What was the name of South Vietnam’s main regular army? ARVN.
ARVN was the standard English acronym for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, South Vietnam’s principal regular ground force. It served the Republic of Vietnam from the army’s reorganization in 1955 until the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975.
The force grew from a post-colonial army into a large conventional military supported, trained, and equipped extensively by the United States. During the Vietnamization policy begun under President Richard Nixon, ARVN was expected to assume more responsibility as American combat troops withdrew. Its units fought major battles across South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, alongside or supported by US forces.
ARVN is frequently confused with MACV, the US Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, which was an American command organization rather than a Vietnamese army. PAVN refers to the People’s Army of Vietnam, the principal armed force of North Vietnam, while the NLF was a communist political and military organization associated with the Viet Cong. ARVN was dissolved after South Vietnam’s defeat in 1975.