Royal Lao Navy The Royal Lao Navy ( French : " Marine Royale Laotiénne " – MRL ) was the naval branch of the Royal Lao Armed Forces ( FAR ) , the official military of the Royal Lao Government and the Kingdom of Laos during the Laotian Civil War between 1960 and 1975 . History . The Laotian Navy ( French : " Marine Laotiénne " ) was first formed in January 28 , 1955 as a ‘ naval ’ component for the Lao National Army ( ANL ) , being originally trained and staffed by French officers and senior NCOs . A predominantly riverine force since Laos is a land - locked country , the new Laotian Navy was allegedly provided at the time with a small number of ex - French Navy STCAN armoured river patrol craft s ( aka “ stay - can ” ) and FOM escort craft s , which had seen service during the First Indochina War . Structure . The MRL , along with the Royal Lao Air Force and the Royal Lao Army , was placed under the control of the Ministry of Defence in Vientiane ; its administrative headquarters was allocated at Vientiane ’ s military harbour , whose facilities also housed the Fleet Command and the Independent Directorate of Laotian River Tranports ( French : " Régie Autonome des Transports Fluviaux du Laos " – RATFL ) , which handled military logistics and monotorized commercial shipping along the Mekong river . Fleet organization . By April 1975 Royal Lao Navy strength peaked at 500 Ratings and enlisted men who manned a single river flotilla totalling 36 light vessels , divided since the mid - 1950s into a patrol squadron ( French : " Escadrille Fluviale du Haut Mekong " – EFHM ) and a squadron - sized transport section ( French : " Séction de Transports Fluviaux du Laos " – STFL ) . Throughout its existence , the MRL received technical and training assistance mainly from France , Thailand and the United States , with the latter country providing twenty PBR Mk 1 and 2 “ Bibber ” patrol boats and sixteen LCM ( 8 ) Landing Craft to equip their patrol and transport squadrons respectively . Most of the Laotian Navy river assets were stationed permanently at Vientiane Naval Base , with secondary riverine stations set along the Mekong at Luang Prabang , Pak Lay , Thakhek , Savannakhet , Paksé and Khong Island . Besides its tiny surface fleet , the MRL was also unique in its genre for not maintaining a permanent Naval Infantry branch or even specialist combat diver / marine ‘ Commando ’ units . MRL uniforms and insignia . Service dress and field uniforms . Upon its formation at the mid - 1950s , most Laotian Navy personnel received the standart French Navy ’ s tropical working and service dress , consisting of a light khaki cotton shirt and pants . The French Navy ’ s M1948 shirt ( French : " Chemise kaki clair Mle 1948 " ) featured a six - buttoned front and two pleated breast pockets closed by pointed flaps , was provided with shoulder straps ( French : " Epaulettes " ) and had long sleeves with buttoned cuffs . It was worn with matching khaki M1945 / 52 slacks ( French : " Pantalon kaki clair Mle 1945 / 52 " ) , which featured two pleats at the front hips , side slashed pockets and an internal pocket at the back , on the right side . The French Army ’ s tropical light khaki cotton shirt and pants ( French : " Tenue de toile kaki clair Mle 1945 " ) , modelled after the WWII US Army tropical ‘ Chino ’ working dress was also issued . While the cut of the matching khaki trousers was virtually identical to the Navy pattern , the shirt had two patch breast pockets closed by clip - cornered straight flaps and shoulder straps . In alternative , the short - sleeved M1946 khaki shirt ( French : " Chemisette kaki clair Mle 1946 " ) – whose cut was almost identical to the M1948 variant – could be worn with the matching M1946 khaki shorts ( French : " Culotte courte kaki clair Mle 1946 " ) in hot weather . In the field , Laotian Navy sailors and Ratings initially wore French all - arms M1947 olive green ( OG ) jungle fatigues ( French : " Treillis de combat Mle 1947 " ) but in the 1960s and early 1970s , MRL personnel began to wear US - supplied OG 107 jungle fatigues . Thai and South Vietnamese versions , as well as Laotian - made copies were also worn . All these variants of the OG - 107 fatigues often featured modifications to the original design such as shirts with shoulder straps and pockets closed by dual - buttoned straight flaps or pen pockets added on the left sleeve above the elbow , an affection common to all Laotian , South Vietnamese and Cambodian military officers , and additional side ‘ cargo ’ pockets on the trousers . For formal occasions , Laotian Navy officers wore the early Laotian National Army ( ANL ) white summer cotton full dress , which