SPECOM

Origins

In late 1971 construction began on a training centre at Seno, near Savannakhet, to provide Commando instruction for the Royal Lao Army (RLA) newly-formed 2nd Strike Division (French: 2éme Division d'Intervention). The training cadre, consisting of several Laotian graduates of the US Special Forces (USSF) course at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in the United States, were converted into the core of an elite Special Commando Company (French: Compagnie Commando Speciale – CCS) or SPECOM for short, directly under the commanding officer of the 2nd Strike Division, Brigadier-General Thao Ty. Initial progress was rapid and by mid-1972 SPECOM had expanded from a single understrength company to two airborne reconnaissance (recon) companies; a third was raised in mid-1973 when 140 former para-commandos were transferred from the Savannakhet-based irregular Commando Raider Teams (CRTs) and a heavy weapons company was added, bringing the unit to battalion strength.

Structure and organization

By early 1974, SPECOM strength reached 412 Officers and enlisted men, all airborne-qualified volunteers, organized into a reinforced battalion comprising one headquarters (HQ), four company HQ sections, three recon companies – 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, each broken into 12-men teams – and a heavy weapons company (4th). The unit was headquartered in Seno, near Savannakhet and was subordinated to the 2nd Strike Division until the latter formation's disbandement in April of that same year, when the former was transferred to the RLA Airborne Forces command.

Operational history 1972–75

The missons performed by SPECOM during its brief existence were varied, ranging from long-range strategic and tactical reconnaissance to deep-penetration raids, pathfinding, crash-site recovery, reinforcement and riot control duties. The first true combat assignment of the SPECOM occurred in late 1972, when they were used to secure a H-34 helicopter crash site north-east of Seno. In the opening months of 1973, SPECOM recon teams were sent to Thakhek to bolster its defences when North Vietnamese Army (NVA) units began pressuring the city. By mid-year elements of the unit were heli-lifted again north-east of Seno to place a listening station near the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the main NVA supply route extended through Laos. A planned SPECOM assault into the national capital Vientiane after renegade Royal Lao Air Force (RLAF) officers led by former Brigadier-General Thao Ma captured Wattay Airbase in August was cancelled when the coup attempt quickly fell apart. In April 1974 SPECOM's 2nd recon company was moved to Vientiane to provide VIP security to rightist members of the new coalition government.

Disbandement

In May 1974 the FAR High Command dissolved the ineffective 2nd Strike Division and elements of its three understrength brigades were re-organized into three new parachute battalions (French: Bataillons de Parachutistes – BP), the 711er, 712e, and 713e BPs grouped into the RLA's 7th Para Brigade raised at Seno. SPECOM was then converted into the brigade's fourth parachute battalion, 714e BP. Elements of 714e BP were deployed in early 1975 to Thakhek to reinforce local Royal Lao Police (PRL) and RLA infantry units in an unsuccessful attempt to quell pro-communist demonstrations. By May 1975 the 7th Para Brigade was disbanded after Pathet Lao guerrilla forces took control of Vientiane.

Weapons and equipment

The SPECOM used the standard weaponry and equipment of US origin issued to FAR units, complemented by captured Soviet or Chinese small-arms such as AK-47 assault rifles that allowed its personnel to use ammunition retrieved from enemy caches while on operations. The unit also fielded crew-served heavy weapons, such as mortars and recoilless rifles.