) , type =

Special forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equi ...

, role = , size = Classified , command_structure = , current_commander = Colonel Brage Andreas Larssen , garrison = Rena leir , ceremonial_chief = , colonel_of_the_regiment = , nickname = , patron = , motto = Thoroughness provides security , colors = , march = , mascot = , battles =

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

Bosnian war The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

1995 Kidnapping of western tourists in Kashmir

Kosovo war The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

Operation Allied Force
Operation Joint Guardian

Incident at Pristina airport A confrontation between Russian forces and NATO forces over the Pristina International Airport occurred on 12 June 1999, in the aftermath of the Kosovo War. Russian troops occupied the airport ahead of a NATO deployment, resulting in a tense st ...

2001 Macedonia conflict The 2001 insurgency in Macedonia was an armed conflict which began when the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army (NLA) militant group, formed from veterans of the Kosovo War and Insurgency in the Preševo Valley, attacked Macedonian se ...

Operation Essential Harvest Operation Essential Harvest (or Task Force Harvest) was a deployment mission in the Republic of Macedonia by NATO, officially launched on August 22, 2001, and effectively started on August 27. Because national contributions were larger than expecte ...

Task Force K-Bar Task Force K-Bar, originally the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-South (CJSOTF-South), was led by the United States and composed of special operations forces from seven nations. It undertook the first major ground deployment in the ...

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 a ...

Operation Anaconda Operation Anaconda was a military operation that took place in early March 2002 as part of the War in Afghanistan. CIA paramilitary officers, working with their allies, attempted to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban forces. The operation took plac ...

Operation Jacana Operation Jacana is the codename for a series of operations carried out by coalition forces in Afghanistan. The operations were carried out most notably by 45 Commando Royal Marines. U.S. forces, Australian SAS and Norwegian FSK also particip ...

Uzbin Valley ambush French International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops were ambushed by Afghan Taliban insurgents, with heavy casualties, in the Uzbin Valley outside the village of Spēṟ Kunday of the Surobi District of Kabul province in eastern Afgha ...

(after action only)
Operation Pickaxe-Handle
Release of hostage Christina Meier
April 2012 Afghanistan attacks
Hostage incident at Qargha Reservoir / Lake Qara june 2012

Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield was NATO's contribution to Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa (OEF-HOA), an anti-piracy initiative in the Indian Ocean, Guardafui Channel, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea. It follows the earlier Operation Al ...

Operation Atalanta
Destruction of Syria's chemical weapons

May 2020 Afghanistan attacks In May 2020, a series of insurgent attacks took place in Afghanistan, starting when the Taliban killed 20 Afghan soldiers and wounded 29 others in Zari, Balkh and Grishk, Helmand on 1 and 3 May, respectively. On 12 May, a hospital's materni ...

* Only a small selection of engagements / missions * , anniversaries = , decorations =

Army Presidential Unit Citation , identification_symbol =

Maroon beret The maroon beret in a military configuration has been an international symbol of airborne forces since the Second World War. It was first officially introduced by the British Army in 1942, at the direction of Major-General Frederick "Boy" B ...

, identification_symbol_label = Headdress Forsvarets Spesialkommando (FSK) (Special Operations Commando) is a special operations forces unit of the Norwegian Special Operation Forces ( no, Forsvarets Spesialstyrker). The unit was established in 1982Monica Rikoll
Forsvarets spesialkommando feiret 50-års-jubileum

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...

, 1 September 2012, due to the increased risk of

terrorist activity Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

against Norwegian interests, including the

oil platform An oil platform (or oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, and similar terms) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platfor ...

s in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...

. On 1 January 2014, the Norwegian Special Operation Command (NORSOCOM), was established uniting the FSK and the Naval Special Operation Command ( no, Marinejegerkommandoen) (MJK) under the command in the Norwegian Armed Forces. In 2014, FSK established an all female unit Jegertroppen (Jeger Troop).

Introduction

Very little is known publicly about FSK, as the Norwegian government denied their existence and participation in any military operations for a long time. Some details have however emerged after FSK's participation in

in Afghanistan. The establishment of FSK was briefly mentioned in an article in the Norwegian newspaper, ''

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 milli ...