consisted of a French - style eight - buttoned tunic with a standing collar and two built - in side pockets closed by straight flaps , worn with matching white slacks . The tunic ’ s front fly was secured by gilt metal buttons initially bearing the ANL " Airavata " crest , replaced after 1959 - 60 by a Royal Lao Armed Forces ( FAR ) wreathed “ Vishnu ” trident motif . Headgear . Laotian Navy officers and Petty officers initially received a service peaked cap copied after the French M1927 pattern ( French : " Casquette d ’ officier Mle 1927 " ) in both light khaki and white summer top versions with a black leather peak , to wear with the khaki working dress and the white high - collared full dress uniforms , respectively . The peaked caps were worn with the standard gilt metal ANL cap device , a wreathed " Airavata " crest bearing the Laotian Royal Arms – a three - headed white elephant standing on a pedestal and surmounted by a pointed parasol – set on a black teardrop - shaped backround patch . After September 1961 , the MRL replaced the old ANL crest with the standard gilt metal FAR wreathed “ Vishnu ” trident cap badge . The steel helmet models worn by Laotian Navy vessel crews in the mid - 1950s were the WWII - vintage US M - 1 or the newer French M1951 ( French : " casque Mle 1951 OTAN " ) models , standard issue in the ANL . In the later 1960s , the MRL standartized on the M - 1 1964 model provided with the US Army Mitchell ‘ Cloud ’ camouflage pattern cover ( usually removed on the field ) , though many boat crewmen retained the older US and French steel helmets throughout the war . Footwear . Brown low laced leather shoes were prescribed to wear with the Laotian Navy khaki service / work uniform for all - ranks and white ones with the earlier ANL white cotton full dress for formal occasions , whilst black shoes were worn with the MRL blue overseas service uniform . On the field , Laotian seamen initially wore brown leather US M - 1943 Combat Service Boots and French M1917 brown leather hobnailed boots ( French : " Brodequins modéle 1917 " ) , or French canvas - and - rubber ‘ Pataugas ’ tropical boots , and sandals ; after 1960 , the MRL adopted as regulation footwear black leather combat boots – the early US Army M - 1962 ‘ McNamara ’ model and the later M - 1967 , together with limited quantities of US Jungle boot s , and local copies of the South Vietnamese tropical Bata boot . Navy ranks . Initially , the Laotian Navy wore the same rank insignia as their French and ANL counterparts , whose sequence followed closely the French Navy pattern defined by the 1956 regulations . Junior officers ( French : " Officiers supérieurs et officiers subalternes " ) and petty officers ’ ( French : " Officiers mariniers " ) ranks were worn on black removable shoulder boards ( French : " pattes d ’ épaule " ) or shoulder strap slides ( French : " passants d ’ épaule " ) similar to the Army pattern , with the addition of a fouled anchor on the inner end . NCOs and enlisted men ( French : " Quartier - maîtres et matelots " ) wore metal or cloth chevrons on both upper sleeves or pinned to the chest . In 1959 however , the Royal Lao Army adopted a new distinctively Laotian - designed system of military ranks , which became in September 1961 the standard rank chart for all branches of service of the newly created Royal Lao Armed Forces . Under the new regulations , MRL officers were now entitled to wear on their service or dress uniforms stiffened red shoulder boards edged with gold braid identical to the standard RLA pattern . Junior officers added an appropriate number of five - pointed gold stars to their boards whilst petty officers ’ wore chevrons on the upper sleeve or diagonal bars on the lower sleeve . Enlisted men wore no insignia . In the field , Laotian naval officers had their shoulder boards initially replaced by either shoulder strap slides or a single chest tab ( French : " patte de poitrine " ) buttoned to the shirt ’ s front fly following French Army practice . By the late 1960s , The MRL adopted the same American - style system as their RLA counterparts , in which metal pin - on or embroidered cloth rank insignia – either in yellow - on - green full - colour or black - on - green subdued form – were worn on the right collar . Branch and unit insignia . There were no arm - of - service designations as such in the Royal Lao Navy , although when wearing Khaki service dress or US OG jungle fatigues , naval personnel skills and trades were identified by collar badges , in either metal pin - on or cloth embroidered versions . These were worn on the left collar only by ratings and on both collars by enlisted ranks as per in the RLA .