The basic unit of the PAVN is an infantry battalion called a Tiểu Đoàn Bộ Binh (pronounced tee-eh-oo daw-an boh bin), or just a Tiểu Đoàn, a battalion. The battalion commander is a Thiếu Tá or Major, but is usually referred to in typical revolutionary fashion as a D Trưởng or D Leader (after the code for a battalion, 'D').
The bộ đội, foot soldiers, are the core of the infantry companies. As the troops of B3 Front are some of the best in the PAVN, they have an almost equal mix of the newer AK47 assault rifles and older SKS carbines. The squad automatic weapon is the RPD machine-gun, a modernized, belt-fed version of the WWII-era DP 'record player' machine-gun. Each squad also contains a B40 rocket launcher, a Chinese copy of the Soviet RPG-2.
