ANL, with paratroopers receiving either the US M-1C jump helmet and its respective French-modified versions ( and ) or the airborne pattern of the French M1951 helmet (). Later, the RLA standardized on the modernized US M-1 model 1964 helmet, though the older American and French M1951 helmet patterns could still be encountered in the field among certain regular and irregular Laotian troops in 1971. ANL armoured crews initially received the French M1951 and M1958/65 dark olive green leather crash helmets (, Sous-casque radio-char modéle 1958 and Sous-casque radio-char modéle 1965); after 1971, Laotian M-706 and M113 APC crewmen were issued the fibreglass US Combat Vehicle Crew (CVC) T-56-6 helmet (dubbed the "bone dome"), though neither models offered any satisfactory protection against shrapnel or small arms rounds. Footwear White low laced leather shoes were prescribed to wear the earlier ANL white cotton full dress, whilst brown ones were worn with the khaki service/work uniform for all-ranks and, after 1954 the latter were required for RLA officers wearing the new FAR officers’ khaki dress uniform on formal occasions. ANL personnel on the field initially wore a mixture of American and French regulation footwear, including brown leather US M-1943 Combat Service Boots, French M1917 brown leather hobnailed ankle boots (), French M1953 brown leather "Rangers" () and French canvas-and-rubber Pataugas tropical boots; paratroopers received the calf-length French M1950 or M1950/53 TAP () black leather jump-boot models. Black leather combat boots were also provided by the Americans who issued both the early US Army M-1962 "McNamara" model and the M-1967 model with "ripple" pattern rubbler sole; the highly prized US Army Jungle boot was not issued to the RLA but saw limited use after 1971 amongst members of elite units (e.g. Paratroopers, Special Forces) or by irregular guerrilla troops fighting in the jungle environment of southern Laos. Local copies of the South Vietnamese Bata tropical boots were also worn in the south. Army ranks Initially, ANL troops wore the same rank insignia as their French counterparts, whose sequence followed the French Army pattern defined by the 1956 regulations until 1959, when the Royal Lao Army adopted a new distinctively Laotian-designed system of military ranks, which became in September 1961 the standard rank chart for all branches of service of the newly created Royal Lao Armed Forces. Under the new regulations, officers were entitled to wear on their service or dress uniforms stiffened red