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95-579: It was formally created on 7 September 1963, with R. N. Kao as Director and Acting Group Captain Lal Singh Grewal (later, Vice Chief of Indian Air Force) as Operations Manager at Charbatia air base (code named Oak Tree 1). It was later moved to the Prime Minister's Secretariat, and in February 1965, along with Special Frontier Force and Special Service Bureau (now Sashastra Seema Bal ), was brought under

190-501: A U2 flight out of Aviation Research Centre (ARC)'s Charbatia Air Base in Orissa, but its return turned out to be something of a mishap. The Lockheed U-2 overshot the runway and got stuck in slushy ground caused by heavy rain in the monsoon . Getting it unstuck and out of India without being noticed by the Indian press, then even more subject to leftist influences and hence antagonistic to

285-479: A Chief Inspector (Lieutenant Colonel rank). In January 2001, DGS was split and SSB and CIOA were shifted to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The post of Principal Director, DGS, was also moved alongside as Director General, SSB. Thereafter, the post of Director, ARC was upgraded as Special Secretary, ARC and Head of department, SFF, but he continued to report to DG (Security) (except in case of Arvind Saxena , who reported to

380-568: A battalion. At the helm of SFF is the Inspector General (SFF), an officer of Major General rank. The Special Group , or 4 Vikas, functions under a separate chain of command under the R&;AW. Historically, by the late 1960s, the SFF was organised into six battalions for administrative purposes. In the past, each battalion, consisting of six companies, was commanded by a Tibetan who had a rank equivalent to

475-599: A commando unit, the unit is occasionally capitalized. The term commando originally derives from Latin commendare , to recommend, via the Dutch word kommando , which translates as "a command or order" and also roughly to "mobile infantry regiment ". This term originally referred to units of Boer mounted infantry , who fought during the Xhosa Wars and the First and Second Boer Wars . The Dutch word kommando , in turn, originated from

570-565: A dedicated mountain and jungle warfare unit. The SFF's weapons were all provided by the US and consisted mainly of M-1, M-2 and M-3 sub-machine guns. Heavy weapons were not provided. The US government pulled out the CIA from the training program as relations with India soured in the early 1970s during the period of Cold War , with the Sino-Soviet split and Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China for improving

665-803: A few paratroopers to several companies. Due to the balance of forces concerned, these raids achieved little in the way of damage or casualties, and resulted in the destruction of the Japanese units concerned. Considering that there were no plans to extract these forces, and the reluctance to surrender by Japanese personnel during that era, they are often seen in the same light as kamikaze pilots of 1944–45. Nakano School trained intelligence and commando officers and organized commando teams for sabotage and guerrilla warfare. The navy had commando units "S-toku" (Submarine special attack units, see Kure 101st JSNLF(in Japanese) ) for infiltrating enemy areas by submarine . It

760-506: A gas-powered device on an undisclosed mountain, supposedly in Chinese-controlled areas. However, by the following year, the US had the first generation of TRW reconnaissance satellites under Defense Support Program in place and did not have to rely on the old ELINT devices. During conflict with troops from PLA Western Theater Command Ground Force , Indian Army Northern Command initiated Operation Snow Leopard . SFF which formed

855-480: A landmine blast while undertaking a reconnaissance mission along the line of actual control. On 26 January 2021, Tsering Norbu was awarded "Mention in dispatches" for his contribution and successful execution of Operation Snow Leopard. Commandos A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force , specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally "a commando"

950-533: A large operation and flies a large and varied fleet that until recently included the high-flying Mach 3 capable Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 . The ARC began operations in 1962 with a Helio Twin Courier loaned from the USAF . ARC operated fixed-wing transport aircraft like Russian IL-76s and AN-32s . It also had General Dynamics Gulfstream III and Global 5000 jets. The helicopter inventory comprises Russian Mil Mi-17s and

1045-581: A lieutenant colonel in the Indian Army. A Tibetan major or captain commanded each company, which was the primary unit used in operations. After the 1980s, the practice of giving Indian Army commissions to Tibetans was discontinued. Ethnically, the unit is a mixture of Tibetans and Gurkhas from Nepal. The Tibetan troopers are recruited from the dwindling population of Tibetans in India, which stood at 85,000 in 2018. The flow of Tibetans joining SFF has slowed due to

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1140-457: A mix of locally built Cheetahs (modified French Alouette IIs ) and Chetaks ( Alouette IIIs ). The MIG-25 (also christened as Foxbat by NATO ) was used for high altitude reconnaissance until being decommissioned in 2006. ARC was also believed to be the first department to induct the indigenously built 'Pilotless Target Aircraft' (PTA) Lakshya . Lakshya is equipped with advanced support system to help it perform tactful aerial exploration in

