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They had to learn so that they could be deployed effectively in the high mountains in Afghanistan.
Indian Special Forces (archived)
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Here is a real life story of SF in Iraq:
'Betrayed and abandoned behind enemy lines': Special forces captain breaks silence over disastrous mission at start of the Iraq war
...........
Travelling in lightly-armoured Land Rovers, his pathfinder unit had been sent to assess an airfield hundreds of kilometres north of British positions to determine if it was suitable for an airborne insertion of paratroopers.
Although they had been given intelligence reports claiming the area was free from enemy units they found it was actually swarming with hostile troops.
Realising they were trapped, they called in for air support but were told nothing was available. Their only option was to fight their way out.
After numerous skirmishes with the enemy they eventually made it back, their vehicles riddled with bullet holes. The unit earned two Military Crosses.
Army code requires that soldiers never reveal details of such operations to the public and for nine years Captain Blakeley kept the disastrous mission a secret.
Captain Blakeley's team of six Pathfinders and three Royal Engineers were sent across the American front line to Qalat Sikar airfield - 120km north of Nasiriyah in the south east of the country.
Nasiriyah had seen the US Marine advance thwarted and 29 men lost after they encountered unexpectedly strong resistance from the Republican Guard.
As they reached the city, the Brits, in their three Land Rovers armed with six machine guns, had just 12 hours to complete their mission.
They quickly moved across the front line encountering dozens of shell-shocked American Marines and soon found themselves surrounded by enemy forces and fire from all sides.
Realising they were boxed in from all sides they decided their only option was to call for air support.
Captain Bleakley explained: 'I was told instantly by a senior officer there was no air.
'It was like swallowing acid. It was crushing, devastating. We were totally on our own, abandoned.'
After fighting their way back through five ambushes, they finally arrived at the American position where they passed on grid references of all the Iraqi units they had encountered.
Captain Bleakely added: 'The mission had failed but we had done our damnedest.
When I thought of these amazing guys and what we had contributed to the intelligence picture, I was shaking with anger.'
'Betrayed and abandoned behind enemy lines': Army captain breaks silence over disastrous mission at start of the Iraq war | Mail Online
'Betrayed and abandoned behind enemy lines': Special forces captain breaks silence over disastrous mission at start of the Iraq war
...........
Travelling in lightly-armoured Land Rovers, his pathfinder unit had been sent to assess an airfield hundreds of kilometres north of British positions to determine if it was suitable for an airborne insertion of paratroopers.
Although they had been given intelligence reports claiming the area was free from enemy units they found it was actually swarming with hostile troops.
Realising they were trapped, they called in for air support but were told nothing was available. Their only option was to fight their way out.
After numerous skirmishes with the enemy they eventually made it back, their vehicles riddled with bullet holes. The unit earned two Military Crosses.
Army code requires that soldiers never reveal details of such operations to the public and for nine years Captain Blakeley kept the disastrous mission a secret.
Captain Blakeley's team of six Pathfinders and three Royal Engineers were sent across the American front line to Qalat Sikar airfield - 120km north of Nasiriyah in the south east of the country.
Nasiriyah had seen the US Marine advance thwarted and 29 men lost after they encountered unexpectedly strong resistance from the Republican Guard.
As they reached the city, the Brits, in their three Land Rovers armed with six machine guns, had just 12 hours to complete their mission.
They quickly moved across the front line encountering dozens of shell-shocked American Marines and soon found themselves surrounded by enemy forces and fire from all sides.
Realising they were boxed in from all sides they decided their only option was to call for air support.
Captain Bleakley explained: 'I was told instantly by a senior officer there was no air.
'It was like swallowing acid. It was crushing, devastating. We were totally on our own, abandoned.'
After fighting their way back through five ambushes, they finally arrived at the American position where they passed on grid references of all the Iraqi units they had encountered.
Captain Bleakely added: 'The mission had failed but we had done our damnedest.
When I thought of these amazing guys and what we had contributed to the intelligence picture, I was shaking with anger.'
'Betrayed and abandoned behind enemy lines': Army captain breaks silence over disastrous mission at start of the Iraq war | Mail Online
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The only thing I can guess is that they having experience in Afghanistan would be able to understand the issues better when comparing it with India.
