Khmer National Army

The Khmer National Army, known by its French initials ANK, was the land component of the Khmer National Armed Forces, the official military of the Khmer Republic during the Cambodian Civil War between 1970 and 1975. Its garrisons and military regions covered the main towns and the Mekong corridors while the Khmer Rouge recruited in the open countryside. Its roots lie in the colonial period, when the French Military Mission in Phnom Penh raised the first Khmer rifle battalion from men transferred out of the Khmer National Guard and the Cambodian Rifle Regiment, and the army later added more rifle battalions, combat support units and a logistic framework. Its senior commanders are recorded in post until April 1975.