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Further Reading

Paramilitary Forces

As of 1987, military writers in Hanoi have tended to refer to the Regional and Militia Self-Defense forces collectively as the Strategic Rear Force. The Regional Force was deployed at the provincial level and had units headquartered in each provincial capital, at the very least. The Militia Self-Defense Force fulfills combat, combat support, and police functions from the district to the village level. The Regional and Militia Self- Defense forces are two of about a dozen separate military organizations that constitute the Paramilitary Force, which is an integral part of PAVN.

In 1987, taken together, these groups--excluding PAVN--had a total of about 1.6 million personnel under arms. The Paramilitary Force has four functions: to defend its local area in time of war and to delay, not to halt, the enemy; to support PAVN regular units in combat; to maintain local security in peace and in wartime; and to engage in economic activity, chiefly food production and road-building. In the deployment of troops during wartime for the purpose of repelling a full-scale invasion, PAVN strategists make a doctrinal distinction between the Regular Force, which would use conventional tactics, and the Paramilitary Force, which would employ guerrilla tactics in "local people's warfare."

Augmenting the Regular and Paramilitary Forces are two other military bodies whose status or functions appear anomalous. In the North, a "super" paramilitary force called the People's Guerrilla Forces was created in 1979. It was described as a special combat organization with units deployed in villages along the China border and seacoast. However, in late 1987, little more was known about it. In the South, a somewhat better-known organization, designated the Armed Youth Assault Force (AYAF) or Youth Assault Force (YAF), is reported to perform paramilitary functions. The AYAF is organized along military lines (from platoon to brigade) and usually is commanded by retired PAVN officers. However, it appears to be more a party organization than a military body reporting through defense channels. Units at various echelons are under the supervision of local district party committees, and the chain of command apparently leads to Hanoi. AYAF strength in 1986 was estimated at 1.5 million.

As of 2005, Vietnam had a 4-million to 5-million-member paramilitary reserve force, consisting of the People’s Self-Defense Force and the rural People’s Militia.

Reserve Forces- The People's Regional Force

Backing up the Regular and Paramilitary Forces is a reserve numbering about 500,000 personnel in 1987, designated the Tactical Rear Force. They would provide regular units with initial reinforcement strength during a full PAVN mobilisation.They are mostly armed with small arms and some heavier crew-served weapons such as mortars and recoilless rifles. Some Northern regiments are formed into Divisions and receive regular military training.This semi-mobilized body is composed mainly of veterans and overage males, who in time of emergency would replace personnel in the Militia Self-Defense Force. The latter would move up to the Regional Force, whose units might in turn be upgraded into the Regular Force.

The People's Self-Defence Militia is a rural force numbering nearly 1 million and deployed throughout their localities in the countryside. They are armed with small arms and has little in the way of heavier kit.

The reserve force is composed of all home reservists chosen and classified as meeting the demands of the mobilization plan. In peacetime, the reserves are registered, administered, and organized into reserve units which are trained as stipulated according to program and fulfill other tasks in their localities. The reserves have the same components as those of the standing force, with officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers of various branches and services of the main force and local forces who have completed their active service obligations and a number of civilians listed also as reservists.