1235-730: A part of larger reforms, backed by NSA Ajit Doval , Aviation Research Centre (ARC) was proposed to be shut down in 2015 and ARC's assets were to be divided between the National Technical Research Organisation and the Indian Air Force . However, it was not carried out and the agency continues to exist. Previously, ARC was part of the Directorate General of Security, along with three other organisations, viz. , Special Service Bureau, Special Frontier Force and Chief Inspectorate of Armaments. Whereas R&AW

1330-567: A part of the modern Indian Army for as long as it has existed. During the time of the Great Game , the British Indian Army began to employ Tibetans as spies, intelligence agents, and even covert militia in North India and Tibet proper. At the time of Indian independence , the northern mountain-covered region of India remained the most isolated and strategically overlooked territory of

1425-545: A special unit with amphibious He 115 planes was founded to support the battalion. The total strength of the battalion was 678 men and 76 women (see Lotta Svärd ). In the Battle of Ilomantsi , soldiers of the 4th disrupted the supply lines of the Soviet artillery, preventing effective fire support. The battalion made over 50 missions in 1943 and just under 100 in 1944, and was disbanded on November 30 of that same year. Sissiosasto/5.D

1520-536: A veteran STOL pilot), was to emplace a permanent ELINT device, a transceiver powered by a plutonium battery , that could detect and report data on future nuclear tests carried out by China. The plan to install a snooping device was devised far away in Washington, D.C. , in the offices of the National Geographic Society . Barry Bishop , a photographer with the magazine, interested General Curtis LeMay of

1615-617: Is a wing of the Cabinet Secretariat, with secretariat-style rank structure at Headquarters (Secretary, Special Secretary, Additional Secretary etc.), DGS was an attached office . Secretary, R&AW, held, ex-officio , the post of Director General of Security. Below him was the Principal Director, of Special DG or Special Secretary rank. SSB and ARC had their respective Directors (Additional DG or Additional Secretary rank), SFF had an Inspector General (Major General rank) and CIOA had

1710-569: Is another Finnish Commando unit of the World War Two era. The Detachment was founded on August 20, 1941, under the Lynx Division (5th Division, Finnish VI Corps). It was a self-contained unit for reconnaissance patrolling , sabotage and guerrilla warfare operations behind enemy lines. In December 1939, following the success of German infiltration and sabotage operations in the Polish campaign ,

1805-720: Is evidence of selection for the Otdelnly Gwardieskij Batalion Minerow, predecessors of the modern Russian spetsnaz . Soldiers had to be younger than 30 years, were mostly athletes or hunters and had to show the highest motivation. During training and selection some participants died since they were exhausted and left to their devices. The German Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK) demands from their applicants high levels of physical resilience, teamwork, willingness to learn, mental resilience, willpower, sense of responsibility, flexibility, secrecy and adaptation. These skills are proved during assessment. The fitness test of

1900-652: Is not part of the Indian Army but functions under their operational control with its own rank structure, charter and training infrastructure. It falls under the authority of the Directorate General on Security in the Cabinet Secretariat headed by an Inspector General (SFF) who is selected from the Major General rank of the Indian Army and who reports directly to the Prime Minister's Office . Tibetans have been

1995-637: Is the opposite of military tradition but necessary to work in small and smallest groups, avoiding enemies' reconnaissance. After the Dutch Cape Colony was established in 1652, the word was used to describe bands of militia. The first "Commando Law" was instated by the original Dutch East India Company chartered settlements and similar laws were maintained through the independent Boer Orange Free State and South African Republic . The law compelled burghers to equip themselves with horses and firearms when required in defense. The implementation of these laws

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2090-525: The 474th Regimental Combat Team . Ironically they were sent to serve in Norway in 1945, the country they were formed to raid. The Finns fielded the Erillinen Pataljoona 4 and about 150 men were trained before the beginning of summer 1941. At first, the units had as few as 15 men, but during the war this was increased to 60. On July 1, 1943, the units were organised in the 4th Detached Battalion. In 1944,

2185-694: The Alpine battles of World War I. These teams were called " Arditi " (meaning "daring, brave ones"); they were almost always men under 25 in top physical condition and, possibly at first, bachelors (due to fear of very high casualty rates). Actually the Arditi (who were led to the lines just a few hours before the assault, having been familiarised with the terrain via photo-reconnaissance and trained on trench systems re-created ad hoc for them) suffered fewer casualties than regular line infantry and were highly successful in their tasks. Many volunteered for extreme-right formations in