'', in 1983. During a hijacking in Norway in 1985, it was reported that FSK operatives had been put on alert in their base at Trandum, but not requested to assist in any action. A proposal to disband the FSK in 1988, as a financial measure, was met with protests, especially from the oil industry and the military. The plan was shelved after much media attention. ''Aftenposten'' reported on the unit as a "special military command composed of highly trained operators from ''

Hærens Jegerkommando Hærens Jegerkommando was a special forces unit of the Norwegian military. It was the armed forces competence centre for commando, airborne and counter terrorist duty in the Norwegian Army. Its headquarters were located 30 kilometres nort ...

'' at Trandum and '' Marinejegerkommandoen'', in addition to other specialists. The first time FSK was publicly mentioned by a representative of the armed forces, was in connection with the hijacking of SAS Flight 347 at

Gardermoen Airport Oslo Airport ( no, Oslo lufthavn; ), alternatively referred to as Oslo Gardermoen Airport or simply Gardermoen, is the international airport serving Oslo, Norway, the capital and most populous city in the country. A hub for Flyr, Norse Atla ...

in September 1993. The following year, the magazine '' Vi Menn'' published an article about the FSK. In 1990 the FSK was also mentioned in a research paper: "The Armed Forces' Special Command (FSK) is specially trained to be used in the event of terrorist attacks against oil installations - especially hijacking situations." FSK's existence was only publicly acknowledged by the

Norwegian Armed Forces The Norwegian Armed Forces ( no, Forsvaret, , The Defence) is the military organization responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Coast Guard, the Royal ...

for the first time in 1999, when a piece about the unit appeared in the Armed Forces Magazine ''Forsvarets Forum'' (The Defence Forum). FSK cooperate with special operations forces from several other countries, including the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-te ...

(SAS) and

Special Boat Service The Special Boat Service (SBS) is the special forces unit of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The SBS can trace its origins back to the Second World War when the Army Special Boat Section was formed in 1940. After the Second World War, the Roya ...

(SBS) of the United Kingdom,

Delta Force The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), referred to variously as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), Army Compartmented Elements (ACE), "The Unit", or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Task Fo ...

, Navy SEALs/ DEVGRU of the United States.

History

''Forsvarets Spesialkommando'' can trace its roots back to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, when Norwegians served in the

Norwegian Independent Company 1 Norwegian Independent Company 1 (NOR.I.C.1, pronounced ''Norisén'' (approx. "noor-ee-sehn") in Norwegian) was a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) group formed in March 1941 originally for the purpose of performing commando raids during ...

(NOR.I.C.1) of the British

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its p ...

including the famous Operation Gunnerside raid of the heavy water plant at Rjukan. On 25 March 1962, the Army Parachute Ranger School ( no, Hærens Fallskjermjegerskole) was created. The focus of this school initially was to provide parachute training for certain groups of personnel within the Norwegian Armed Forces, and eventually the Paratrooper Platoon ( no, Fallskjermjegertroppen) was established in 1965. Specially selected personnel from this platoon were assigned to Ranger Command 1 in the old mobilization army of the

and were on standby in case of war. In 1971, the Army Parachute Ranger School changed its name to the Army Ranger School ( no, Hærens Jegerskole) (HJS) to emphasize the training of Army Rangers. The main focus over the next decade was long-range reconnaissance patrols (LRRP). Based on an increase in international terrorism and Norway's newly developed offshore oil services, the government decided in 1979 to establish a counter-terrorism capacity within the Norwegian Armed Forces. In 1982, a decision was finally made that this task be given to the Army Ranger School with ''Forsvarets Spesialkommando'' (FSK) established as part of the Army Ranger School. On 1 June 1984, the 38 man unit was operational following assistance from the British

and

. From the mid-1990s there was an increasing focus on international operations. To show that the Army Ranger School now had an operative arm as well as the traditional training role, it changed its name to the Army Ranger Command ( no, Hærens Jegerkommando) in 1997. The same year, HJK moved from Trandum to Rena, where the unit is based today. During the 2000s, HJK changed its name to FSK/HJK, to reflect the two units that make up the command (FSK being the operative wing and HJK being the training wing). In 2004, the unit commenced reporting directly to the Chief of the Army. In 2013, the FSK/HJK name was discontinued and the operative SOF-unit is simply known as FSK. Official FSK website

Today

FSK has gone from being a cadre and training-unit for paratroopers and the mobilization army, to being a professional unit with substantial experience, robustness, competency and capacity. The unit has been deployed internationally on several occasions and has received international recognition for its efforts. The unit has a considerable amount of support from Norway's political and military leaders. The Norwegian Parliament has decided that the Norwegian SOF are to be strengthened. FSK recruits, selects and trains paratroopers and SOF operators. FSK is on both national and international standby for special operations and counter-terrorism operations (alongside '' Marinejegerkommandoen''). In addition, FSK is the competency and training centre for all parachute and counter-terrorism training in the Norwegian Armed Forces.

