#Cambodia #FANK

This is a first for this account, but I am sharing an artwork that I commissioned from the artist @gkamikaze_d.

What we have here is an anime representation of a generalized loadout used by soldiers of the Armée Nationale Khmère (ANK) that was under the Forces Armées Nationales Khmères (FANK).

The FANK was the Khmer Republic's military that existed from 1970 to 1975, during the Cambodian Civil War (1967-1975).

Since their creation in 1970, up until its dissolution, the FANK had continously received support from the United States, as we can see in the artwork.

The artwork shows us the variety of US-origin gear a FANK soldier received over the course of the war, with this representation depicting the mid-to-late war loadout.

What we see here are:

- Colt M16A1 assault rifle; with a M7 bayonet
- M1 helmet with Mitchell Cover; with band & bandage pouch (taped); using vine leaf camouflage
- M1956 pistol belt
- M1956 suspenders; attached to the mag pouches
- M1967 magazine pouches; mounted at the front of the pistol belt
- M1956 canteen; mounted behind the right side mag pouch
- MX-991/U flashlight; attached to the right side of the suspenders

For clothing, FANK soldiers used the 4th Pattern jungle fatigues (typically with rolled sleeves) and the 3rd Pattern jungle boots with the Panama sole (typically bloused).

One would ask why did FANK soldiers use 30-round magazines when they only have 20-round magazine pouches?

Because the 30-round magazine is used as the "contact" magazine, where it would be the first magazine to be emptied during an engagement.

Besides that, this commission may form the first iteration of a series where I intend to showcase the evolution of gear within the Cambodian military, while also showing some unique items that were seen in each faction.