2280-647: The Borneo campaign . Z Force , an Australian-British-New Zealand military intelligence commando unit, formed by the Australian Services Reconnaissance Department , also carried out many raiding and reconnaissance operations in the South West Pacific theatre, most notably Operation Jaywick , in which they destroyed tonnes of Japanese shipping at Singapore Harbour. An attempt to replicate this success, with Operation Rimau , resulted in

2375-488: The First Special Service Force , formed under British Combined Operations . The First Special Service Force was a joint American-Canadian unit and modern Canadian special operations forces also trace their lineage to this unit and through it to British Commandos, despite existing in their modern incarnation only since 2006. Malaysian green beret special forces PASKAL and Grup Gerak Khas (who still wear

2470-566: The Italian campaign and in southern France. Its most famous raid, which was documented in the film Devil's Brigade , was the battle of Monte la Difensa . In 1945, the unit was disbanded; some of the Canadian members were sent to the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion as replacements, and the American members were sent to either the 101st Airborne Division or the 82nd Airborne Division as replacements or

2565-493: The NSA ). Subsequently, in 2021, ARC was removed as a separate organisation from the second schedule of the Right to Information Act and included with R&AW as its technical wing. Special Frontier Force The Special Frontier Force ( SFF ) is a paramilitary Indian special forces unit composed primarily of Tibetan refugees and Gurkhas in India. It was established after

2660-645: The Nanda Kot . This mission was successful but a couple of years later another problem cropped up: snow would pile up over the antenna and render it blind. So Kohli and a SFF team were sent once again to bring it down; this time they retrieved it successfully. In October 1967 the Chinese began testing an ICBM capable of reaching targets 6000 miles away. There was renewed urgency to find out more. So SFF mountaineers went off on one more mission in December 1969 to successfully place

2755-808: The Pakistani intrusion was detected, ARC was tasked to check if the Pakistanis had indeed crossed the Line of Control to the Indian side and violated the border agreement. A number of missions were flown by the ARC on request from the Indian Army and the PMO. Senior officials of the Indian armed forces including the Chief of Air Staff and Chief of Army staff highly commended the work done by ARC, quoting "The electronic and optical information provided by

2850-689: The Sino-Indian War and towards the end of 1962, after hectic lobbying by the IB Chief Bhola Nath Mullik and World War II veteran Biju Patnaik , the Jawaharlal Nehru government ordered the raising of an elite commando unit and specialised mountain division. The primary task of SFF is defence against the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Ground Force as well as conducting clandestine intelligence gathering and commando operations along

2945-536: The Sino-Indian War of 1962 to primarily conduct covert operations behind the Chinese lines in case of another war with China. Later it increased in size and scope of operations. Throughout its history, SFF has fought in India's major external wars including the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Kargil War . It has also been involved in internal security, including Operation Blue Star and also serving as

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3040-781: The U.S. Navy SEALs tests swimming speed over 500 yards, number of push-ups and sit-ups within 2 minutes, pull-ups and running 1.5 miles. Long Range Desert Group hired their personnel after a very long interrogation. First SAS members had to complete a march of 50km, and the Royal Marine commandos tested their applicants' motivation during an obstacle course using real explosives and machine gun fire close to Achnacary in Scotland. The French Foreign Legion assesses their applicants through medical, intelligence, logic, and fitness tests as well as interrogations, small drills and solving small tasks. Commando soldiers shall think independently. This

3135-503: The United States Air Force in the idea. The actual efforts called for the placement of a permanent ELINT device powered by a nuclear SNAP 19C power pack fuel cell. The first attempt to place this device on Nanda Devi, by a Kohli-led SFF team under the cover of a mountaineering expedition, failed as the team had to retreat in the face of adverse conditions and left the device in a small unmarked mountain cave after having hauled

3230-735: The Uttar Pradesh - Haryana border; Dum Duma Air Base near Tinsukia in Assam ; Palam Air Base in Delhi ; and the Farkhor Air Base , the only Indian military airbase situated in a foreign country, at Farkhor / Ayni in Tajikistan . In 2018 the Duma Duma Air Base was identified as one of 15 disused airfields that could be transferred to other public agencies. At the time it was being looked after by

3325-738: The Xhosa and the Zulu caused the Boers to retain the commando system despite being free of colonial laws. Also, the word became used to describe any armed raid. During this period, the Boers also developed guerrilla techniques for use against numerically superior but less mobile bands of natives such as the Zulu, who fought in large, complex formations. In the First Boer War , Boer commandos were able to use superior marksmanship, fieldcraft, camouflage and mobility to expel

3420-616: The "Personal Force" of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to suppress opposition parties during the state of emergency from 1975 to 1977. It has been part of border operations against China, including the 2020–2021 China–India skirmishes . Based in Chakrata , Uttarakhand, the force was put under the direct supervision of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), and later the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's external intelligence agency , and

