Editing Nguyễn Khánh (section)

==Early years in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam==
Khánh then joined the [[Vietnamese National Army]] (VNA) of the French-backed [[State of Vietnam]] under the leadership of former Emperor [[Bảo Đại]]. The State of Vietnam was an associated state of the [[French Union]] and fought in the [[First Indochina War]] alongside French forces against the [[Viet Minh|Việt Minh]].<ref>[https://indochine.uqam.ca/en/historical-dictionary/77-associated-states-of-indochina.html Associated States of Indochina]</ref>

Khánh was part of the first batch of Vietnamese officers trained by the French in the country. Of the 17 students who started the course, only 11 passed.<ref name=s228/> The six that failed to finish and eight of the graduates defected and joined the Việt Minh. Khánh was one of only three to join the VNA.<ref name=s228/> Khánh claimed he tried to dissuade his classmates to not join the Việt Minh as they were communist, but he also briefly rejoined Hồ's side before being commissioned with the VNA.<ref>Shaplen, pp. 228–229.</ref>

From 1949 to 1952, he was a lieutenant and commanded the first airborne unit in the VNA after being sent to France for training.<ref name=showdown/> He was then promoted to the rank of captain and commanded the first ever VNA airborne drop,<ref name=showdown/> participating in the Hòa Bình Operation in northern Vietnam under the command of General [[Jean de Lattre de Tassigny]]. Khánh jumped with his paratroopers into the Hòa Bình after a heavy French defeat and carried out a rearguard action to cover the French retreat.<ref name=showdown/> He was wounded and ended as a regimental combat team.<ref name=showdown/> In an interview with the journalist [[Stanley Karnow]] in 1966, Khánh spoke with much pride of his service under de Lattre de Tassigny, saying "We campaigned together all over the country", though Karnow noted that Khánh was being somewhat misleading in suggesting that he and de Lattre de Tassigny were friends.<ref name="Karnow p.355">Karnow p. 355</ref> In another interview with Karnow in 1981, Khánh stated he became disillusioned when he learned that as an Asian man the French would always look down on him, which led him to favor the idea of a "third force" of anti-Communist Vietnamese nationalists who would be equally opposed to the French.<ref name="Karnow p.355"/> In common with the other newly independent states in Africa and Asia, in the State of Vietnam there was a shortage of officers, especially for high command positions, and Khánh rose rapidly up the ranks.<ref name="Karnow p.355"/> After the [[partition of Vietnam]], Khánh was chosen by President [[Ngô Đình Diệm]] as the inaugural commander (titled "Chief of Staff") of the [[Republic of Vietnam Air Force]]. He took a crash course in flying, and took to the air unaccompanied after 11 hours of instruction.<ref name=showdown/>

From 1956 to 1957, he was promoted to colonel and commanded the First Infantry Division stationed at the 17th Parallel.<ref name=ob>Tucker, pp. 526–533.</ref> In 1957, he was chosen to attend the US Army [[Command and General Staff College]], [[Fort Leavenworth]], Kansas,<ref name=showdown/> US [[U.S. military historical joint commands|Joint & Combined School]] in [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]], Japan, and he graduated from the US High Command as Chief of Staff in France. In 1957, he was assigned as Region Commander of the Hậu Giang region, consisting of Kiến Hòa, Mỹ Tho and Vĩnh Long. He was appointed Secretary General of the Defense Ministry in 1959. In 1960, Khánh was promoted to major general and made ARVN Chief of Staff.<ref name=ob/><ref>Moyar (2006), pp. 108–111.</ref>