As you know that they do a series of tours of duty in Afghanistan.
Taskforce pushes for special operations command.
NEW DELHI: India urgently needs a Special Operations Command (SOC), which brings together disparate special forces of the Army, Navy, IAF and other agencies under a unified command and control structure in order to execute strategic or politico-military operations in tune with national security objectives.
Experts say the government must no longer dither in creating the SOC, one of the key recommendations of the 14-member Naresh Chandra taskforce report submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on May 23, since the country needs to strengthen its clandestine and "unconventional" warfare capabilities to effectively tackle the challenges ahead.
"The threat of full-blown conventional wars may be receding but the spectre of terrorism, irregular, asymmetrical or fourth-generation warfare is looming large. Inadequately equipped Indian special forces are wallowing in merely tactical roles, often pulling in different directions,'' said a senior officer.
"The SOC, which will be more relevant in peace than war, should be a critical element in India's preparedness to handle non-traditional threats and out-of-area contingencies. Our special forces need unity of command as well as proper structuring, modernization and tasking for effective covert operations and counter-terror,'' he added.
The idea for a SOC is of course not startlingly new, much like many other recommendations of the taskforce report that call for more effective integration of the three Service HQs with the defence ministry, revamp of the entire intelligence system and rapid infrastructure development to meet external and internal security challenges, as was earlier reported by TOI.
But the first anniversary this month of the flawless operation by the American Navy Seals (under the United States SOC that works closely with CIA) to take out Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad last year has only served to reinforce it.
The taskforce report, on its part, stresses the Indian special forces are not being utilized to their full potential. They need to be brought together under the SOC, which would report directly to the chiefs of staff committee (CoSC), it says.
Indian special forces like Para-SF (Army), Marine Commandos (Navy), Garuds (IAF), Special Frontier Force (cabinet secretariat) and National Security Guards (home ministry), among others, currently report to different masters and ministries.
Interestingly, the committee's report has also recommended the creation of a permanent post of CoSC chairman, without impacting the autonomy of the Army, Navy and IAF chiefs who constitute the panel as of now. At present, the seniormost of the three services also wear the CoSC chairman's hat.
This is not too different from the 2001 Group of Ministers' report on "reforming the national security system" after the Kargil conflict, which had also recommended a chief of defence staff (CDS) to provide single-point military advice to the government.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...l-operations-command/articleshow/13545062.cms
NEW DELHI: India urgently needs a Special Operations Command (SOC), which brings together disparate special forces of the Army, Navy, IAF and other agencies under a unified command and control structure in order to execute strategic or politico-military operations in tune with national security objectives.
Experts say the government must no longer dither in creating the SOC, one of the key recommendations of the 14-member Naresh Chandra taskforce report submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on May 23, since the country needs to strengthen its clandestine and "unconventional" warfare capabilities to effectively tackle the challenges ahead.
"The threat of full-blown conventional wars may be receding but the spectre of terrorism, irregular, asymmetrical or fourth-generation warfare is looming large. Inadequately equipped Indian special forces are wallowing in merely tactical roles, often pulling in different directions,'' said a senior officer.
"The SOC, which will be more relevant in peace than war, should be a critical element in India's preparedness to handle non-traditional threats and out-of-area contingencies. Our special forces need unity of command as well as proper structuring, modernization and tasking for effective covert operations and counter-terror,'' he added.
The idea for a SOC is of course not startlingly new, much like many other recommendations of the taskforce report that call for more effective integration of the three Service HQs with the defence ministry, revamp of the entire intelligence system and rapid infrastructure development to meet external and internal security challenges, as was earlier reported by TOI.
But the first anniversary this month of the flawless operation by the American Navy Seals (under the United States SOC that works closely with CIA) to take out Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad last year has only served to reinforce it.
The taskforce report, on its part, stresses the Indian special forces are not being utilized to their full potential. They need to be brought together under the SOC, which would report directly to the chiefs of staff committee (CoSC), it says.
Indian special forces like Para-SF (Army), Marine Commandos (Navy), Garuds (IAF), Special Frontier Force (cabinet secretariat) and National Security Guards (home ministry), among others, currently report to different masters and ministries.