3515-565: The 181st Special Reconnaissance Detachment. They began conducting sabotage missions and raids to snatch prisoners for interrogation. They would also destroy German ammunition and supply depots, communication centers, and harass enemy troop concentrations along the Finnish and Russian coasts. After the European conflict ended, Leonov and his men were sent to the Pacific theatre to conduct operations against

3610-551: The 2/6th, 2/7th and 2/9th Cavalry Commando Regiments. Later in the war the Royal Australian Navy also formed commando units along the lines of the Royal Naval Commandos to go ashore with the first waves of major amphibious assaults, to signpost the beaches and carry out other naval tasks. These were known as RAN Commandos . Four were formed—lettered A, B, C and D like their British counterparts—and they took part in

3705-682: The 22nd Mountain Regiment of the Royal Indian Artillery during World War II . Uban also went on to command a Long Range Desert Group Squadron (LRDS) in North Africa during the war. The SFF made its home base at Chakrata, a mountain town in the foothills of the Himalayas home to a large Tibetan refugee population. Starting with a force of 5,000 men, the SFF commenced six months of training in rock climbing and guerrilla warfare . Initial training

3800-630: The ARC before and during the actual operations was of immense value to the conduct of air strikes." Also the K. Subrahmanyam committee report into the Kargil war observed that "No intelligence failures had been attributed on account of functioning of RAW and ARC. However, certain equipment inadequacies were highlighted such as satellite imagery and UAVs". In 2012, the Naresh Chandra Committee on national security recommended merger of ARC with R&AW, in view of ARC's turf wars with NTRO and DIA . As

3895-486: The Australian Special Air Service Regiment , the New Zealand Special Air Service , and the Rhodesian Special Air Service , all of whom share (or used to) the same insignia and motto as their British counterparts. During the Second World War, the British SAS quickly adopted sand-coloured berets, since they were almost entirely based in the North African theatre; they used these rather than green berets to distinguish themselves from other British Commando units. (See History of

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3990-466: The Belgian 5th Special Air Service , or Greek Sacred Band . In 1944 the SAS Brigade was formed from the British 1st and 2nd SAS, the French 3rd and 4th SAS, and the Belgian 5th SAS. The French Army special forces ( 1er RPIMa ) still use the motto Qui Ose Gagne , a translation of the SAS motto "Who Dares Wins". In addition, many Commonwealth nations were part of the original British Commando units. They developed their own national traditions, including

4085-453: The Belgian border was captured in 1940 by Fallschirmjäger troops as part of the German invasion and occupation of Belgium. A report written by Major-General Robert Laycock in 1947 claimed that there was a German raid on a radar station on the Isle of Wight in 1941. The Sacred band ( Greek : Ιερός Λόχος ) was a Greek special forces unit formed in 1942 in the Middle East , composed entirely of Greek officers and officer cadets under

4180-426: The Blue Lanyard of the Royal Marines ) were originally trained by British Commandos.The Portuguese Marine Corps Fuzileiros were originally trained by British Commandos in 1961. Other British units, such as the SAS , led to the development of many international special operations units that are now typically referred to as commandos, including the Bangladeshi Para-Commando Brigade , Pakistani Special Services Group ,

4275-434: The Boer War, and decided that it would require a 10:1 numerical advantage to defeat the Allies. The campaign occupied the attention of an entire Japanese division for almost a year. The independent companies were later renamed commando squadrons, and they saw widespread action in the South West Pacific Area , especially in New Guinea and Borneo . In 1943, all the commando squadrons except the 2/2nd and 2/8th were grouped into

4370-405: The British (wearing red uniforms, poorly trained in marksmanship and unmounted) from the Transvaal . These tactics were continued throughout the Second Boer War . In the final phase of the war, 25,000 Boers carried out asymmetric warfare against the 450,000-strong British Imperial forces for two years after the British had captured the capitals of the two Boer republics. During these conflicts

4465-440: The Chinese border. Chushi Gangdruk leaders were contacted for recruitment of Khampas into this new unit. The initial strength was 5000 men, mostly Khampas who were recruited at its new Mountain Training Facility at Chakrata , 100 km from the city of Dehradun . Initially known as Establishment 22 within the military and intelligence community due to its first Inspector General, Maj. Gen. Sujan Singh Uban , who commanded

4560-422: The Defense Estate Organization. Aerial surveillance , SIGINT operations, photo reconnaissance flights (PHOTINT), monitoring of borders, imagery intelligence (IMINT) were the main functions of the Aviation Research Centre (ARC). The aircraft were fitted with state-of-the-art electronic surveillance equipment and long range cameras capable of taking pictures of targets from very high altitudes. ARC also took