International operations

Kosovo

FSK and the

Kosovo Liberation Army The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA; , UÇK) was an ethnic Albanian separatist militia that sought the separation of Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, ...

(KLA) cooperated in various ways during the

Kosovo conflict The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

.Hjalp vi forbryterne til makten? - Kultur - Dagbladet.no
FSK, operating alongside the British SAS, was the first special operations force to enter Pristina. FSK's mission was to level the negotiating field between the belligerent parties, and to fine-tune the details that the local deal required to implement the peace deal between the Serbians and the Kosovo Albanians.

Afghanistan

FSK supported Coalition Special Operations Forces in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

as part of

. They have carried out missions in the Helmand and Uruzgan provinces of South

. In August 2007, FSK members carried out the successful hostage rescue of Christina Meier, a pregnant German NGO worker in Kabul, no shots were fired and the hostage takers were believed to be a criminal gang and not insurgents.Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 , p.144 More recently, FSK has had the main responsibility in training the Afghan National Police Crisis Response Unit (CRU 222) in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...

, under the command of the

International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 pursua ...

(known as the Kabul Crisis Response unit-an Afghan counterterrorist SWAT team). During the April 2012 Afghanistan attacks, FSK were involved in combating Taliban insurgents in Kabul, having only recently relieved a New Zealand SAS element that had been mentoring the Kabul Crisis Response unit. FSK and the Naval Special Operations Commando alternated on the training of CRU from 2016 until June 2021, when the mission was terminated ref.

Fall of Kabul (2021) On 15 August 2021, Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul was captured by the Taliban after a 2021 Taliban offensive, major insurgent offensive that began in May 2021. This led to the coup, overthrowing of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan unde ...

''Forsvarets Spesialkommando''s Role

"''Forsvarets spesialkommando'' (FSK) has a role in the Norwegian Armed Forces' independent responsibility to handle an act of terrorism that is considered to be an "armed attack" on Norway, but also has a dedicated mission to support the police in the event counter-terrorism operations at sea. FSK may further assist the police on land." - Norwegian Parliamentary Statement 29 and e-mail address. In wartime, their tasks are mainly: * to gather intelligence * to localize and identify enemy supplies and activity * to carry out offensive operations against strategically important targets * to provide support for rescue missions of important personnel * to provide protection for personnel and departments

Domestic security

From August 2013 FSK shares the national counter-terrorism standby mission together with the Norwegian Naval Special Operations Commando, Norway's other military special force.

Selection and training

Currently, anyone who has completed their military service with the Norwegian Armed Forces can apply. The road to becoming an elite soldier of the FSK is long and hard. First, one must go through a general selection to separate out those who do not have the physical and mental strength to start the special forces recruitment school. This selection lasts three days. A candidate must do 45 push-ups and 50 sit-ups in two minutes, 8 pull-ups, swim 400 meters in under 11 minutes and march 30 kilometers carrying 25 kilograms in less than 4 hours and 50 minutes. It is emphasized that this is the bare minimum, and that candidates should ideally be able to do more than that. The female troop has lower standards, with one pull-up, 20 push-ups, 35 sit-ups in two minutes or less, 20 back extensions, swim 200 metres (660 ft), with no underwater phobia; and perform a 7-kilometre (4.3 mi) road run carrying 22 kilograms (49 lb) in 59 minutes. After passing the general selections, an applicant attends the SOF selection. This selection lasts three weeks and comprises hard physical and mental exercises with little food and little sleep. Very few of those who enter the school get through. Following selection, the potential operator starts basic training (one year). This training involves all basic disciplines required to serve as a SOF operator. Not all who begin basic training get through. After training, one is eligible for operational service in FSK, including training in specialist roles, such as sniper, combat medic, forward air controller, etc. Further training is conducted in Norway or abroad at allied training facilities.

Commanding officers

Commanding officers of FSK include: *

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Harald Sunde (1992–1996) *

Lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colon ...

