Cambodia

Kingdom of Cambodia

The present Kingdom of Cambodia was once part of French Indochina, administered as a colonial possession between 1863 and 1953, when the nation was granted independence. The country was governed as a monarchy until 1970, when a US-backed coup d'etat under Lon Nol wrested power from the royalists. During the Vietnam War, Cambodia was subject to a bombing campaign waged by the United States as part of an effort to curtail its use as a refuge by the Viet Cong. In 1975, the communist Khmer Rouge took power and changed the name of the nation to Democratic Kampuchea, embarking on a reign of terror against the educated and pro-Western members of Cambodian society in which over one million people died. Vietnam invaded the country in 1978, ousting the Khmer Rouge government but setting up a pro-Soviet state in its place, the People's Republic of Kampuchea. Yet the country was wracked by conflict between the government, pro-democracy and pro-monarchy movements, and Khmer Rouge forces until 1991, when a peace settlement was reached (Paris Peace Accords), and the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) eastablished. The monarchy was restored in 1993, with the country retaking its original name and flag.

Under French administration the Forces Armees Royales Khmere (FARK) were outfitted as were French troops of the period, with airborne and commando units receiving the lizard pattern tenue de saut camouflée. These remained in service with Cambodian units until around 1970, when the armed forces were renamed Forces Armées Nationales Khmeres (FANK). Several other camouflage patterns were in use among Cambodian forces during the Vietnam War, including some produced in South Vietnam and others unique to Cambodian units. The National Army of Democratic Kampuchea (NADK) did not issue camouflage uniforms to any of its personnel; however, the pro-democracy Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF) which waged an insurgency campaign against both the Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese communist governments, were supplied with Thai made camouflage uniforms and military equipment.

The standard uniform of the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Armed Forces (KPRAF) remained khaki or olive green, but in the late 1980s the 911 Special Forces Regiment did begin wearing camouflage uniforms. Having been trained in Indonesia, they have often been issued uniforms of Indonesian origins.

The Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) was created in 1993 by the merger of the Cambodian People's Armed Forces and two anti-communist resistance armies, the KPNLAF and the Armées Nationale pour Khmer Independent (ANKI). Since the mid-1990s, the RCAF have participated in some peacekeeping efforts as part of the United Nations. Today, camouflage uniforms are relatively standard issue to most conventional units.

Camouflage Patterns of Cambodia

• Airborne and commando personnel of the Forces Armees Royales Khmere (FARK) were issued with French tenue de leópard lizard camouflage uniforms, including the TAP Mle 1947/52, TAP Mle 1947/53 and TAP Mle 1947/54.

• The Khmer Serei ("Free Khmer") forces were an anti-communist, pro-monarchist guerilla movement, partly financed by the USA and supplied by South Vietnam. Some members of the group are known to have worn the South Vietnamese Police Field Force "clouds" pattern on occasion.

• A unique camouflage pattern was worn by the Forces Armees Royales Khmere (FANK) airborne forces from the 1960s to 1975. This spot pattern consisted of olive green & russet blotches on pale green background.

• South Vietnamese tiger stripe camouflage patterns were popular with US Army Special Forces, some of whom were operating in Cambodia as advisors to the FANK between 1971 and 1975. In addition, at least two Cambodian tiger stripe patterns have been documented in use between 1973 and 1975. The latter appear to have been locally produced.

• The FANK Para-Commando Battalion, trained at the Airborne Commando School at Batu Djadjar in Indonesia in 1975, were issued with the Indonesian Army's Loreng Darah Mangalir ("flowing blood") camouflage pattern.

• Although standard combat & working uniforms under the People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK) were khaki and olive drab, there is photographic documentation of some units wearing a grey tiger stripe or lizard pattern camouflage, similar to that issued in Cuba, Angola and Yugoslavia.

• The Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF) was a political movement formed in 1979 to topple the communist Vietnamese-supported government of the People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK). Its military branch was the Khmer People’s National Liberation Armed Forces (KPNLAF), which obtained much of its military support from Thailand. During the 1980s, members of the KPNLAF were often outfitted in Thai-made tiger stripe pattern camouflage uniforms of various styles.

• Another commonly encountered camouflage pattern among the KPNLAF was an ERDL camouflage variant also produced in Thailand.

• In the mid-1980s, a green woodland camouflage pattern was produced in Thailand specifically for the KPNLAF.

• The Cambodian Army 911 Special Forces Regiment has continued to receive most of its training at the Indonesian Airborne Commando school. As a result, Indonesian DPM camouflage uniforms have been extremely common among members of the Regiment since originally adopted in the mid-1980s well into the early 2000s.

• Another camouflage pattern seen sporadically among the members of 911 SF Regiment (as well as some regular Army personnel) is a commercial pattern called "Green Leaf." Similar to a number of commercial hunting patterns, the design features green & brown foliage shapes on a khaki background and was first documented in the late 1980s.

• Since the restoration of the monarchy and the establishment of relative stability to Cambodia, the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) have begin participating in international peacekeeping efforts. Personnel on such deployments have generally worn locally-made copies of DPM camouflage uniforms in at least two different color schemes. Additionally, the 911 Special Forces Regiment has also been observed wearing locally-made DPM uniforms.

• The RCAF adopted a copy of the US m81 woodland camouflage pattern at some point in the late 1990s, and most conventional units of the Army have continued to wear this pattern into the 2000s.

• Sourced in 2007, this woodland camouflage variant was probably produced in Thailand, as it is printed on the very heavyweight cotton poplin fabric that was used on a lof of Thai uniforms in the 1980s and 1990s. There is no information about when the fabric was actually produced, so it could easily be from that era and simply obtained from Thai factories as overstock.

• Some Cambodian military personnel have adopted the US tricolor desert camouflage pattern, including the Army's 31st Intervention (Marine) Brigade and the Cambodian Navy, both of which have received training by elements of the US Marine Corps.

• This camouflage fabric was produced in Singapore and appears to be a hybrid-design utilizing the shapes of the SAF's ERDL-leaf pattern, but on an enlarged scale, perhaps as much as 50%. Based on the muted appearance of the dyes, it is likely this fabric was produced in the 1990s, although it was still available in Phnom Penh tailor shops in the early 2000s.

• Using fabric imported from China, locally-produced uniforms in the pattern seen below have been worn by the Cambodian Prime Minister's Bodyguard and members of the 911 Special Forces Regiment.

• In 2013 a special project for the 911 Special Forces Regiment produced a very limited run of uniforms in a pixelated version of the old Indonesian Special Forces vertical stripe pattern, seen here. Only 1500 meters of this fabric was produced by a textile factory in Indonesia, specifically for the 911 Regiment.

• An interesting camouflage design was adopted by the 246 Bodyguard HQ in 2021. This unit traces its history to 246th Battalion, which defended Phnom Penh in 1991. This is an interesting dapple design, featuring smaller khaki and black spots with larger brown patches on a moss green background. There are also small images of the Angkor Wat in khaki incorporated into the design, as well as the number 246. The black lettering reads "bodyguard" in Khmer.

Notes

We wish to gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Mr. Kenneth Conboy for his generous assistance in providing research and documentation for this article.