Thao Ty
Brigadier-General Thao Ty was a Laotian Paratrooper officer and commander of the Airborne Forces and the Special Forces of the Royal Lao Army, the Land Component of the Royal Lao Armed Forces, the official military of the Kingdom of Laos during the 1960s and 1970s.Career
Lt. Col. Thao Ty rose to prominence in 1963 when he replaced Brigadier general Siho Lamphouthacoul as the commander of 1st Special Mobile Group, the para-commando regiment of the Directorate of National Coordination Security Agency. After the DNC's disbandment in February 1965, Thao Ty was transferred to the Royal Lao Army and given command of the RLA's second airborne regiment, Mobile Group 21. In 1970, he transferred again to the CIA-run guerrilla programme in Savannakhet and was posted in charge of all irregular Special Guerrilla Units forces in the Military Region 3. During the following year he was promoted to Brigadier general after its participation in retaking the town of Paksong in December 1972. He then transferred back to the regular Army in order to head both the newly formed 2nd Strike Division and the new elite Special Commando Company or SPECOM for short.Death
In May 1975 Brig. Gen. Thao Ty was quickly arrested and executed by the Pathet Lao.
