The Republic of Vietnam National Police Field Force (Vietnamese: Cảnh Sát Dã Chiến – CSDC), also designated Police de Campagne by the French and variously as National Police Field Force (NPFF), Field Police or Field Force for short by the Americans, was a paramilitary élite branch of the Republic of Vietnam National Police (Vietnamese: Cảnh Sát Quốc Gia – CSQG). Active during the Vietnam War, the CSDC operated closely with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1966 to 1975. Origins The CSDC was created in January 1966 by the South Vietnamese government as an armed support unit for the National Police. Role The missions performed by the CSDC went well beyond the normal duties of a civil police force, functionally serving as another branch of the South Vietnamese armed forces, being organized and trained for paramilitary operations in the field on both rural and urban areas. Primarily assigned to anti-guerrilla warfare, counterinsurgency, humint duties. CSDC companies and battalions were also employed in various other tasks such as guarding important public buildings, VIP protection, public security, counterintelligence, riot control, cordon and search, jungle, mountain and urban combat operations. Between 1967 and 1972 the CSDC was deeply involved in the highly controversial CIA-run Phoenix Program (), participating actively in the "neutralization" – which often involved arbitrary arrests without charge, routine torture, and extrajudicial executions – of suspected members of the civil infrastructure or "shadow administration" of the Viet Cong (VC). Composition CSDC members' were usually National Policemen that volunteered to Field Force service, although the unit also accepted military personnel either transferred or retired from the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). The latter included former members of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces (Vietnamese: Lực Lượng Đặc Biệt Quân Lực Việt Nam Cộng Hòa – LLDB) following its disbandment in December 1970. Structure and organization The Field Police Command Staff reported directly for operational orders to the National Police Command and was co-located to the CSQG Headquarters at Saigon. Under the designation of 'Armed Support Unit' (Vietnamese: Đơn vị hỗ trợ vũ trang), by 1969 the CSDC Command was in charge of the Field Police units and of the River and Coastal Police. Rechristened 'Reaction Unit' (Vietnamese: Đơn vị phản ứng) in 1972, the Field Police Command integrated the Provincial Investigation Force (Vietnamese: Lực lượng điều tra