savannakhet was enrolled into the Commando Raiders program.Conboy and Morrison, ''Shadow War: The CIA's Secret War in Laos'' (1995), p. 238. In March 1969, a U.S. Special Forces (USSF) 17-man t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
316th Division (Vietnam)
The 316th Division or Bông Lau Division (Vietnamese: ''Sư đoàn Bông Lau'', literally: Silvergrass Division) was a division of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). One of the 6 original "Steel and Iron Divisions", it was created in 1951 and consisted of some 10,000 to 15,000 men. First Indochina War The 316th Division was formed in February/March 1951 from various ethnic minorities in the high region bordering Laos and first saw action in April 1951 at the Battle of Mạo Khê. In October 1952 the 316th took part in the attack on Nghia Lo as part of a Viet Minh offensive against French positions on the Red River and in the high region near Laos. In April 1953 the 316th moved towards Xam Neua which was abandoned as indefensible by the French, by 23 April the 316th and 308th had surrounded a French air-land base on the Plain of Jars. From September–November 1953 Regiment 176 from the 316th engaged French GCMA teams in the Song River valley and that were blocking Rou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helicopter Landing Pad
A helipad is the landing area of a heliport, in use by helicopters, powered lift, and vertical lift aircraft to land on surface. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard surface away from obstacles where such aircraft can land safely. Larger helipads, intended for use by helicopters and other vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, may be called ''vertiports.'' An example is Vertiport Chicago, which opened in 2015. Usage Helipads may be located at a heliport or airport where fuel, air traffic control and service facilities for aircraft are available. Most helipads are located away from populated areas due to sounds, winds, space and cost constraints. Some skyscrapers have one on their roofs to accommodate air taxi services. Some basic helipads are built on top of highrise buildings for evacuation in case of a major fire outbreak. Major police depart ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mercenary
A mercenary is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather than for political interests. Beginning in the 20th century, mercenaries have increasingly come to be seen as less entitled to protection by rules of war than non-mercenaries. The Geneva Conventions declare that mercenaries are not recognized as legitimate combatants and do not have to be granted the same legal protections as captured service personnel of the armed forces. In practice, whether or not a person is a mercenary may be a matter of degree, as financial and political interests may overlap. International and national laws of war Protocol Additional GC 1977 (APGC77) is a 1977 amendment protocol to the Geneva Conventions. Article 47 of the protocol provides the most widely accepted international definition of a mercenary, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Vietnamese
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it opposed the French-supported State of Vietnam and later the Western-allied South Vietnam, Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). The DRV Fall of Saigon, invaded Saigon in 1975 and ceased to exist the following year when it Reunification Day, merged with Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, the south to become the current Vietnam, Socialist Republic of Vietnam. During the August Revolution following French Indochina in World War II, World War II, Vietnamese communist revolutionary Ho Chi Minh, Hồ Chí Minh, leader of the Viet Minh, Việt Minh Front, Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, declared independence on 2 September 1945 and proclaimed the creation of the Democratic Repu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air America (airline)
Air America was an American passenger and cargo airline established in 1946 and covertly owned and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1950 to 1976. It supplied and supported covert operations in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, including allegedly providing support for drug smuggling in Laos.''The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade'', by McCoy, with Cathleen B. Read and Leonard P. Adams II, 2003, p. 385 Its slogan was "Anything, Anywhere, Anytime, Professionally". Early history The airline can traced its roots in 1946, when it was founded by former American military aviator Claire Lee Chennault and diplomat Whiting Willauer as Chinese National Relief and Rehabilitation Administration Air Transport to airlift supplies and food into war-ravaged Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China. It was soon pressed into service to support Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and the nationalist Republic of China Armed Forces in the Chi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mutiny
Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military or a crew) to oppose, change, or remove superiors or their orders. The term is commonly used for insubordination by members of the military against an officer or superior, but it can also sometimes mean any type of rebellion against any force. Mutiny does not necessarily need to refer to a military force and can describe a political, economic, or power structure in which subordinates defy superiors. During the Age of Discovery, mutiny particularly meant open rebellion against a ship's captain. This occurred, for example, during Ferdinand Magellan's journeys around the world, resulting in the killing of one mutineer, the execution of another, and the marooning of others; on Henry Hudson's '' Discovery'', resulting in Hudson and others being set adrift in a boat; and the famous mutiny on the ''Bounty''. Mutiny is widely considered a serious crime, punishable by imprisonment, penal labour or death. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
M16 Rifle
The M16 (officially Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of assault rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States Armed Forces, United States military. The original M16 was a 5.56×45mm NATO, 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-round magazine. In 1964, the XM16E1 entered US military service as the M16 and in the following year was deployed for jungle warfare operations during the Vietnam War. In 1969, the M16A1 replaced the M14 rifle to become the US military's standard service rifle. The M16A1 incorporated numerous modifications including a bolt-assist ("forward-assist"), chrome-plated bore, protective reinforcement around the magazine release, and revised flash hider. In 1983, the United States Marine Corps, US Marine Corps adopted the M16A2 rifle, and the United States Army, US Army adopted it in 1986. The M16A2 fires the improved 5.56×45mm (M855/SS109) cartridge and has a newer adjustable rear sight, case deflector, heavy barrel, improved ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Lao Army
The Royal Lao Army (; – ARL), also designated by its anglicized title RLA, was the land component of the Royal Lao Armed Forces (FAR), the official military of the Kingdom of Laos during the North Vietnamese invasion of Laos and the Laotian Civil War between 1960 and 1975. History The ARL traced back its origins to World War II, when the first entirely Laotian military unit, the 1st Laotian Rifle Battalion (French language, French: ''1ér Bataillon de Chasseurs Laotiens'' – BCL), was raised early in June 1941 by the Vichy France, Vichy French colonial authorities.Sicard, ''Les Unités Indochinoises jusqu'en 1945'' (2002), pp. 54–56. Intended to be used on internal security operations to bolster the local sections of the mainly Vietnamese people, Vietnamese Indochinese Guard (French language, French: ''Garde Indochinoise''), the 1st BCL did not see much action until after March 9, 1945, when the Japanese Imperial Army forcibly seized control of French Indochina from Franc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chief Of Station
''Chief of Station'' is a 2024 American action thriller film written by George Mahaffey, directed by Jesse V. Johnson and starring Aaron Eckhart, Olga Kurylenko, Alex Pettyfer, Daniel Bernhardt, Chris Petrovski, Nick Moran, Kris Johnson, and James Faulkner. It was released on May 3, 2024. Premise Ben Malloy is CIA Chief of Station in Eastern Europe, and finds himself with his wife Farrah in Budapest. On their wedding anniversary, the café where they met is bombed and she dies. After learning that the death of his wife was not an accident, Ben, back in Washington, decides to go back to Budapest to gather new evidence. He stops there after having learned that his son, Nick, a recently graduated IT engineer has met a girl and lives in Croatia; they have planned to meet in Paris. In Budapest, Ben challenges Evgeny, a FSB officer, who tells him that Farrah was a supervisor of foreign agents and hid things from him. When he is about to reveal what, Evgeny is shot by Kharon, a C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
