, colors =
Maroon
Maroon ( US/ UK , Australia ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word ''marron'', or chestnut. "Marron" is also one of the French translations for "brown".
According to multiple dictionaries, there are var ...
,
sky blue
, colors_label = Colours
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries =
, equipment =
, equipment_label =
, battles =
, decorations =
, battle_honours =
, battle_honours_label =
, flying_hours =
, website
www.pakistanarmy.gov.pk, current_commander =
Major General Adil Rehmani
, commander1 =
, commander1_label =
, commander2 =
, commander2_label =
, commander3 =
, commander3_label =
, commander4 =
, commander4_label =
, commander5 =
, commander5_label =
, commander6 =
, commander6_label =
, commander7 =
, commander7_label =
, commander8 =
, commander8_label =
, commander9 =
, commander9_label =
, notable_commanders =
, identification_symbol =
, identification_symbol_label =
, identification_symbol_2 =
, identification_symbol_2_label =
, identification_symbol_3 =
, identification_symbol_3_label =
, identification_symbol_4 =
, identification_symbol_4_label =
, identification_symbol_5 =
, identification_symbol_5_label =
, aircraft_attack =
, aircraft_bomber =
, aircraft_electronic =
, aircraft_fighter =
, aircraft_helicopter =
, aircraft_helicopter_cargo =
, aircraft_helicopter_multirole =
, aircraft_helicopter_observation =
, aircraft_helicopter_trainer =
, aircraft_helicopter_transport =
, aircraft_helicopter_utility =
, aircraft_interceptor =
, aircraft_patrol =
, aircraft_recon =
, aircraft_trainer =
, aircraft_transport =
, aircraft_tanker =
, aircraft_general =
The Pakistan Army Special Service Group or SSG
is the
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 ...
unit of the
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...
. They are also known by their nickname of "Maroon Berets" due to their headgear.
The SSG is responsible to deploy and execute five doctrinal missions:
foreign internal defence
Foreign internal defense (FID) is a term used by the military in several countries, including the United States, France, and the United Kingdom, to describe an integrated, and possibly multi-country, approach to combating actual or threatened i ...
,
reconnaissance,
direct action
Direct action originated as a political activist term for economic and political acts in which the actors use their power (e.g. economic or physical) to directly reach certain goals of interest, in contrast to those actions that appeal to oth ...
,
counter-terrorism operations, and
unconventional warfare.
Other operational roles and responsibilities attributed to the SSG include:
search and rescue
Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...
,
counter-proliferation,
search and destroy,
hostage rescue,
information operations,
peacekeeping missions,
psychological operations, security assistance, and
HVT manhunts.
Chain of command and control of the SSG falls within the domain of the Pakistan Army's
Strategic Forces Command (ASFC), and its personnel are directly recruited into the
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)'s counter-terrorism division upon their retirements.
Much of the SSG's activities and operations are shrouded in
secrecy
Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret.
Secrecy is often controvers ...
and public knowledge of their work is heavily controlled through selective declassified documents and published literary works by retired military
veterans or authorized
media.
History
Roots of establishment
In 1950, the Pakistan Army established the school, Close Quarter Battle School, dedicated for teaching the methods of
close quarters combat under
Colonel Grant Taylor of the
British Army in
Quetta,
Balochistan in Pakistan– the school was later moved to
Attock under Colonel Kahoon, also an officer in the British Army.
Citing unknown and unspecified reasons, the Close Quarter Battle School under Col. Kahoon was permanently closed and its
passed out personnel who had earlier formed the 312th Garrison
Company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
(312 Gar Coy (FF)), a
light infantry
Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...
, initially attached the
military unit
Military organization or military organisation is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer such military capability as a national defense policy may require. In some countries paramilitary forces are included in a nation' ...
to the
Frontier Force Regiment
The Frontier Force Regiment is one of the six infantry regiments of the Pakistan Army. They are popularly known as the ''Piffers'' in reference to their military history as the PIF ( Punjab Irregular Force) of the British Indian Army, or as th ...
