force, provided with a mixed assortment of small-arms captured from the Japanese, looted from French colonial depots, or sold by the Chinese Nationalist Army troops who occupied northern Laos under the terms of the 1945 Potsdam Conference. The National Laotian Army 1946–1955 In early March 1946, the French Union Army aligned some 4,000 Laotian troops organized into five light infantry battalions () – the 1er, 2e, 3e, 4e, 5e, and 6e BCLs – led by a cadre of French officers and senior NCOs, which participated actively in the French reoccupation of Laos. That month, the Laotian battalions provided infantry support to French Far East Expeditionary Corps (CEFEO) armoured units fighting Lao Issara troops at the Battle of Thakhek in Khammouane Province. By the end of April, they had assisted the French in the recapture of Vientiane, followed in May by Luang Prabang which forced the Lao Issara leadership to flee to exile in Thailand. Upon the successful conclusion of the campaign, the Laotian battalions continued with small counter-insurgency operations against remnant bands of Lao Issara insurgents over the next three years, assuming responsibility for internal security duties in the areas located along the Thai border. However, faced with the potential threat posed by the growing Viet Minh insurgency in neighbouring Vietnam, the French instituted on July 1, 1949 a separated National Laotian Army ( – ANL) of the French Union to defend Laos. Its formation actually began earlier in 1947 as an informal gathering of several indigenous irregular auxiliary units made of ex-Lao Issara guerrillas raised early by the French to reinforce their regular CEFEO units. In July 1959, the ANL, the Laotian Navy, and the Laotian Aviation were gathered into the newly created Laotian Armed Forces ( – FAL), renamed Royal Lao Armed Forces ( – FAR) in September 1961. Structure The chain of command of the Royal Lao Army was placed under the Ministry of Defense in Vientiane. The country was divided into five military regions, roughly corresponding to the areas of the country's 13 provinces. To meet the threat represented by the Pathet Lao insurgency, the Royal Lao Army depended on a small French military training mission ( – MMFI-GRL), headed by a general officer, an exceptional arrangement permitted under the 1955 Geneva Accords, as well as covert assistance from the United States in the form of the Programs Evaluation Office (PEO). Military organization and tactical training