Interestingly, the committee's report has also recommended the creation of a permanent post of CoSC chairman, without impacting the autonomy of the Army, Navy and IAF chiefs who constitute the panel as of now. At present, the seniormost of the three services also wear the CoSC chairman's hat.
This is not too different from the 2001 Group of Ministers' report on "reforming the national security system" after the Kargil conflict, which had also recommended a chief of defence staff (CDS) to provide single-point military advice to the government.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...l-operations-command/articleshow/13545062.cms
Panel favours unified command for special forces .
NEW DELHI: India urgently needs a Special Operations Command (SOC), which brings together disparate special forces of the Army, Navy, IAF and other agencies under a unified command and control structure in order to execute strategic or politico-military operations in tune with national security objectives.
Experts say the government must no longer dither in creating the SOC, one of the key recommendations of the 14-member Naresh Chandra taskforce report submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on May 23, since the country needs to strengthen its clandestine and "unconventional" warfare capabilities to effectively tackle the challenges ahead.
"The threat of full-blown conventional wars may be receding but the spectre of terrorism, irregular, asymmetrical or fourth-generation warfare is looming large. Inadequately equipped Indian special forces are The Naresh Chandra report says special forces are not being used to their full potential. They need to be brought together under the Special Ops Command, which would report directly to the chiefs of staff committee and tasking for effective covert operations and counter-terror ,'' he added.
The idea for a SOC is of course not startlingly new, much like many other recommendations of the taskforce report that call for more effective integration of the three Service HQs with the defence ministry, revamp of the entire intelligence system and rapid infrastructure development to meet external and internal security challenges , as was earlier reported by TOI.
But the first anniversary this month of the flawless operation by the American Navy Seals (under the United States SOC that works closely with CIA) to take out Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad last year has only served to reinforce it. The taskforce report, on its part, stresses the Indian special forces are not being utilized to their full potential. They need to be brought together under the SOC, which would report directly to the chiefs of staff committee (CoSC), it says.
Indian special forces like Para-SF (Army), Marine Commandos (Navy), Garuds (IAF), Special Frontier Force (cabinet secretariat) and National Security Guards (home ministry), among others, currently report to different masters and ministries.
Interestingly, the committee's report has also recommended the creation of a permanent post of CoSC chairman, without impacting the autonomy of the Army, Navy and IAF chiefs who constitute the panel as of now. At present, the seniormost of the three services also wear the CoSC chairman's hat.
This is not too different from the 2001 Group of Ministers' report on "reforming the national security system" after the Kargil conflict, which had also recommended a chief of defence staff (CDS) to provide single-point military advice to the government.
The CDS was also to manage the country's nuclear arsenal as well as bring 'jointness' or synergy among Army, Navy and IAF by resolving inter-Service doctrinal, planning, procurement and operational issues.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...d-for-special-forces/articleshow/13543955.cms
NEW DELHI: India urgently needs a Special Operations Command (SOC), which brings together disparate special forces of the Army, Navy, IAF and other agencies under a unified command and control structure in order to execute strategic or politico-military operations in tune with national security objectives.
Experts say the government must no longer dither in creating the SOC, one of the key recommendations of the 14-member Naresh Chandra taskforce report submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on May 23, since the country needs to strengthen its clandestine and "unconventional" warfare capabilities to effectively tackle the challenges ahead.
"The threat of full-blown conventional wars may be receding but the spectre of terrorism, irregular, asymmetrical or fourth-generation warfare is looming large. Inadequately equipped Indian special forces are The Naresh Chandra report says special forces are not being used to their full potential. They need to be brought together under the Special Ops Command, which would report directly to the chiefs of staff committee and tasking for effective covert operations and counter-terror ,'' he added.
The idea for a SOC is of course not startlingly new, much like many other recommendations of the taskforce report that call for more effective integration of the three Service HQs with the defence ministry, revamp of the entire intelligence system and rapid infrastructure development to meet external and internal security challenges , as was earlier reported by TOI.
But the first anniversary this month of the flawless operation by the American Navy Seals (under the United States SOC that works closely with CIA) to take out Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad last year has only served to reinforce it. The taskforce report, on its part, stresses the Indian special forces are not being utilized to their full potential. They need to be brought together under the SOC, which would report directly to the chiefs of staff committee (CoSC), it says.