(FF Regiment) in 1952— the 312 Gar Coy (FF) still remains to be a part of the
Frontier Force Regiment
The Frontier Force Regiment is one of the six infantry regiments of the Pakistan Army. They are popularly known as the ''Piffers'' in reference to their military history as the PIF ( Punjab Irregular Force) of the British Indian Army, or as th ...
.
Creation from the 19th Regiment
In 1953–54, the
United States Army raised a
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 ...
unit within the
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...
to provide intelligence and combat defense against
Soviet Union's expanding
sphere of influence in the
Central Asia.
The U.S. assistance helped raise the special forces unit from the simple infantry regiment, the
19th Baloch
, colors = Maroon, sky blue
, colors_label = Colours
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries =
, equipment =
, e ...
, that provided an ideal cover from its covert nature of works.
In 1955, the
17th Baloch infantry was incorporated with the 19th Baloch, followed by the special forces training began to conduct under
Lt Col. Donald W. Bunte from the
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 ...
of the
United States Army.
On 23 March 1956, the Special Service Group (SSG) was established as a
Battalion under the command of its first
commanding officer
The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...
,
Lieutenant-Colonel A. O. Mitha
Major General Aboobaker Osman Mitha ( ;–1923–1999), popularized as A.O. Mitha, was a Pakistan Army general who is considered a legend in the Pakistan Army, and a "stay behind" conceptual founder of Special Services Group (SSG). With the ...
, after founding th
School of Special Operations(SSO) under the advisement of army officers from the
U.S. Army's
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 ...
.
The Special Service Group's institution and the physical training remained under the command of
Lt-Col. Mitha until 1961–62.
The headquarter of the Army Special Service Group was then based out in
Cherat
Cherat (Pashto: چېراټ) is a hill station dating from the 1860s that is located immediately above the villages of Chapri, Saleh Khana, Kotli Kalan and Dak Ismail Khel in the Nowshera District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. Cherat lies 3 ...
,
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...
in Pakistan.
Initially, the SSG were popular as the Green Berets with Baloch insignia in the 1950s, but SSG dropped their green berets in favor of adopting the Baloch Regiment's maroon berets– hence giving them the nickname the Maroon Berets.
In 1964, the
Parachute Training School (PTS) was established under the watchful guidance of
101st Airborne Division
The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...
of the
U.S. Army, and training on the
desert warfare with U.S. Special Forces' Mobile Training Team begin, followed by the
Navy SSG established by the
U.S. Navy SEALs as a deep diving team, which was known for its physical training in Karachi in 1966–70.
In 1970, the Musa Company was established that solely specialized in
anti-terrorist operations, receiving training from the
British SAS
SAS or Sas may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers
* ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series
* Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...
advisers after U.S. had suspended the
IMET program with Pakistan in 1981.
The Army SSG initially had six battalions and each battalion had specialization units, specialized in the different war spectrum:
desert
A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...
,
mountain,
long-distance ranger, and
deep diving warfare.
In August 1965, the operational scope of the Army SSG was expanded from a battalion-size to larger special operation outfit.
In 1968–70, the Pakistan Army integrated the Chinese introduced
physical training, tactics, weapons, and equipments.
Deployments and covert operations
Covert actions, Indo-Pakistani wars, and overseas missions
The first war time deployment of the Army Special Service Group took place in 1960 with their first
special reconnaissance mission in the
former tribal belt near the porous
Durand Line– the
Afghanistan-
Pakistan's line of international border.
In 1960–61, the Army Special Forces team under Major
Mirza Aslam Beg had successfully inserted in
Dir and took control of the law and order situation by removing the instigating
Nawab of Dir in
Chitral
Chitral ( khw, , lit=field, translit=ćhitrār; ur, , translit=ćitrāl) is situated on the Chitral River in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Chitral District and before that as the capital of Chitral ...
in
North-West Frontier Province.
In 1964–65, the teams of Special Service Group successfully
executed the covert operation in
Indian-administered Kashmir but the operation failed from the very beginning due to lack of understanding of the local culture and language, eventually met with hostility with locals who alerted the Indian government authorities.
The
second war with India saw the testing and shaping of the Army Special Service Group when the
Indian Army charged and invaded the
Pakistan-side of Punjab in response to the
covert actions took place in
Indian Administered Kashmir
Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
. The airborne missions of the Army Special Service Group included performing the combat parachuting at the Indian airbases with an intention of launching a ground assaults in the
Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...
