The National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF), was a communist army based in South Vietnam that fought against the governments of South Vietnam and the United States during the Vietnam War (1955-75). The group is better known as the Viet Cong ("Việt Cộng") or V.C., short for "Vietnamese Communist." American soldiers called the Vietnamese communist forces Charlie (which is the letter "C" in the NATO phonetic alphabet), no matter whether North Vietnamese or Vietcong.