Sunday, May 14, 2017

RVN Women's Army Corps Uniforms - Đoàn Nữ Quân nhân Việt Nam Cộng hòa



Republic of Vietnam Women's Army Corps sky blue service uniforms
 with military postal insignia, circa 1960s-70s, RVNHS Archive.
 
        The Republic of Vietnam Women's Army Corps ( Đoàn Nữ Quân nhân Việt Nam Cộng hòa ) was the principal branch of service for women who served in the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces. As with many branches of the republic's military, its history goes back to the State of Vietnam period prior to the establishment of the republic. Women who volunteered for service in the corps first received general training before commencing specialized programs for the specific element of the armed forces they would be attached to. Women's Army Corps members served alongside all branches of the armed forces ranging from the regular army to air force, navy, and marines.
 
Members of the Republic of Vietnam Women's Army Corps in sky blue service uniforms,
Colonel Trần Cẩm Hương (center)
and Lieutenant Colonel Nguyễn Thị Hạnh Nhơn (second from right).
 
Lieutenant Colonel Nguyễn Thị Hạnh Nhơn.
 
      The standard service uniform for women in the corps from the mid-1960s onwards was a sky blue service uniform consisting of a four-button two-pocket short-sleeve shirt and a matching skirt. Olive drab fatigues, camouflage patterns, and other uniforms worn by service personnel of the republic can also be seen in use by members of the women's corps on occasion in contemporary photographs, although the sky blue service uniform was the standard.
 
Warrant officer in the Republic of Vietnam Women's Army Corps.
 
      The two sky blue service uniform tops shown here have insignia for the republic's military postal service. This was the internal mail service for members of the armed forces. One shirt has senior private rank while the other is for a full corporal with one military postal service patch in printed form and the other in silk woven.
 
Second lieutenant Hà Thị Tươi visits a wounded soldier in hospital.
 
Second Lieutenant Hà Thị Tươi and Senior Private Dinh Thi Phan visit dependents of airborne soldiers near Tan Son Nhut airbase.