| Republic of Vietnam Marine Division Sư Đoàn Thủy Quân Lục Chiến | |
|---|---|
 RVNMD shoulder sleeve insignia | |
| Founded | 1953 |
| Disbanded | 30 April 1975 |
| Country |  South Vietnam |
| Type | Marines |
| Role | Amphibious warfare Expeditionary warfare |
| Size | 20,000 |
| Part of |  Republic of Vietnam Navy |
| Nickname(s) | "Sea Tigers" (Vietnamese: Cọp Biển) “Tsunami” (Vietnamese: Sóng Thần) |
| Motto(s) | Mạnh như sóng thần (English: As Strong As A Tsunami) |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Le Nguyen Khang Bui The Lan |
| Insignia | |
| Flag |  |
The Republic of Vietnam Marine Division (RVNMD, Vietnamese: Sư Đoàn Thủy Quân Lục Chiến or TQLC; French: Division de Marines de la république du Viêt Nam) was part of the armed forces of South Vietnam. It was established by Ngo Dinh Diem in 1954 when he was Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam, which became the Republic of Vietnam in 1955. The longest-serving commander was Lieutenant General Le Nguyen Khang. In 1969, the VNMC had a strength of 9,300, 15,000 by 1973,[1] and 20,000 by 1975.[2]
The Marine Division traced their origins to the Corps des Marines vietnamien founded in 1955 as French-trained Commandos Marine divisions recruited and placed under the command of the French Navy but officially incorporated in 1960.[3] From 1970 onwards, the South Vietnamese Marines and Airborne Division grew significantly, supplanting the independent, Central Highlands based Vietnamese Rangers as the most popular elite units for volunteers. Along with the Airborne, the Marine Division formed the General Reserve with the strategic transformation under Vietnamization, with elite and highly-mobile units meant to be deployed in People's Army of Vietnam attacking points and incursions.[4] By then, the level of training had improved considerably and U.S. Army General Creighton Abrams who oversaw Vietnamization stated that South Vietnam's Airborne and Marines had no comparable units to match them in the PAVN.[5]
This division had earned a total of 9 U.S. presidential citations, with the 2nd Battalion "Crazy Buffaloes" earning two.[6]
- ^ Melson, Charles (1992). Vietnam Marines 1965-73. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 185532251X.
- ^ Tran Ngoc Thong, Ho Dac Huan, Le Dinh Thuy (2011). History of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam. ISBN 978-1855322516
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-05-26. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Joes, Anthony James (2014-10-16). Why South Vietnam Fell. Lexington Books. pp. 134–139. ISBN 9781498503907.
- ^ Asprey, Robert (2002). War in the Shadows: The Guerrilla in History, Volume 2. Doubleday & Co. pp. 1021–1022. ISBN 9780595225941.
- ^ See List of Non-US Presidential Unit Citations in Vietnam.