ARVN kit and equipment, Saigon 1968 | Vietnam War 

New subscriber here. I'm a doctoral student currently doing research on ARVN right now, specifically the ARVN Rangers. I must say I am impressed with your video considering the lack of Western videos talking about ARVN and their weaponry (Battle Order, Kabutoes, and Memories of the South Vietnam, being some of the few other channels dedicated to covering this misrepresented army). I'd like to make some additions to your video (if a pin would suffice, I'd greatly appreciate it so others may see). Firstly, the ARVN ERDL is frequently referred to as "Leaf" pattern and were primarily used by the Rangers and Airborne. Second, as far as "liberating" and acquiring modern weapons outside the main supply line is concerned, I'd refer to some info I found in Lt. Col. Keith Nightengale's "Just another day in Vietnam" and Hieu D. Vu's "Republic of Vietnam Army Ranger". The latter is a collection of roughly translated memoirs by various ARVN Rangers and the former focuses on Nightengale's time as a Ranger advisor with the 52nd Ranger Battalion. Both books mention the 52nd and how their unit in particular augmented their existing Korean War vintage weapons with 2 M60s gifted to them by the commander of the US 11th Armored Cav in exchange for a collection of captured enemy weapons. It wasn't uncommon for captured weapons to be used as bartering chips with American forces as they even advisors used captured AKs as a way to barter for improved living conditions for their ARVN units as well as more modern weapons. For some additional context - Nightengale's memoir takes place during an operation around spring-summer of 1967 where the 52nd Rangers were tasked with locating and destroying a VC fortification along the Dong Nai River north of Xuan Loc during which in the later phases of the operation, the 52nd helped relieve an element of the 11th Armored Cav (which had gotten stuck by terrain and later by enemy ambushes). The 52nd would earn its second Presidential Unit Citation along with those M60s as a token of gratitude from the 11th ACV. Give those books a read. I HIGHLY recommend them

I've been searching for videos about the ARVN and have come up with almost nothing until I found this. Thank you for the video and thank you for showing respect to the ARVN, too often they are dismissed, derided, or forgotten.

To clarify, 2:37 the Airborne soldiers are actually wearing green dominant ERDL in ARVN cut style. ARVN ERDL wasn't widely used until late 68-69 which was first worn by the ARVN Rangers

Nicely done, the ARVN need more attention.

I recall playing vietcong 2 on the pc back in 2007 and being intrigued by the different types of arvn units and their equipment/uniforms, so much so I bought a men at arms book about the arvn. Great video 👍

Nice job , a topic that is rarely discussed

Nice video, good to see the ARVN getting some love.

These aren't just og107 utilities. The ARVN had their own uniforms that looked a lot like the US sateen uniforms, but had much more variety to them.

I’ve read that the M1and M2 carbines were popular amongst the ARVN because they were smaller and the smaller statured ARVN troops could carry and use them better than the bigger and longer m-16

I really enjoy these videos! Very good as usual

3:22 It's not just a copy. It was manufactured with the help of the Soviet when the two's relations didn't go sour.

Okay video, but there’s a decent bit of inaccuracies. Hopefully this’ll help you in better documenting the ARVN. 1. ARVNs were not issued OG-107s. Although their uniforms are similar, they differ in the cut and material. The general name for the ARVN cut is M59. They were not made out of OG-107 material, but rather a darker 10oz heavyweight cotton material. M59 Uniforms differ in the way that their pockets are shaped, the buttons, the fly, and among many others. Often seen with M59s are shoulder and elbow reinforcements along with epaulettes (although not seen with ODs quite as much). These make them distinctly different from the OG-107 cut. Although sometimes seen are ARVN troops modifying their pockets to replicate OG-107 type 2 or type 3 cuts. 2. Another thing I saw was when talking about the ARVN rucks or bags. In the video, the man is actually wearing an M1945 field pack. This would be issued starting in the late 50s and would be issued alongside the ARVN ruck by 1965 before being completely phased out by the end of 1968. ARVNs were not issued other packs like buttpacks which you put a picture of in the video. 3. The camo patterns talked about don’t really give a good overview on the camo patterns used by the ARVN. This video takes place during the May Offensive, and therefore 3 main camouflage patterns would be given to ARVN airborne and ranger troops. This would be Invisible ERDL, poplin ERDL, and ripstop ERDL (all in M59 cut, most of the time with reinforcements and epaulettes). “ARVN ERDL,” or more commonly known as “BDQ,” named after the rangers, wasn’t issued widespread until late 1968. What could also be mentioned would be the fact that BDQ was first only made in a poplin material with a lime color (or sometimes yellow), and only being promptly switched over to a heavyweight cotton version in 1969. All of these being mentioned would probably be able to give people a better understanding of ARVN camouflage patterns. And it is especially important to list that ripstop ERDL was only issued to the ARVN when the May Offensive started, not the Tet Offensive. Overall, the video is an okay overview, but it could use a lot of improvements. Hope this info helps you!

Good material for colecting!

The green uniform we see, is also possible that a ARVN made uniform, south vietnam also made there own uniforms. On my channel is mostly abouts the Vietnamese uniforms, equipment. From 1946 to this day, every uniform that north as wel south vietnamese has nog much be told, and that has to change

The ARVN our often overlooked which is odd considering they were one of the two primary belligerent nations during the war. Wonderful video. Curious I've often heard it said that M-14s weren't issued to South Vietnamese troops due to their length vs the size of the average soldier, is this true or merely an urban legends?

Just wanted to clarify, when you talk about the body armor that the ARVN airborne troops are seen wearing near the beginning of the video, you called the 2 vests there the m69. The correct vests seen in those clips are: the m52a, a Korean era flak vest without a collar and epaulettes, and the 3/4 collar flak vest, a better version of the m52a with a collar added to protect the neck area. The m69 (what you mentioned), was a post war variant of the 3/4 flak best but the closure in the front was made of Velcro because they got rid of the buttons and zipper.

Hallo just wanted to add to something in minute 3:03. The two men shown in the frame are using the M1952A flak vest , a few seconds later shows a man using the actual m69 flak vest, you can see the diffrence in the collar and the color , the m1952A does not have the 3/4 collar on the vest, while the m69 vest has the 3/4 collar on the vest. I own these two flak vests from my collection, and the diffrences are pretty visible. Just wanted to help you out! your doing gods work making these videos!

Don’t forget South Korea sent thousands of troops also

4:27 - specifically an XM16E1 or an M16A1 - both had forward assist and early M16A1s still had the second type 3-prong flash-suppressor. There is no meaningful difference - only the rollmark.

I'm new subscriber here, I researched the south Vietnamese side because so many misconception and propaganda against south Vietnam.

How much was an ARVN private paid per month in equivalent US dollars? The actual amount in South Vietnamese currency would be meaningless to me.

1:46, that looks more like a bag for the M9A1 or M17 gas mask.

If Only The US Congress Did Not Cut The 1.1 Billion USD The ARVN Need, The RVN Might Still Around Today.

The gun crew member has a gas mask bag on his back, not a buttpack.

It’s very good equipment better than VC… but one thing they don’t know to fight good and low morale