Dec. 8, 1962 - President Ngo Dinh Diem (right) of South Vietnam has ordered a major armed forces shakeup, giving tighter control to officers closest to him. President Diem is known to be on guard against another attempt to wrest control of the country from him after the abortive coup attempted in 1960 by an armed forces faction. The military reorganization is also aimed at streamlining and unifying the command structure. Two of President Diem’s favorite divisional commanders, Cols. Huynh Van Cao and Tran Thien Khiem, were promoted to brigadiers a few days ago.