Indian special forces like Para-SF (Army), Marine Commandos (Navy), Garuds (IAF), Special Frontier Force (cabinet secretariat) and National Security Guards (home ministry), among others, currently report to different masters and ministries.
Interestingly, the committee's report has also recommended the creation of a permanent post of CoSC chairman, without impacting the autonomy of the Army, Navy and IAF chiefs who constitute the panel as of now. At present, the seniormost of the three services also wear the CoSC chairman's hat.
This is not too different from the 2001 Group of Ministers' report on "reforming the national security system" after the Kargil conflict, which had also recommended a chief of defence staff (CDS) to provide single-point military advice to the government.
The CDS was also to manage the country's nuclear arsenal as well as bring 'jointness' or synergy among Army, Navy and IAF by resolving inter-Service doctrinal, planning, procurement and operational issues.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...d-for-special-forces/articleshow/13543955.cms
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Does one successful operation by SEALs mean India should emulate US SOC? More thought should be given to the implications of a major change to Indian Armed Forces and their missions. Does India need soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen, or does it need "operators"?
No, it was the Mumbai attacks that raised the issue of a unified command. India don't need marines, not the USMC kind anyway. SF is one thing our enemies don't have an answer for. On our Eastern border we have a "People's army" whose SF didn't fired a single shot in anger since it's inception (not counting the unarmed Tibetans) and our western border we have a SF that got captured by Punjab police and local villagers in 1965.
Indian SF are second to none, for what they lack in gear and tech they make it up with their guts and wits. Siachin, RR in Kashmir and more recently Kargil are some very good examples.
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NSG to pull out 900 commandos from VIP security for counterterror operations training
NEW DELHI: For the first time in many years, the country's elite counterterror force NSG has decided to pull out its over 900 commandos rendering VIP security duties and put them to perform specialist counterterror and counterhijack operations.
The 'black cat' commandos of the National Security Guard (NSG) are segregated into five units, two special action groups (SAGs) manned by officers and jawans from the Army and three SRGs (Special Rangers Groups) comprising personnel from paramilitary forces.
While each of the two SAGs (51 and 52) are tasked for counter-terror and counter-hijack operations respectively, the SRGs (11,12 and 13) render logistical support to the SAGs during operations and are deployed for guarding high-risk VIPs/VVIPs.
Each unit has about 900 personnel. According to the new blueprint prepared by the commando force under its last director general Rajan K Medhekar, the 11 SRG will be taken out from its present task and converted into a regular SAG-like unit for undertaking specific counter-terror operations.
The new NSG chief Subhash Joshi has also put his officers on job to accomplish the task.
Sources privy to the development said the contingency force, with 15 VIPs/VVIPs under its security cover at present, has the lowest number of protectees after many years and the force decided to use this opportunity to return to its original charter of performing counter-terror, counter-hijack, hostage rescue and sky-marshalling duties onboard aircrafts.
"Two SRGs are enough for catering to the present number of protectees," they said.
NSG was raised under an Act of the Parliament in 1984 as a federal contingency force.
The commandos of the SRG unit will now be given extensive training in counter-terror operations by the Force Commander and IG (Training), both Brigadier and Major General rank officials of the NSG based at its garrison at Manesar in Gurgaon near here.
The plan, according to sources, is to raise this squad by next year and once the training is done the commandos of this new unit would only perform combatterror operations.
"Considering NSG's expansion to the new hubs and keeping in mind the emerging trends in terrorism, the force needs more strength of commandos to undertake counterterror operations," a senior NSG official said.
NSG commanders, according to the blueprint, foresee an event where simultaneous attacks could be launched at multiple centres in the country and then the commandos will have to be rushed in different directions.
"The 26/11 Mumbai attack involved about 400 commandos in three days. Considering we have multiple terror hits at one go, we need to have a good number of fighting commandos and some in the reserves to replace them," they said.
The force also expects that with central paramilitary forces like CRPF, CISF and ITBP increasingly taking the load of VIP security, it could, in some more time, cull out the 12 SRG in a similar fashion to be deployed for counterterror operations.
http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/14552227.cms
NEW DELHI: For the first time in many years, the country's elite counterterror force NSG has decided to pull out its over 900 commandos rendering VIP security duties and put them to perform specialist counterterror and counterhijack operations.
