MAAG
Military Assistance Advisory Group
MAAG Indochina was established in 1950 to provide material aid to the French forces battling the
Viet Minh. In 1955, following the end of the first Indochina war, MAAG also assumed responsibility for training the
Vietnamese Armed Forces.
Prior to 1961 MAAG focused on building the
ARVN into a conventional army that would be capable of staving off an invasion from North Vietnam until
SEATO forces could be landed. Rather than training the army to deal with the insurgent threat of the
Viet Cong,
pacification duties were to be handled by the Self Defense Corps and Civil Guard (
Territorial Forces). From 1961 efforts were made to transform ARVNs focus towards counterinsurgency.
Renamed MAAG-Vietnam on 1st November 1955, it was finally absorbed by
MACV in May 1964.
See
MDAP,
TERM,
TRIM