Cambodian Para-Commando Battalion

The Cambodian Para-Commando Battalion (French: Bataillon de Commandos Parachutistes – BCP) was one of the main elite military units of the Cambodian Army (French: Armée Nationale Khmère – ANK), part of the Khmer National Armed Forces (French: Forces Armées Nationales Khmères – FANK), which fought in the final phase of the Cambodian Civil War of 1970-75.

Cambodian Para-Commando Battalion
Bataillon de Commandos Parachutistes
ActiveMarch 1972 - March 1975
Country Cambodia
AllegianceKhmer Republic
BranchCambodian Army
TypeAirborne Infantry
RoleCommando
Size400-500 (at height)
Part ofKhmer National Armed Forces
HeadquartersPochentong Airborne Base, Phnom Penh
Nickname(s)BCP (PCB in English)
EngagementsFall of Phnom Penh
Commanders
Notable
commanders		(unknown)

Origins

The BCP had its origins in a 60-man contingent sent by the ANK Command in March 1972 to Indonesia to attend the Para-Commando course at the Batujajar Airborne Commando School, near Bandung in West Java.[1] A significant number of the contingent was made of recruits drawn from the Muslim Cham ethnic minority of Cambodia. After a nine-month course conducted by Indonesian Kopassus instructors, the contingent returned to Phnom Penh in November 1972. Upon their return, however, two dozen of its members were posted to the ANK's 5th Infantry Brigade, a predominantly Muslim formation; the remaining 36 Cham graduates were assigned to a ceremonial unit allocated in the Cambodian Capital until 1974.

Operations

They were then used as the cadre for the BCP and in March 1975, loosely under assignment to the Khmer Special Forces, the Para-Commandos were sent to man the defensive perimeter north-west of Phnom Penh.[2][3]

Weapons and equipment

The BCP employed the standard weaponry and equipment of US origin issued to all ANK formations, though it remains unclear if they ever used captured Soviet or Chinese small-arms like other Cambodian elite units.

See also

Notes
  1. Conboy and McCouaig, South-East Asian Special Forces (1991), p. 15.
  2. Conboy and Bowra, The War in Cambodia 1970-75 (1989), pp. 17; 46.
  3. Conboy and McCouaig, South-East Asian Special Forces (1991), p. 15.

References
  • Kenneth Conboy, FANK: A History of the Cambodian Armed Forces, 1970-1975, Equinox Publishing (Asia) Pte Ltd, Djakarta 2011. ISBN 978-979-3780-86-3
  • Kenneth Conboy, Kenneth Bowra, and Mike Chappell, The War in Cambodia 1970-75, Men-at-arms series 209, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1989. ISBN 0-85045-851-X
  • Kenneth Conboy and Simon McCouaig, South-East Asian Special Forces, Elite series 33, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1991. ISBN 1-85532-106-8
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