Editing Army of the Republic of Vietnam (section)

===Vietnamese National Army (VNA) 1949–55===
{{Main|Vietnamese National Army}}

[[Image:TDND5.png|thumb|100px|The [[Vietnamese National Army|TDND 5]] airborne unit fought several battles including [[battle of Dien Bien Phu|Dien Bien Phu]].]]

On 8 March 1949, after signing the [[Élysée Accords]], the [[State of Vietnam]] was recognized by France as an independent country ruled by the Vietnamese Emperor [[Bảo Đại]], and the [[Vietnamese National Army]] (VNA) was soon created on 8 December 1950.<ref name="vietnam.ttu.edu">[http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/vietnamcenter/events/2006_Conference/presentations/sherman/RVNAF.pdf ''A Brief Overview of the Vietnam National Army and the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces''(1952-1975)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327061040/http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/vietnamcenter/events/2006_Conference/presentations/sherman/RVNAF.pdf |date=2009-03-27 }}, Stephen Sherman and Bill Laurie</ref> The VNA fought in joint operations with the [[French Union]]'s [[French Far East Expeditionary Corps]] against the communist [[Viet Minh]] forces led by [[Ho Chi Minh]]. The VNA fought in a wide range of campaigns including the [[Battle of Nà Sản]] (1952), Operation Atlas (1953) and the [[Battle of Dien Bien Phu]] (1954).<ref>[http://www.ecpad.fr/ecpa/PagesDyn/result.asp?dossierID=488&photo=1&collectionid=4 Vietnamese National Army gallery (May 1951 – June 1954)] French Defense Ministry archives ECPAD {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326145935/http://www.ecpad.fr/ecpa/PagesDyn/result.asp?dossierID=488&photo=1&collectionid=4 |date=March 26, 2009 }}</ref>

Benefiting from French assistance, the VNA quickly became a modern army modeled after the Expeditionary Corps. It included infantry, artillery, signals, armored cavalry, airborne, airforce, navy and a national military academy. By 1953, troopers as well as officers were all Vietnamese, the latter having been trained in ''Ecoles des Cadres'' such as [[Da Lat]], including Chief of Staff General [[Nguyễn Văn Hinh]] who was a French Union airforce veteran.

After the 1954 [[Geneva Conference (1954)|Geneva agreements]], [[French Indochina]] ceased to exist and by 1956 all French Union troops had withdrawn from [[Vietnam]], [[Laos]], and [[Cambodia]]. In 1955, by the order of Prime Minister [[Ngô Đình Diệm|Diệm]], the VNA crushed the armed forces of the [[Bình Xuyên]].<ref>{{Cite book|author=Pierre Darcourt|title=Bay Vien, le maitre de Cholon|language=fr|trans-title=Bay Vien, Cholon's Master|publisher=Hachette|year=1977|isbn=978-2-01-003449-7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=Alfred W. McCoy|title=The Politics of Heroin|publisher=Lawrence Hill Books|year=2003|isbn=978-1-55652-483-7}}</ref>