's air stations in
Pathankot,
Adampur
Adampur is a town, a municipal council and a sub-tehsil in Jalandhar district in the Indian state of Punjab.
Geography
Adampur Doaba is located at . It has an average elevation of 233 metres (764 feet). It is located at a distance of ...
, and the
Halwara
Halwara is a township in Punjab state in India.Located in the Ludhiana close to Village Sudhar, Halwara lies on the Mullanpur- Raikot road. It is also famous for its Air Base
An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, mi ...
.
180 SSG commandos boarded a
Pakistan Air Force's
C-130 Hercules
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 ...
, the three airborne formations were flown detected on the night of 7 September 1965, first performing combat jumping at
Pathankot at 02:30 hours but the wind velocity led to the scattering of the teams, due to the difficult terrain and poor visibility, none of the teams were able to re-group after the drop. Of the 180 commandos dropped, 138, including all officers but one, were captured and safely taken to prisoner of war (POW) camps. Twenty-two were lynched by villagers armed with sticks, police and even bands of muleteers released by the Indian Army, from the animal transport battalion of the nearby Corps headquarters.
Only 20 commandos were unaccounted for and most escaped back to Pakistan under the fog. Most of these were from the Pathankot group, dropped less than 10 km from the border in an area that had plenty of ravines, riverine tracks to navigate back along. One notable, commando-style escape was of Major Hazur Hasnain, the Halwara group commander who, along with his friend, hijacked a jeep and somehow managed to return safe.
The Pakistani accounts, the latest of which comes now from several participants in the wake of the 1965 at 50 commemorations, acknowledged the SSG-commando disaster but blamed it on poor briefing, planning and callous arrogance of the commanders. Some of these former Pakistani soldiers even write about having met some of these paratroopers and exchanged notes with them on how badly planned the operation was. Here is th
accountof Col SG Mehdi, himself a commando officer then. The fortified forces ’ conditioning in no way undermines its elevation, but by blocking free speech, the government has politicized the issue and brought the military leadership into the global spotlight. By 1970–71, the Pakistan Army had permanently posted one Army Special Service Group 3rd Commando Battalion in
East-Pakistan under
Lt-Col. Tariq Mehmood
Brigadier Tariq Mehmood (8 Oct 1938 – 29 May 1989) was a Pakistani military officer of Pakistan Army. He was serving as the Commander of Pakistan Army's Special Service Group (SSG), when he died in an accident in 1989 due to malfunctioning ...
, begin working with local authorities in maintaining security situation in the
East-Pakistan, near the border of Eastern India.
The performance of the Army Special Service Group was reported to be much better than their performance in 1965, with 1st Command Battalion (Yaldram) and 2nd Commando Battalion (Rahber) engaged in several of their successful sabotage missions against the Indian Army's artillery and infantry regiments, while the 3rd Command Battalion in East oriented towards successfully engaging in the seek and destroy missions.
Their final mission included the mounting of the successful defense of the
Shahjalal International Airport against the
Indian Army-backed ''
Mukti Bahini'', and were the last army special forces formation that had departed from the airport before the
Dacca fall to India on 16 December 1971.
From 1972–77, the Pakistan Army went into reorganization and major restructuring of its combat services but the Army Special Service Group remained active in successfully tackling the
armed insurgency in
Balochistan in
Pakistan.
War in Afghanistan and Sri Lankan civil war
In 1979–89, the Army Special Service Group had been seconded in covert actions in
Afghanistan against the
Soviet Union's
armed intervention
Armed (May, 1941–1964) was an American Thoroughbred gelding race horse who was the American Horse of the Year in 1947 and Champion Older Male Horse in both 1946 and 1947. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in ...
. There have been unconfirmed reports of the Army Special Service Group engaging in armed battles with the
Soviet paratroopers in incidents including the
Battle for Hill 3234
The battle for Hill 3234 (Russian: Бой у высоты 3234) was a successful defensive battle fought by the 345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment, Soviet Airborne Troops, in Afghanistan against a force of some 250 Mujahideen rebels wh ...
and the
Operation Magistral.
