Nguyen Van Hinh

Nguyễn Văn Hinh was the inaugural chief of staff of the Vietnamese National Army and the first Vietnamese officer in the French Armed Forces to be promoted to the rank of general. Educated in the French style, he served in the French Air Force and the Troupes coloniales before accepting a role in the army of the new State of Vietnam within the French Union. Hinh is somewhat of an oddity in the 20th century military history of Vietnam as he attained the rank of lieutenant general in two separate countries, not unlike his North Vietnamese counterpart Nguyễn Sơn who served as a major general in both the People's Army of Vietnam and the People's Liberation Army of China.