The Indian Army's Special Forces Training School is the training institution for Indian Army special forces, based at
Nahan
Nahan is a town in Himachal Pradesh in India and is the headquarters of the Sirmaur District It was the capital of the former Sirmur princely state.Nahan is also known as the Town of ponds.
Geography
Nahan is located at . It has a ...
, a hill town in
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...
. It is the largest and most important training institution for
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 equip ...
in India. The
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...
conducts joint special forces exercises and training with the special forces of countries such as the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
,
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
and
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
at this school.
History
A need to reorganize the then Para commando battalions was felt as the existing battalions were essentially elite infantry troops. On 15 July 1987 the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) gave his approval for creation of HQ Special Forces and for raising the Special Forces Training Wing (SFTW) to cater for courses specific to special forces which were neither available nor feasible in other schools of instructions. The complete process was delayed due to deployment off all the three commando battalions under an ad hoc headquarters for
Operation Pawan
Operation Pawan ( hi, कार्यवाही पवन ''Kãryvãhi Pavan'', lit. "Operation Wind") was the code name assigned to the operation by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to take control of Jaffna from the Liberation Tigers of ...
in
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
.
Progressive Development of School
The Special Forces Training School was raised as part of Headquarters Special Forces of War Establishment. The raising was part of an upgrade of the Para SF battalions to more versatile special forces capable of conducting a wide variety of strategic and operational tasks, both overt and covert, in war and low intensity conflict situations.
In December 1997, the Special Forces Training School was reorganized and redesignated as Special Forces Training Wing. In January 2003, Army Headquarters Military Operations Directorate approved the restructuring of the Special Forces Training Wing to overcome the drawback in its erstwhile organization. As part of the major policy decisions approved by the COAS, Special Forces Training Wing was again redesignated as Special Forces Training School, and at the same time as a Cat 'A' Training Establishment for the Indian Army.
The school at present is located at its intermediate or temporary location. Land acquisition process for the permanent location of the school is in progress. The Army needs 1,500 acres for the permanent location. The school will have its own airfield in its permanent location.
The school is one of its kind and imparts rigorous training. Most courses conducted at the school require the students to be mentally, physically and psychologically fit. The school has trained the Special Forces of
IAF and the
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...
in addition to a host of foreign Special Forces. The Special Forces of the
ANA share a special bond with SFTS due to immense benefit they have acquired in being able to fight the Taliban and ISIS due to the excellent training at SFTS.
See also
*
Para (Special Forces) Selection
References
{{reflist
Special forces of India