2 Reconnaissance Regiment was the
Active Citizen Force
The South African Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Servi ...
unit of the
South African Special Forces
Insurgency in Cabo Delgado, The South African Special Forces Brigade, colloquially known as the Recces, is South Africa's principal Special forces, special operations unit, specialising in various types of operations including; counter-insurge ...
. Its part-time service personnel formed part of the
reserve component
The reserve components of the United States Armed Forces are military organizations whose members generally perform a minimum of 39 days of military duty per year and who augment the active duty (or full-time) military when necessary. The reserv ...
of the
South African Defence Force
The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence F ...
.
History
This unit was established in Pretoria as 2 Reconnaissance Commando in 1974
from what had been called the
Hunter Group
The Hunter Group was South Africa's first special forces unit and counter-insurgency elite formed in 1968, with members of the unit forming and training later special forces and other specialised units of the South African Army.
History
Hunte ...
.
This was a group of Citizen Force soldiers who, under the auspices of the
South African Irish Regiment
The Andrew Mlangeni Regiment (formerly South African Irish Regiment) is a reserve infantry regiment of the South African Army.
History Origins
Although all the regular units of Irish origin in the British Army have served in South Africa at s ...
,
had started arranging specialised training.
They were eventually formalised into 2 Reconnaissance Regiment mostly at the insistence of Brigadier G.W. Germishuizen, then Commanding Officer of
Witwatersrand Command
The Witwatersrand Command was a Command of the South African Army. It was one of the ten regional commands, which, with the Walvis Bay Military Area, made up the Territorial Force.
History Origin
Based in Johannesburg, it was responsible for t ...
.
Later, its complement comprised Operators and personnel who had retired from active military duty to pursue civilian careers, but who could be, and were willing to be, called up to perform Special Forces operations when such a need arose.
The Regiment performed extremely well in all the operations in which it took part,
beginning with their first operational deployment at the start of
Operation Savannah (Angola)
Operation Savannah was the South African code name for their military incursion into Angola in 1975–1976. It was part of the South African Border War and arose due to the Angolan War of Independence. The operation also materially influenced ...
.
This was especially significant as the Operators would be called up from their civilian occupations on very short notice, and would have to make the transformation from a civilian occupation in South Africa to performing Special Forces Operators functions in a remote war zone in only a few days.
Its total strength was 2-3000 but its operational strength only a few hundred.
In 1981, 2 Reconnaissance Commando
was re-designated as 2 Reconnaissance Regiment
and continued to carry out its Special Forces activities until 1992, when, as part of the process of rationalisation, it was disbanded.
All Special Forces Operators and Support Staff who are retired, but are willing to be called up to assist Special Forces when required, now fall under the Special Forces Reserve and join the strengths of the existing Regiments as and when required.
Commanding officers
The unit's only commanding officer was:
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Regimental Sergeants Major
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See also
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References
External links
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Special forces of South Africa
Defunct organisations based in South Africa
Disbanded military units and formations in Pretoria
Military units and formations of South Africa in the Border War
Military units and formations established in 1974
Military units and formations disestablished in 1992
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