The Montagnards are most covered in English-language scholarship for their participation in the Vietnam War, where they were used by the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV), under command of the CIA, due to their close proximity to the Ho Chi Minh trail. Although the Montagnards were initially indifferent to both parties, Captain Petersen of the AATTV gained their support by spending prolonged periods in different villages in the region, embracing their culture. From that, Petersen began training Montagnards as part of the South Vietnamese Army, increasing to over a thousand by 1964.