Karl Egil Hanevik (2003) * Eirik Kristoffersen (2010–2014) * Frode Arnfinn Kristoffersen (2014–2017) * Brage Andreas Larssen (2017-)

Weapons

The soldiers are or have been trained in the use of these weapons: * Assault rifles ** Colt Canada C8SFW and C8CQB (default rifle) **

Heckler & Koch Heckler & Koch GmbH (HK; ) is a German defense manufacturing company that manufactures handguns, rifles, submachine guns, and grenade launchers. The company is located in Oberndorf am Neckar in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, and also ...

HK416 The Heckler & Koch HK416 is a gas-operated assault rifle chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge. It is designed and manufactured by the German company Heckler & Koch. Although the design is based on the AR-15 class of firearm (specific ...

* Submachine guns **

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 MP7 The Heckler & Koch MP7 (German: ''Maschinenpistole 7'') is a personal defense weapon chambered for the HK 4.6×30mm armor-piercing cartridge designed by German defence manufacturer Heckler & Koch. It was designed (together with the new cartr ...

* Sniper rifles ** Heckler & Koch MSG-90 **

Heckler & Koch HK417 The Heckler & Koch HK417 is a battle rifle designed and manufactured by Heckler & Koch. Being the larger caliber version of the Heckler & Koch HK416, and chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO rifle cartridge, it is intended for use where the penet ...

** Accuracy International L115A1 ** Barrett MRAD **

M82 Barrett rifle M8 or M-8 or M.08 or ''variant, may refer to: Computing and electronics * M8 (cipher), an encryption algorithm * Leica M8, a digital rangefinder camera * HTC One (M8), a smartphone * Meizu M8, a smartphone Places * Messier 8, also known as M8 or ...

* Pistols **

Heckler & Koch USP The USP (''Universelle Selbstladepistole'' or "universal self-loading pistol") is a semi-automatic pistol developed in Germany by Heckler & Koch GmbH (H&K) as a replacement for the P7 series of handguns. History Design work on a new family of p ...

** Glock 17 (known as P-80) * Grenade launchers ** AG-C/EGLM (Fitted to C8SFW) ** M320 Grenade Launcher Module (Fitted to HK416). **

HK GMG The GMG (''Granatmaschinengewehr'' or "grenade machine gun") is an automatic grenade launcher developed by Heckler & Koch for the German Army. It is also often referred to as GMW or GraMaWa (''Granatmaschinenwaffe''). Design details The GMG f ...

(automatic grenade launcher fitted to

Mercedes Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

SF vehicles). * Machine guns ** FN Minimi (5.56 mm) **

FN Mag The FN MAG is a Belgian 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun, designed in the early 1950s at Fabrique Nationale (FN) by Ernest Vervier. It has been used by more than 80 countries and it has been made under licence in several countries, in ...

(7.62 mm) ** Rheinmetall MG3 (7.62 mm) ** Browning M2 (12.7 mm) * Shotguns **

Remington 870 The Remington Model 870 is a pump-action shotgun manufactured by Remington Arms Company, LLC. It is widely used by the public for shooting sports, hunting and self-defense, as well as by law enforcement and military organizations worldwide. ...

** Benelli M4 * Anti-tank weapons **

M72 LAW The M72 LAW (light anti-tank weapon, also referred to as the light anti-armor weapon or LAW as well as LAWS: light anti-armor weapons system) is a portable one-shot unguided anti-tank weapon. The solid rocket propulsion unit was developed in t ...

– Light anti-armor weapon ** 84mm Rekylfri Kanon (Carl Gustav M2) - anti-tank weapon

Vehicles

* Geländewagen/MB270 CDI FAV vehicle armoured and EOD protected with 3 weapon-stations (2 MG3 and 1 M2 or GMG). Developed in 2002 and was later modernized. They were used in operation Anaconda due to large amount of space and mounts for equipment and communication. In 2015, a £23 million order was placed for Supacat HMT Extenda vehicles to be delivered from 2017 to 2019. * Safeguard ship for specialforces - ''August Nærø ''. Dockstavarvet AB type IC20M Interceptor

References

External links

«The FSK official website»
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forsvarets Spesialkommando (Fsk) Military units and formations established in 1981 Counterterrorist organizations Recipients of the Presidential Unit Citation (United States)