This is the third volume of the war in Laos during the 1960s and early 1970s. The first two cover the CIA's operations in country while this one has a look at the Royal Lao Armed Forces. The Laotian government during this time was rather fluid with many coup attempts and constant fighting against both the Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese Army. For much of this time, the north and north eastern part of the nation were scenes of conflicts as each side jockeyed for position and the battles moved back and forth over much of the same territory.

Behind all this was the Laotian Army, Air Force, and Navy. Typical of the area, there was a huge amount of corruption in both the government and the military with both politicians and generals using their position for personal gain. The result was a lack of real determination on the battlefield as troops were not as well equipped nor trained as they should have been thanks to the upper echelon graft.

Through all this, the US via the CIA continued to provide most of the impetus in terms of combat effectiveness. The US supplied what it could in terms of arms and training so that the Laotians could effectively fight the war. To be sure, there were a number of effective Laotian generals, and well-trained troops, but in the end, they were not enough to really turn the tide and after years of fighting, Laos became a communist nation, one of the few still around in the 21st century.

In this book the author covers the ebb and flow of the conflict looking at all three branches of the military, with the major concentration on the army and its overall operations during the war. There is also a section on the air force and a smaller section on the Laotian riverine service, which basically operated on the Mekong River. Within its pages we are introduced to the major players as war is as much politics as it is battles. There are a number of quality images and maps to help us follow along. Though the book states it is full color, that is not the case at all, though quite a few of the black and white images are tinted. In all, it is a well rounded look at the Laotian armed forces during their 15 years of conflict. Well worth reading.

July 2024

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