South Vietnamese Regional Forces

rdf:langString South Vietnamese Regional Forces

rdf:langString Regional Force

rdf:langString Ruff-Puffs (used by American forces)

rdf:langString ARVN-RF/PF flag

rdf:langString Bảo quốc, An dân

rdf:langString Địa phương quân

rdf:langString Ruff-Puffs

rdf:langString Territorial defence

rdf:langString Regional Force

rdf:langString The South Vietnamese Regional Forces (Vietnamese: Địa phương quân, lit. "Local Army"), originally the Civil Guard, were a component of Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) territorial defence forces. Recruited locally, they served as full-time province-level forces, originally raised as a militia. In 1964, the Regional Forces were integrated into the ARVN and placed under the command of the Joint General Staff. The concept of Regional Forces was to counter the Viet Cong (VC) Local Force units, while the ARVN regular forces fought the better equipped VC Main Force units and the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). Local militia came to play a very effective role in the war, as the style of small-unit warfare was better suited for guerrilla conflicts with most more familiar with the region and terrain. Despite being poorly paid, these forces were much more capable at detecting infiltration and holding civilian areas. Accounting for an estimated 2-5% of war budget, the Regional Force and the Popular Forcep were thought to have accounted for roughly 30% of casualties inflicted upon VC/PAVN throughout the entire war. Part of this derives in these units generally being more capable of engaging in small-unit, highly-mobile tactics which proved difficult for slow-moving equipment-heavy units.