The Black Swans ( bs, Crni labudovi) was a special forces unit within the

Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( bs, Armija Republike Bosne i Hercegovine or ARBiH), often referred to as Bosnian Army, was the military force of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was established by the government of ...

. It was a Patriotic League unit formed in 1992 in

Sapna Sapna is a town and municipality located in Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. History People have lived in the Sapna region since the earliest days. In the Middle Ages, Sapna was an im ...

, under the 2nd Corps (later 1st Corps) which eventually numbered 800 men. It earned a reputation for battlefield bravery. The first commander, Senad Mehdin Hodžić, was a former member of the Special anti-terrorist unit of the Yugoslav Ministry of Internal Affairs ( MUP). When he took command of the Black Swans, he would be known as "Kapetan Labud" or Captain Swan. Captain Hajro Mešić then went on to take the commanding position for a while. The most successful and lasting commander was Brigadier Hase Tirić. The Black Swans' areas of operation included

Konjic Konjic ( sr-Cyrl, Коњиц) is a city and municipality located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in northern Herzegovina, around southwest of Sarajevo. ...

Igman Igman ( sr-cyrl, Игман, ) is a mountain plateau in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. Geologically, Igman is part of the Dinaric Alps and formed largely of secondary and tertiary sedimentary rock, mostly Limestone. It is located southwest of Sa ...

and Jablanica. The Black Swans wore black and/or woodland camouflage uniforms (of Bosnian, US or commercial origin) and with their unit patch worn on a black brassard on the right sleeve with the

ARBIH The Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( bs, Armija Republike Bosne i Hercegovine or ARBiH), often referred to as Bosnian Army, was the military force of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was established by the government of ...

patch sometimes worn on the left sleeve. However, some members wore the Black Swans patch on their left sleeve (on a black brassard), pinned to one of the chest pockets or even pinned on their vests instead. Also, civilian clothing (t-shirts, sneakers, caps) items seems to have been common as well. A wide array of berets, scarves, headbands, bandanas, black watch caps, camouflage caps and civilian caps (trucker caps in black or black and white seems to have been common) were worn as well. Green headbands with the Shahadah in Arabic can also be seen. US surplus M1 helmets complete with

ERDL pattern The ERDL pattern, also known as the Leaf pattern, is a camouflage pattern developed by the United States Army at its Engineer Research & Development Laboratories (ERDL) in 1948. It was not used until the Vietnam War, when it was issued to elite r ...

or M81

U.S. Woodland The U.S. Woodland is a camouflage pattern that was used as the default camouflage pattern issued to the United States Armed Forces from 1981, with the issue of the Battle Dress Uniform, until its replacement in the mid to late 2000s. It is a four ...

helmet covers were also common. Many fighters of the unit also fought with bare heads. The vests used were mostly of Bosnian army origin in OD or woodland, as well as some M1956 flak vests as well as the odd Croatian mesh vest (rare, but sometimes seen). Various types of civilian or military black flak vests and tactical vests were also used. Other equipment were usually of ex-JNA, NATO or commercial origin. In contrast with the uniformed and tactical look of the post-war Black Swans association, the war-time Black Swans were a rag-tag looking force – sourcing uniforms and equipment wherever they could find it, much like the rest of the Bosnian armed forces. A selection of the armament used by the unit:

Zastava M70 The Zastava M70 ( sr-Cyrl, Застава М70) is a 7.62x39mm assault rifle. Developed in Yugoslavia by Zastava Arms during the 1960s, the M70 was an unlicensed derivative of the Soviet AK-47 (specifically the Type 3 variant). It became the st ...

Zastava M84 The Zastava M84 is a general-purpose machine gun manufactured by Zastava Arms. It is a gas-operated, air-cooled, belt-fed and fully automatic shoulder-fired weapon. The M84 is a clone of the Soviet PKM, one difference being in the stock, which ...

Heckler & Koch MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (german: Maschinenpistole 5) is a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. There are over 100 variants and clones of the MP5, ...

Heckler & Koch G3 The Heckler & Koch G3 (''Gewehr'' 3) is a 7.62×51mm NATO, select-fire battle rifle developed in the 1950s by the German armament manufacturer Heckler & Koch (H&K) in collaboration with the Spanish state-owned design and development agency CET ...

FN FAL The FAL (a French acronym for (English: "Light Automatic Rifle")), is a battle rifle designed in Belgium by Dieudonné Saive and manufactured by FN Herstal (simply known as FN). During the Cold War the FAL was adopted by many countries of th ...

AKM The AKM () is an assault rifle designed by Soviet small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1959. It is the most ubiquitous rifle of the Kalashnikov rifles. It was developed as a replacement to the AK-47 introduced a decade prior. Introduced ...

FAMAS The FAMAS (''Fusil d'Assaut de la Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne'', "Assault Rifle from the Saint-Étienne Weapon Factory") is a bullpup assault rifle designed and manufactured in France by MAS in 1978, a year after the Austrian Steyr ...

, and

Milkor MGL The Milkor MGL (Multiple Grenade Launcher) is a lightweight 40 mm six-shot revolver-type grenade launcher (variations also fire 37/38mm) developed and manufactured in South Africa by Milkor (Pty) Ltd. The MGL was demonstrated as a concept to the ...

References

Bosniak history Military units and formations of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina {{BosniaHerzegovina-hist-stub Military units and formations established in 1992 Military units and formations disestablished in 1998