4655-416: The Directorate General of Security in the Cabinet Secretariat (this organisation was created in late 1964 with B. N. Mullick as DG, Security; the post was later shifted to the chief of R&AW upon its constitution in 1968). One of its most influential Directors was Prof H.B. Mohanti. ARC was initially a temporary and ad hoc organisation, but was made permanent in 1971. Over the years, ARC had grown into

4750-944: The German Office for Foreign and Counter-Intelligence (OKW Amt Ausland/Abwehr) formed the Brandenburger Regiment (known officially as the 800th Special Purpose Training and Construction Company). The Brandenburgers conducted a mixture of covert and conventional operations but became increasingly involved in ordinary infantry actions and were eventually converted into a Panzer-Grenadier Division, suffering heavy losses in Russia . Otto Skorzeny (most famed for his rescue of Benito Mussolini ) conducted many special operations for Adolf Hitler . Skorzeny commanded Sonderlehrgang z.b.V. Oranienburg , Sonderverband z.b.V. Friedenthal, and SS-Jäger-Bataillon 502 , 500th SS Parachute Battalion , SS-Jagdverband Mitte and all other SS commando units. The German Fallschirmjäger were famous for their elite skills and their use in rapid commando style raids and as elite "fire brigade" infantrymen. Fort Eben-Emael on

4845-442: The German training area in Beuville (near the village of Doncourt ) to be the main cadre of the newly raised Austro-Hungarian army assault battalions. The former Jagdkommandos were incorporated into these battalions. The first country to establish commando troops was Italy, in the summer 1917, shortly before Germany. Italy used specialist trench-raiding teams to break the stalemate of static fighting against Austria-Hungary , in

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4940-432: The Indian MARCOS , Jordanian Special Operation Forces and Philippine National Police Special Action Force . A Dutch study found that a sampling of Dutch male special forces operators were more emotionally stable, conscientious, but also more closed minded than matched civilian controls and other types of soldiers. During the winter of 1914–1915 large parts of the Eastern Front switched to trench warfare. To cope with

5035-450: The Indian Army. To prove the SFF's worth, the Inspector General sent 120 men from the SFF on a field exercise, codenamed Garuda , with the Army. The exercise proved to be a dramatic success for the SFF and the Army was now less inclined to criticise the force. However the force faced other problems such as mass desertions by Tibetans. The Tibetan recruits found that smuggling was a much easier way of making money than risking their lives along

5130-417: The Italian marine commandos were re-organised as the " Comsubin " (an abbreviation of Comando Subacqueo Incursori , or Underwater Raiders Command). They wear the green Commando beret. In 1944–45, Japanese Teishin Shudan ("Raiding Group") and Giretsu ("heroic") detachments made airborne assaults on Allied airfields in the Philippines , Marianas and Okinawa . The attacking forces varied in size from

5225-473: The Japanese. In 1940, the British Army formed "independent companies ", later reformed as battalion sized "commandos", thereby reviving the word. The British intended that their commandos be small, highly mobile surprise raiding and military reconnaissance forces. They intended them to carry all they needed and not remain in field operations for more than 36 hours. Army Commandos were all volunteers selected from existing soldiers still in Britain. During

5320-438: The Mediterranean. After Italy surrendered in 1943, some of the Decima Flottiglia MAS were on the Allied side of the battle line and fought with the Allies, renaming themselves the Mariassalto . The others fought on the German side and kept their original name but did not operate at sea after 1943, being mostly employed against Italian partisans ; some of its men were involved in atrocities against civilians. In post-war years

5415-480: The Portuguese term comando , used in India in the sense of a group of troops under an autonomous command that performed special missions during a battle or siege. The word was adopted into Afrikaans from interactions with the Portuguese in their nearby African colonies, in whose language the word comando means "command". In South Africa similar troops operated in small detachments, usually traveling on horseback, and launched rapid attacks against British troops. During

5510-441: The Second World War, both the British and the Germans decided to reuse this term to designate the new special operations troops they had formed (the British designated commandos and the German Kommandos ). Later the term was used by other countries to designate some of their elite forces. Less likely, it is a High German loan word, which was borrowed from Italian in the 17th century, from the sizable minority of German settlers in

5605-433: The Special Air Service ). Other Commonwealth commando units were formed after the Second World War directly based on the British Commando units, such as the Australian Army Reserve 1st Commando Regiment (Australia) , distinct from the Regular Army 2nd Commando Regiment (Australia) , who originated from the 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment in 1997 . The US Rangers were founded by Major General Lucian Truscott of

5700-444: The US Army, a liaison officer with the British General Staff. In 1942, he submitted a proposal to General George Marshall that an American unit be set up "along the lines of the British Commandos". The original US Rangers trained at the British Commandos centre at Achnacarry Castle . The US Navy SEALs ' original formation, the Observer Group , was also trained and influenced by British Commandos. The US Special Forces originated with

