Naval Infantry (Vietnam)

Naval Infantry
Hải quân đánh bộ
Active	1969-Present
Country	Vietnam
Branch	Vietnam People's Navy
Type	Marines

The Naval Infantry Brigades (Vietnamese: Lữ đoàn Hải quân Đánh bộ) are a combat arm under the Vietnam People's Navy that have the task of stationing troops to protect islands and rocks, or attacking or landing by sea on the mainland or on the islands occupied by foreign countries, protecting Vietnam's territorial sovereignty and territorial sea.^[1][2]

According to the International Institute of Strategic Studies in 2010, the VPN NI is the second largest marine corp next to the US Marine Corps.^[3]

The modern day Vietnamese Naval Infantry has its origin during the Vietnam War when in 1969, based on the success of their sapper unit they created two years before, the People's Army of Vietnam decided to raise a 500-man sapper unit with amphibious capabilities. The unit that was created was the 126 Naval Sapper Group.

The 126 Naval Sapper Group’s 1st deployment was around the Cửa Việt river, south of the DMZ and is suspected of being responsible for the various incursions on the Cửa Việt Base.

The unit first officially saw action during the Battle of the Paracel Islands after the defeat of the South Vietnamese Navy by the People's Liberation Army Navy. As a proxy of the People's Liberation Army’s ground invasion phase of the campaign, the 126 Naval Sapper Group conducted an amphibious invasion of the Spratly Islands on the various islands held by South Vietnam.

After the war, the 126 Naval Sapper Group expanded to become brigade size of 950 men, and was renamed the 126 Marine Brigade.^[4]

By 1978, a 2nd brigade was raised, and both brigades took part in the invasion of Cambodia.

In the evening of January 6, a group of commandos of 87 people secretly landed and attacked to occupy a Khmer Rouge artillery position protecting the coast, at the same time, 130 mm artillery began to bombard Khmer Rouge positions. Immediately, small patrol boats of the Khmer Rouge departed from Ream military port and small harbors to attack the Vietnam People's Navy. After a battle at sea, due to its superiority in numbers and firepower, the Vietnam People's Navy repelled or sank most of the Khmer Rouge ships, but one Vietnamese ship was also hit. Many sailors were injured.^[5]

Every year, the naval infantry brigades send many waves of soldiers to the island, mainly Spratly Island, to train for months to get used to the waves, to get used to the island and close to the battlefield. Each trip is the most elite members when they have been trained together with the forces and passed the final medical examination.^[6]

The situation is becoming more and more complicated when China makes a claim to all the islands and archipelagoes including the Spratly and Paracel archipelagos (under Vietnam's sovereignty) in the entire South China Sea. On May 6, 2009, China submitted a map of the nine-dash line (also known as the U-shaped line) to the United Nations Secretary-General, in which it claimed sovereignty over the entire South China Sea. Soon after, on May 7, 2009, Vietnam, Malaysia and then Indonesia protested and denied.^[7]

Two Brigades 101 and 147 today are the core force performing the task of defending the islands in the vast waters of the Vietnamese homeland.

• 101st Naval Infantry Brigade in Vietnam People's Navy Region 4 Command.^[8]
• 147th Naval Infantry Brigade belongs to Vietnam People's Navy Region 1 Command, established in 1978.^[9][10]