The Indian Army's Special Forces Training School is the training institution for Indian Army special forces, based at Nahan, 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 pea ...

. 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 equi ...

in India. The

Indian Army The Indian Army is the Land warfare, land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Arm ...

conducts joint special forces exercises and training with the special forces of countries such as the

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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 ...

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and

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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 o ...

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 si ...

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.

References

{{reflist Special forces of India

History

Progressive Development of School

See also

References