Directorate of National Coordination
| Directorate of National Coordination Direction de Coordination Nationale |
|
|---|---|
| Active | September 1960 – 3 February 1965 |
| Country |
 Kingdom of Laos
|
| Allegiance | Royal Lao Government |
| Branch | Royal Lao Police |
| Type | Armed Support Unit, Special Forces |
| Role | Intelligence-gathering, Counter-insurgency, Commando |
| Size | 6,500 men (at height) |
| Part of | Royal Lao Armed Forces |
| Headquarters | Muong Phene, Phou Khao Khouai, near Vientiane |
| Nickname(s) | DNC (DCN in French), Border Police |
| Engagements |
Battle of Vientiane Battle of Nong Boua Lao |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Siho Lamphouthacoul Thao Ty |
The Directorate of National Coordination or DNC (French: Direction de Coordination Nationale – DCN) was the airborne-qualified paramilitary Security Agency and élite field force of the Royal Lao Police (French: Police Royale Laotiènne – PRL). Closely modelled after the Royal Thai Police (RTP) Police Aerial Resupply Unit (PARU) commandos and similar in function to the later South Vietnamese National Police Field Force, the DNC was active during the early phase of the Laotian Civil War from 1960 to 1965.
The history of the DNC began in the late 1950s when Major-General Phoumi Nosavan, the Defense Minister and Strongman of the Kingdom of Laos at the time, appointed his aide de camp Lieutenant-Colonel Siho Lamphouthacoul Director of National Coordination (French: Directeur de la Coordination Nationale); the exact date of this appointment is uncertain, though it certainly took place in either late 1958 or early 1959. When Maj. Gen. Phoumi was deposed by Captain Kong Le's coup in August 1960, it seems not to have curtailed Lt. Col. Siho's power nor the growth of his Directorate of National Coordination. In September of that year, he raised and trained to paramilitary standards two special counter-insurgency battalions (French: Bataillons Speciales – BS) within the Royal Lao Police (French: Police Royale Laotiènne – PRL), 11 and 33 BS, which were gathered into an incomplete regiment designated 1st Special Mobile Group (French: Groupement Mobile Speciale 1 – GMS 1).
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