Royal Lao Armed Forces

Royal Lao Armed Forces Forces Armées du Royaume
Royal Lao Armed Forces emblem (1961-1975)
Founded	1959
Disbanded	1975
Service branches	Royal Lao Army Royal Lao Air Force Royal Lao Navy
Headquarters	Vientiane
Leadership
Commander-in-Chief	Bounpone Makthepharak
Commander	Phasouk Somly Rasaphak
Manpower
Active personnel	47,450 men (at height)
Industry
Foreign suppliers	France  United Kingdom  United States  Soviet Union  Australia  Thailand  South Vietnam  Philippines  Indonesia  Republic of China  Japan  Burma
Related articles
History	Military history of Laos

The Royal Lao Armed Forces (French: Forces Armées du Royaume), best known by its French acronym FAR, were the official armed defense forces of the Kingdom of Laos, a state that existed from 1949 to 1975 in what is now the Lao People's Democratic Republic. The FAR was responsible for the defense of the Kingdom since its independence in October 1953 from France.

The foundations of the Royal Lao Armed Forces were laid on 11 May 1947, when King Sisavang Vong granted a constitution declaring Laos an independent nation (and a Kingdom from 1949) within the colonial framework of French Indochina. This act signalled the creation of a Laotian government capable of building its own administration over the next few years, including the establishment of a national defense force. The new Laotian military was officially created in July 1949 from a collection of pre-existing Lao police and militarized constabulary units, regular colonial indigenous troops, and locally raised irregular auxiliaries. However, the formation process was soon hampered by the developments of the ongoing First Indochina War in neighbouring Vietnam, and it was only in 1952 that the National Laotian Army (French: Armée Nationale Laotiènne – ANL) – the predecessor of the Royal Lao Army – really began to take shape.

By July 1959, it was known as the Laotian Armed Forces (French: Forces Armées Laotiènnes – FAL), and in September 1961, was renamed Royal Armed Forces (French: Forces Armées du Royaume – FAR).

Throughout its existence, the Laotian Armed Forces were plagued by an ineffective leadership, particularly at senior levels, which often led to chain-of-command problems. The earlier colonial ANL units in the French Protectorate of Laos consisted mostly of uneducated Laotian peasant recruits led by French officers and senior NCOs; those few Laotians promoted from the ranks rose no further than the command of a company. After the Kingdom of Laos gained its independence in late 1953, the few Laotian officers with military experience were quickly promoted to much higher command positions than they were accustomed to. Many officers were also commissioned into the upper echelons of command directly from civilian life; they tended to gain their posts through family connections rather than any military training or ability. The few urban elite families who dominated Laotian society felt it advantageous to have family members or friends in key posts of the military establishment. These officers indulged in political manoeuvres or involved themselves in profitable illicit activities, rather than learning their trade. As a result, the FAR officer corps was riven by corruption and inefficiency, further aggrieved by political divisions and even personal rivalries at all echelons of command. Both professional and personal jealousy was not unknown amongst Laotian higher Commanders, which resulted in endless internal squabbles, and little effort was made to coordinate their activities.