5795-498: The US, was another clandestine operation. This gave all concerned quite a scare and it was decided to rely on other technical means. The CIA therefore decided to launch an electronic intelligence (ELINT) operation along with R&AW and to track China's nuclear tests and monitor its missile launches. The operation, in the garb of a mountaineering expedition to Nanda Devi , involved celebrated Indian climber M S Kohli who, along with operatives of SFF and CIA (most notably Jim Rhyne,

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5890-451: The United States . Although neither US nor Central Tibetan Administration has any influence on SFF. Most of the Tibetans recruited were also trained secretly in Okinawa in Kadena Air Base. The idea of raising a specialized force consisting of Tibetan refugees and Tibetan resistance fighters in India against the Chinese was first mooted by General K S Thimayya when he was leading the Indian Army between May 1957 and May 1961. During

5985-438: The awarding of green berets which originated with British Commandos . The British Commandos were instrumental in founding many other international commando units during World War II. Some international commando units were formed from members who served as part of or alongside British Commandos, such as the Dutch Korps Commandotroepen (who still wear the recognition flash insignia of the British Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife ),

6080-399: The battlefield, including target acquisition. The 6-foot-long (1.8 m) Lakshya is fitted with a digitally controlled engine that can be operated from the ground using a remote. Lakshya had been designed by Aeronautical Development Establishment , Bangalore . Lakshya is a surface/ship launched high subsonic reusable aerial target system, remotely piloted from ground. It provides training to

6175-468: The bilateral relationship. The unit conducted limited cross-border reconnaissance missions as well as highly classified joint operations with the CIA in 1965 on Mount Nanda Devi in the Himalayas. The SFF has a total of six battalions called 1 Vikas, 2 Vikas, 3 Vikas, 5 Vikas, 6 Vikas, and 7 Vikas. Each battalion has around 800 troopers. The six battalions are commanded by Indian Army officers of colonel rank. At least five other Indian Army officers are in

6270-409: The border. In 1964, the SFF, led by the Inspector General, began its airborne training at Agra. The SFF then began its own airborne training program at Sarsawa Air Force Station . In 1967, Establishment 22 was expanded and renamed into Special Frontier Force . In 1968 with the help of Aviation Research Centre (ARC), SFF were provided with airlift facilities and became fully airborne-qualified with

6365-440: The command of Col. Christodoulos Tsigantes . It fought alongside the SAS in the Libyan Desert and with the SBS in the Aegean , as well as with General Leclerc 's Free French Forces in Tunisia . It was disbanded in August 1945. Italy's most renowned commando unit of World War II was Decima Flottiglia MAS ("10th Assault Vehicle Flotilla"), which, from mid-1940, sank or damaged a considerable tonnage of Allied ships in

6460-529: The core team, was reported to have conducted joint operation with Indian Army around Gurung Hill , Rezang La including the capture of heights in South Pangong Tso range. In another incident, an official statement by the Indian Army read: "Indian troops pre-empted this PLA activity on the southern bank of Pangong Tso , undertook measures to strengthen our positions and thwart Chinese intentions to unilaterally change facts on ground". During this operation, on 1 September 2020, company leader Nyima Tenzin died in

6555-443: The death of almost all those involved. However, Z Force and other SRD units continued operations until the war's end. A joint Canadian -American Commando unit, the 1st Special Service Force, nicknamed the Devil's Brigade , was formed in 1942 under the command of Colonel Robert Frederick. The unit initially saw service in the Pacific, in August 1943 at Kiska in the Aleutians campaign . However most of its operations occurred during

6650-476: The declining population of Tibetans, leading to a more ethnically mixed unit. Gurkhas have been recruited to the SFF since 1965. Tibetans currently serve as soldiers and non-commissioned officers and were in the past given officer commissions. Women are also recruited for specialized operations as well as in signal and medical companies. The Special Frontier Force retains a military rank insignia system distinct from other Indian paramilitary organizations. SFF

6745-408: The device just short of the 25,645-foot peak. When another Kohli-led expedition returned the following year to recover the device, it was found to be missing. In the meantime the Chinese not only kept testing not only nuclear weapons but also ballistic missiles at regular intervals. The urgency to gather information was never greater. Another mission was launched in 1967 to place a similar device on

6840-471: The division, reconnaissance company in the brigade, a reconnaissance platoon in the regiment. Soviet Naval Frogmen The legendary Soviet Naval Scout Viktor Leonov commanded an elite unit of Naval Commandos. The 4th Special Volunteer Detachment was a unit of 70 veterans. Initially they were confined to performing small scale reconnaissance missions, platoon sized insertions by sea and on occasion on land into Finland and later Norway. Later they were renamed