The 'black cat' commandos of the National Security Guard (NSG) are segregated into five units, two special action groups (SAGs) manned by officers and jawans from the Army and three SRGs (Special Rangers Groups) comprising personnel from paramilitary forces.
While each of the two SAGs (51 and 52) are tasked for counter-terror and counter-hijack operations respectively, the SRGs (11,12 and 13) render logistical support to the SAGs during operations and are deployed for guarding high-risk VIPs/VVIPs.
Each unit has about 900 personnel. According to the new blueprint prepared by the commando force under its last director general Rajan K Medhekar, the 11 SRG will be taken out from its present task and converted into a regular SAG-like unit for undertaking specific counter-terror operations.
The new NSG chief Subhash Joshi has also put his officers on job to accomplish the task.
Sources privy to the development said the contingency force, with 15 VIPs/VVIPs under its security cover at present, has the lowest number of protectees after many years and the force decided to use this opportunity to return to its original charter of performing counter-terror, counter-hijack, hostage rescue and sky-marshalling duties onboard aircrafts.
"Two SRGs are enough for catering to the present number of protectees," they said.
NSG was raised under an Act of the Parliament in 1984 as a federal contingency force.
The commandos of the SRG unit will now be given extensive training in counter-terror operations by the Force Commander and IG (Training), both Brigadier and Major General rank officials of the NSG based at its garrison at Manesar in Gurgaon near here.
The plan, according to sources, is to raise this squad by next year and once the training is done the commandos of this new unit would only perform combatterror operations.
"Considering NSG's expansion to the new hubs and keeping in mind the emerging trends in terrorism, the force needs more strength of commandos to undertake counterterror operations," a senior NSG official said.
NSG commanders, according to the blueprint, foresee an event where simultaneous attacks could be launched at multiple centres in the country and then the commandos will have to be rushed in different directions.
"The 26/11 Mumbai attack involved about 400 commandos in three days. Considering we have multiple terror hits at one go, we need to have a good number of fighting commandos and some in the reserves to replace them," they said.
The force also expects that with central paramilitary forces like CRPF, CISF and ITBP increasingly taking the load of VIP security, it could, in some more time, cull out the 12 SRG in a similar fashion to be deployed for counterterror operations.
http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/14552227.cms
agentperry
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Re: NSG to pull out 900 commandos from VIP security for counterterror operations trai
what germany and france does with 90 and 210 soldiers respectively all over the globe nsg takes 10000 soldiers and still fails to deliver the result with in india. why?
what germany and france does with 90 and 210 soldiers respectively all over the globe nsg takes 10000 soldiers and still fails to deliver the result with in india. why?
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10,000 soldiers? The title says 900. India is a vast country and faces greater threats than Germany and France.
India also has a nearly a 1.5 million strong army while Germany and France have about 300,000 each if not less.
Re: NSG to pull out 900 commandos from VIP security for counterterror operations trai
Not all of the 10,000 are commandos. There are two battalions of SAG and three of SRG of which one will be converted to SAG as mentioned in the article. Rest belongs to admin and other jobs required to run this kind of organization.
So guys any news on the two new battalions of next gen commandos which were to be raised?
Not really a good analogy. NSG was created to counter anymore blue star like situations and proved to be a success. I don't think that handful of German or French commandos can claim to subdue more than 200 terrorists in a single operation. They are not facing active insurgencies neither they are prone to terrorism. They are very good at small scale operations and NSG is very good at large scale operations.
Not all of the 10,000 are commandos. There are two battalions of SAG and three of SRG of which one will be converted to SAG as mentioned in the article. Rest belongs to admin and other jobs required to run this kind of organization.
So guys any news on the two new battalions of next gen commandos which were to be raised?
sob
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Re: NSG to pull out 900 commandos from VIP security for counterterror operations trai
Good decision finally. there should be a debate in the public domain on the level of security being provided to a few hundred people. I am sure that on this front a few thousand crores are being spent annually.
Good decision finally. there should be a debate in the public domain on the level of security being provided to a few hundred people. I am sure that on this front a few thousand crores are being spent annually.
SPB. The only time I have seen Marcos on guard duty was during the visit of Obama. I don't think that commissioning of a frigate is of equal importance. IMO
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