["Клятва тридцати девяти".](_blank)
A. Oliynik. '' Krasnaya Zvezda'', 29 October 1988.
When the
Battle for Hill 3234
The battle for Hill 3234 (Russian: Бой у высоты 3234) was a successful defensive battle fought by the 345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment, Soviet Airborne Troops, in Afghanistan against a force of some 250 Mujahideen rebels wh ...
concluded, the
Soviet paratroopers found that the
Afghan mujaheddin actually wore the black uniforms with rectangular black-yellow-red stripes, and suspected to be Army Special Service Group personnel; Pakistan's government has officially denied their involvement. The American author,
Aukai Collins
Aukai Collins, also known as Aqil Collins (February 13, 1974 – July 19, 2016) was an Irish-American convert to Islam and Chechen Mujahid of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.
He then, among other things, went on to work as a deep cover inte ...
, identified the elements as "Black Storks" who crossed the border to join the Afghan mujahideen – a claim also backed by American author, David Campbell.
Another battle was taken place between the Soviet paratroopers and the
Afghan mujahideen in
Kunar in 1986 that suspected the Army Special Service Group's involvement but the Russians dismissed the claim and noted that the battle was fought between the
GRU's 15th Spetsnaz Brigade and
Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf
Abdulrab Rasul Sayyaf ( ; ps, عبدالرسول سیاف; born 1946) is an exiled Afghan politician and former mujahideen commander. He took part in the war against the Marxist–Leninist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) governm ...
's group.
Siachen, Kargil, and War on Terror in Afghanistan
When the
Indian Army's successful expedition took control of the
Siachen Glacier from
Pakistan, the ISI's
Covert Action Division
Covert Action Division (CAD) is generally considered the most secretive special operations force of Pakistan. It is responsible for special paramilitary and covert operations. It is tasked to collect intelligence in dense hostile environments and ...
(CAD) inserted in the region, confirming the intrusion and movement of Indian Army soldiers in 1983.
The Army Special Service Group was immediately deployed to engage in the armed battle with the
Indian Army at
above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''.
The comb ...
.
Led by
Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Muhammad Iqbal, the only 12-men Army Special Service team had to
hiked at the to reach the Indian Army's resting camp.
Battle with Indian Army ensued and Special Service Group commandos but didnt gained much due to Adverse weather conditions and Enormous heights
Over the years, the Army Special Service Group have developed expertise in high altitude warfare, and are regularly deployed in Siachen.
Since 2001, the Army Special Forces have been engaged in counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations in
Afghanistan and remote areas in areas adjacent to Afghanistan—their notable antiterror operation included the successful
clearance of the Red Mosque in Islamabad from
al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
sympathizers. The Army Special Forces teams also taken parts in raiding and attacking the terrorists elements in
near border with Afghanistan, working often with U.S. Army's Special Forces in Afghanistan.
In 2014, the Army Special Service Group reportedly successful in their
manhunt operation after
targeting and killing of
Adnan Gulshair, a Saudi citizen known as the Global Operations Chief of
al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
. In January 2013, India accused Pakistan that Army Special Service Group led an attack across the
Line of Control
The Line of Control (LoC) is a military control line between the Indian and Pakistanicontrolled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary, but serve ...
in which Indian soldiers were killed and beheaded.
Organizational structure
Due to their selection competitiveness, demanding
military physicals, and commitment required per standard of the Army's Special Forces, the Special Service Group was restricted to the
Brigade level until June 2003.
On 14 June 2003, the major reorganization in the structure of the Army Special Service Group took place when the special forces were moved as a
military division with
Major-General A. F. Alvi becoming the first
general officer commanding (GOC).
In an official documentary recognized and known structure of the Army Special Service Group given in ''
YouTube'' is given below:
Notes: Source of officially recognized and known structure of the Army Special Service Group given in ''
YouTube''.
The early organizational structure of the Army's Special Service Group was initially based on the
regimental system
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation.
In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...
, with three battalions specialized in the
military diving,
airborne
Airborne or Airborn may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis
* ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film
* ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...
,
mountain warfare techniques.
After the third war with India in 1971, the Army Special Service Group was expanded with the eight battalions that specialized in their own set of
war course of actions–each battalions is specialized in their criterion of war and are considered specialists in their fields.