6935-462: The early stages of World War II. They first saw action in early 1942 during the Japanese assault on New Ireland , and in the Battle of Timor . Part of the 2/1st Independent Company was wiped out on New Ireland , but on Timor , the 2/2nd Independent Company formed the heart of an Allied force that engaged Japanese forces in a guerrilla campaign. The Japanese commander on the island drew parallels with

7030-580: The effectiveness and tactics of the Boer commandos. During World War II, American and British publications, confused over the use of the plural "commandos" for that type of British military units, gave rise to the modern common habit of using "a commando" to mean one member of such a unit, or one man engaged on a raiding-type operation. Since the 20th century and World War II in particular, commandos have been set apart from other military units by virtue of their extreme training regimes; these are usually associated with

7125-643: The first Dapon, the Tibetan equivalent of a Brigadier, in command of part of the SFF Task Force. With war imminent, SFF successfully executed several mission plans that included the destruction of the Kaptai Dam and other bridges of strategic value. The Inspector General also urged that the SFF be used to capture the second largest city, Chittagong , but the idea found no support among military planners in New Delhi since

7220-616: The gun and missile crew and to air defence pilots for weapon engagement. As of 2024, ARC operates the Special Mission Aircraft fleet of the Indian Air Force like Boeing 707 -337C Phalcon, Global 5000 and Gulfstream III . According to a report from Globalsecurity.org, R&AW Aviation Research Centre operated bases at Charbatia Air Base in Choudwar, Cuttack district (largest base); Sarsawa Air Base near Saharanpur on

7315-508: The initial European colonization of South Africa. The Oxford English Dictionary ties the English use of the word meaning "[a] member of a body of picked men ..." directly into its Afrikaans' origins: 1943 Combined Operations ( Min. of Information ) i. Lt. Lieutenant-Colonel D. W. Clarke... produced the outline of a scheme.... The men for this type of irregular warfare should, he suggested, be formed into units to be known as Commandos.... Nor

7410-602: The new situation many Austro-Hungarian regiments spontaneously formed infantry squads called Jagdkommandos . These squads were named after the specially trained forces of Russian army formed in 1886 and were used to protect against ambushes, to perform reconnaissance and for low intensity fights in no-man's-land. Austro-Hungarian High army command ( Armeeoberkommando , AOK) realized the need for special forces and decided to draw on German experience. Starting in September–October 1916 about 120 officers and 300 NCOs were trained in

7505-631: The night of 14 November 1971 in the forests of Chittagong Hill Tracts, Brigadier Dhondup Gyatotsang during Operation Mountain Eagle was killed in a firefight with Special Service Group of the Pakistan Army . With the fall of Dhaka and Lieutenant General A.A.K. Niazi surrendering on 16 December 1971, SFF had lost 49 men and nearly 190 were wounded. The SFF later joined with Seaborne Expedition Task Force consisting of 2nd Artillery Brigade , 1st Battalion 3rd Gorkha Rifles , 11 Battalion Bihar Regiment that

7600-443: The plural led to readers thinking that the singular meant one man rather than one military unit, and this new usage became established. Due to the special mental and physiological requirements made of the applicants, there are restrictions entering "commando" units. Applicants have to fulfil special requirements. Selecting applicants with the highest motivation, modern special forces run special selection processes. Historically there

7695-510: The responsibility along with the IAF to transport Special Frontier Force (SFF) commandos from their trans-location at Sarsawa, 250 km north of New Delhi , though the SFF's own base is in Chakrata in Uttarakhand. The United States supplied surveillance equipment to Aviation Research Centre to spy on China's nuclear programme and naval assets from 1962. In 1999 during the Kargil War , after

7790-920: The subcontinent. During the 1950s, the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Indian Intelligence Bureau (IB) established Mustang Base in Mustang in Nepal, which trained Tibetans in guerilla warfare . The Mustang rebels brought the 14th Dalai Lama to India during the 1959 Tibetan Rebellion . Former CIA officer John Kennet Knaus who worked in Tibet credited IB Chief Bhola Nath Mullik for SFF formation. According to A Tom Grunfeld, Professor of History at State University of New York , 12,000 Tibetans were trained by United States Army Special Forces and partly funded by Federal government of

7885-516: The turbulent years after the war and (the Fascist Party took pride in this and adopted the style and the mannerism of Arditi), but some of left-wing political persuasions created the " Arditi del Popolo " (People's Arditi) and for some years held the fascist raids in check, defending Socialist and Communist Party sections, buildings, rallies and meeting places. The Australian Army formed commando units, known as Australian independent companies in

