Republic of Vietnam National Police Field Force

Republic of Vietnam National Police Field Force Cãnh Sát Dã Chiên
Flag of the Republic of Vietnam National Police Field Force
Active	January 1966 - 30 April 1975
Country	South Vietnam
Allegiance	Republic of Vietnam
Branch	Republic of Vietnam National Police
Type	Armed Support Unit
Role	Intelligence-gathering, Counter-insurgency, Counter-terrorism
Size	16,500 men (at height)
Headquarters	Saigon
Nickname(s)	CSDC (NPFF in English)
Motto(s)	Danh Dê (Honor), Trách Nhiêm (Responsibility)
Engagements	Tet offensive Battle of An Loc Phu Quoc Island Fall of Saigon
Commanders
Notable commanders	(Unknown)

The Republic of Vietnam National Police Field Force (Vietnamese: Cãnh Sát Dã Chiên – CSDC), also designated ‘Police de Campagne’ by the French and variously as ‘National Police Field Force’ (NPFF), ‘Field Police’ or ‘Field Force’ for short by the Americans, was a paramilitary élite branch of the Republic of Vietnam National Police (Vietnamese: Cãnh Sát Quốc Gia – CSQG). Active during the Vietnam War, the CSDC operated closely with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1966 to 1975.

The CSDC was created in January 1966 by the South Vietnamese government as an armed support unit for the National Police.

The missions performed by the CSDC went well beyond the normal duties of a civil police force, functionally serving as another branch of the armed forces, being organized and trained for paramilitary operations in the field on both rural and urban areas. Primarily assigned to intelligence-gathering, counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism duties, CSDC companies and battalions were also employed in various other tasks such as guarding important public buildings, VIP protection, public security, riot control, cordon-and-search, and urban combat operations. Between 1967 and 1972 the CSDC was deeply involved in the highly-controversial CIA-run Phoenix Program (Vietnamese: Chiến dịch Phụng Hoàng), participating actively in the "neutralization" – which often involved arbitrary arrests without charge, routine torture, and extrajudicial assassination – of suspected members of the civil infrastructure or "shadow administration" of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (NLF or Viet Cong).