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 the Democratic Kampuchea, embarking on a reign of terror against the educated and pro-Western in which over one million Cambodians 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 (FANK) 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. 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. During the 1980s, the pro-democracy Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF) were occasionally supplied with Thai made camouflage uniforms.

The standard uniform of the Kampuchean Armed Forces remained khaki or olive green. Only in the late 1980s, did some military units begin wearing camouflage. The 911 Special Forces Regiment, in particular, having been trained in Indonesia, has been known to wear a variety of camouflage patterns, including those of Indonesian origins. Beginning in the 1990s, conventional units of the Cambodian Armed Forces began wearing both DPM and woodland type camouflage uniforms.

Camouflage Patterns of Cambodia

• Airborne and commando personnel of the Forces Armees Royales Khmere (FANK) 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.

• 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.

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

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• 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.

• 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 fo the monarchy and the establishment of relative stability to Cambodia, the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) have begin participating in international peacekeeping efforts

• Present day Cambodian DPM camouflage pattern