Brigadier general Thao Ty Lithilusa, best known as Thao Ty (not to be confused with Colonel Thao Ly, a fighter-bomber pilot of the Royal Lao Air Force), was a Laotian Paratrooper officer and commander of the Airborne Forces and the Special Forces of the Royal Lao Army (French: Armée Royale du Laos – ARL), the land component of the Royal Lao Armed Forces (French: Forces Armées du Royaume – FAR), the official military of the Kingdom of Laos during the 1960s and 1970s.
Thao Ty | |
|---|---|
| Allegiance | Laos |
| Service | Royal Lao Army |
| Rank | Brigadier general |
Career
editLt. Col. Thao Ty rose to prominence in 1963 when he replaced Brigadier general Siho Lamphouthacoul as the commander of 1st Special Mobile Group (French: Groupement Mobile Speciale 1 – GMS 1), the para-commando regiment of the Directorate of National Coordination (French: Direction de Coordination Nationale – DCN) Security Agency. After the DNC's disbandment in February 1965, Thao Ty was transferred to the Royal Lao Army (RLA) and given command of the RLA's second airborne regiment, Mobile Group 21 (French: Groupement Mobile 21 Aeroportée – GM 21).[1]
In 1970, he transferred again to the CIA-run guerrilla programme in Savannakhet and was posted in charge of all irregular Special Guerrilla Units (SGU) forces in the Military Region 3. During the following year he was promoted to Brigadier general after its participation in retaking the town of Paksong in December 1972.[2] He then transferred back to the regular Army in order to head both the newly formed 2nd Strike Division (French: 2éme Division d'Intervention) and the new elite Special Commando Company (French: Compagnie Commando Speciale – CCS) or SPECOM for short.[3][4]
Death
editIn May 1975 Brig. Gen. Thao Ty was quickly arrested and executed by the Pathet Lao.[5]
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Conboy and McCouaig, South-East Asian Special Forces (1991), pp. 17-18.
- ^ Conboy and McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960-75 (1989), p. 10.
- ^ Conboy and McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960–75 (1989), p. 13.
- ^ Conboy and Greer, War in Laos 1954–1975 (1994), p. 61.
- ^ Conboy and McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960-75 (1989), p. 46.
References
edit- Kenneth Conboy and Don Greer, War in Laos 1954–1975, Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1994. ISBN 0897473159
- Kenneth Conboy and Simon McCouaig, The War in Laos 1960-75, Men-at-arms series 217, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1989. ISBN 9780850459388
- Kenneth Conboy and Simon McCouaig, South-East Asian Special Forces, Elite series 33, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1991. ISBN 1-85532-106-8
- Ken Conboy, The Erawan War – Volume 1: The CIA Paramilitary Campaign in Laos, 1961-1969, Asia@War Volume 24, Helion & Company Limited, Warwick UK 2021. ISBN 978-1-804510-65-0
- Ken Conboy, The Erawan War – Volume 2: The CIA Paramilitary Campaign in Laos, 1969-1974, Asia@War Volume 28, Helion & Company Limited, Warwick UK 2022a. ISBN 978-1-915113-59-7
- Ken Conboy, The Erawan War – Volume 3: The Royal Lao Armed Forces 1961-1974, Asia@War Volume 37, Helion & Company Limited, Warwick UK 2022b. ISBN 978-1-804512-87-6
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