7980-562: The unit had received letter of commendation from Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee . In 2004/08/07, intelligence reports kept indicating that China was preparing to test a nuclear weapon at its Lop Nor nuclear installation in Xinjiang . On 16 October 1964 China did indeed test a nuclear weapon in Xinjiang. It was expected, but not enough details were known. Later in November 1964, the CIA launched

8075-569: The unit lacked artillery support and airlift capabilities to conduct a mission of such magnitude. After three weeks of border fighting, the SFF divided its six battalions into three columns and moved into East Pakistan on 3 December 1971. The Tibetans were given mortars and recoilless rifles and two Mil Mi-4 helicopters of the Indian Air Force , and captured several villages in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The air-operations were handled by Aviation Research Centre (ARC) at Balasore . On

8170-612: The word entered the English language , retaining its general Afrikaans meaning of a "militia unit" or a "raid". Robert Baden-Powell recognised the importance of fieldcraft and was inspired to form the scouting movement. In 1941, Lieutenant-Colonel D. W. Clarke of the British Imperial General Staff, suggested the name commando for specialized raiding units of the British Army Special Service in evocation of

8265-425: Was a type of combat unit, as opposed to an individual in that unit. In other languages, commando and kommando denote a " command ", including the sense of a military or an elite special operations unit. In the militaries and governments of most countries, commandos are distinctive in that they specialize in unconventional assault on high-value targets . In English, to distinguish between an individual commando and

8360-562: Was able to block potential escape route for East Pakistani forces into Burma . They also halted members of Pakistan's 97th Independent Brigade and 2nd Commando Battalion at the Chittagong Hill Tracts. For their bravery and courage, 580 SFF Task Force members were awarded cash prizes by the Union Government of India . Their swift covert capabilities won the force the nickname Phantoms of Chittagong . SFF participated in Kargil War for which

8455-960: Was called the Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces of Kure 101st, Sasebo 101st and 102nd. New Zealand formed the Southern Independent Commando in Fiji 1942. Cichociemni ( Polish pronunciation: [t͡ɕixɔˈt͡ɕɛmɲi] ; the "Silent Unseen") were elite special-operations paratroopers of the Polish Army in exile , created in Great Britain during World War II to operate in occupied Poland ( Cichociemni Spadochroniarze Armii Krajowej ). Voyennaya Razvyedka (Razvedchiki Scouts) are "Military intelligence" personnel/units within larger formations in ground troops, airborne troops and marines. Intelligence battalion in

8550-497: Was called the "Commando System". A group of mounted militiamen was organized in a unit known as a commando and headed by a commandant , who was normally elected from inside the unit. Men called up to serve were said to be "on commando". British experience with this system led to the widespread adoption of the word " commandeer " into English in the 1880s. During the Great Trek , conflicts with Southern African peoples such as

8645-767: Was conducted by the Intelligence Bureau Special Operations Unit. Both R&AW and the CIA helped in raising the force. During the same period, the Indian government also formed the Ladakh Scouts and the Nubra Guards paramilitary forces on similar lines. Many SFF members were also absorbed from the Gurkha Rifles. SFF was later incorporated into the Special Services Bureau . By late 1963, inter-service rivalry led to severe criticism by

8740-512: Was deployed to conduct pre-emptive strike to support the Indian Army formations along the Chittagong Hill Tracts and to train the local underground unit called Mujib Bahini . With cross-border attacks becoming more frequent, SFF was ordered to attack the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The Bangladeshi campaign was designated Operation Mountain Eagle , and SFF members were given Bulgarian AK-47s and US-made carbines . This operation saw

8835-452: Was part of major combat operations during the Bangladesh Liberation War . In April 1971, Eastern Command initiated Operation Instruction 52 . SFF was tasked to conduct unconventional warfare , rally the people of East Pakistan in support of the liberation movement and damage the logistics capability of Pakistan Army . From late October to November 1971, elements of the force were sent to Mizoram . Around 3,000 members from SFF Task Force

8930-613: Was raised with covert operations in mind, mainly along the Indo-China border; however, SFF has been fielded by the R&AW and the Indian government in various covert and overt operation theatres. Deputy leader Tenzin Norbu was posthumously honored by 119 Infantry Battalion of Territorial Army from Assam Regiment and awarded a memento from the Government of India, signed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his service at Siachen glacier. SFF

9025-422: Was the historical parallel far-fetched. After the victories of Roberts and Kitchener had scattered the Boer army, the guerrilla tactics of its individual units (which were styled 'Commandos')... prevented decisive victory.... His [sc. Lt.-Col. D. W. Clarke's] ideas were accepted; so also, with some hesitation, was the name Commando. During World War II , newspaper reports of the deeds of "the commandos" only in

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