The headquarter of the Army Special Service Group was based in
Cherat
Cherat (Pashto: چېراټ) is a hill station dating from the 1860s that is located immediately above the villages of Chapri, Saleh Khana, Kotli Kalan and Dak Ismail Khel in the Nowshera District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. Cherat lies 3 ...
where the special forces schools are located but this changed with the
brigade combat team
The brigade combat team (BCT) is the basic deployable unit of maneuver in the U.S. Army. A brigade combat team consists of one combat arms branch maneuver brigade, and its assigned support and fire units. A brigade is normally commanded by a ...
s (BCTs) being deployed in different parts of the country.
The operational responsibility of the special operations conducted by the Army Special Service Group, nonetheless, falls under the command of the
Army Strategic Forces Command (ASFC) operating from the
Army GHQ in Rawalpindi, along with the
Army Rangers and
Strategic Plans Division Force–the
CBRN defense
Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence (CBRN defence) are protective measures taken in situations in which chemical warfare, chemical, biological warfare, biological, radiological warfare, radiological or nuclear warfare, nucle ...
team.
Battalions in the Special Forces
The Special Service Group is organized into eight battalions and three companies – all trained and specialists in the specific type of war operations.
However, the Army has never issued an actual strength number for the special forces.
The official strength of each battalion is treated as
classified information.
The SSG battalions are each typically commanded by a
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 colone ...
(varies, and depends on availability), and the battalions are organized into groups under the command of
colonels.
The overall commander of the Special Service Group is a
major general whose identity is also kept secret.
Sources:. ''For a description of the modern special forces, see:
global context of the Special forces.''
Selection and training
Qualifications and physicals
The Army specialist recruiter teams usually visit the different headquarters of the army's formation, distributing the pamphlets to the officers at
OF-1 rank and enlisted personnel.
The military physical standards, examinations, and criteria are same for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines' special forces selections and training, often training in close coordination.
The
Navy Special Service Group (SSGN) plays an important role in the overall architecture of the special operations forces, their qualification standards, fitness at all levels, and eligibility required for the security clearances.
There are three schools that the overall basic eligibility requirements to be considered for entry into the schools of the Special Forces are:
*Special Operations School (Spec Ops.)
**Be age of
≥ 25–39.
**Be a citizen of Pakistan.
**Must be Volunteered, not coerced.
**Minimum of 5 Years of military service.
**Must pass the Physical Fitness Assessment with at least 40 push-ups in one minute, 40 sit-ups in one minute, 15
pull-ups, and be able to run 1.6 kilometers in a maximum of 7:30.
**Meet medical fitness standards as outlined in Medical Category TV.
**Eligible for a secret security clearance.
**Must have 20/20 or corrected to 20/20 in both near and distant vision in both eyes.
**Should be able to swim 30 meters in full
service uniform
A uniform is a variety of clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, ...
with weapon, the
standard rifle,
Koch G3A3.
*Sniper School
**Must have 20/20 or corrected to 20/20 in both near and distant vision in both eyes.
**Medical Category "A".
*Frogman School
**Medical Category "A".
**Must have qualification in Chamber test up to 180 feet
sea water
Seawater, or salt water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has approx ...
.
*Swimming Standards
**Should be able to swim 200 meters in 7 minutes (breast stroke).
**Should be able to swim 25 meters Underwater.
Selection and training
The medical standards in various physical courses into the entrance in the
Special Forces in Pakistan maintained to be very high and extremely competitive, resulting in a major dropouts at the very early stage of selection, according to the Pakistan Army's official report in 2013.
The Pakistan Army's
Medical Corps keeps the qualification and selections standards difficult and competitive in the
Pakistani military to only ensure that the suitable and qualified intakes in the Special Forces in the
Pakistan military as the special forces cannot be mass-produced nor it can arise in the extenuating situations.
Prior to joining the Special Service Group, the interested junior
army officers
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
(usually at
OF-1
Ranks and insignia of NATO are combined military insignia used by the member countries of the NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The rank scale is used for specifying posts within NATO.
Definitions
NATO maintains a "standard rank scal ...
and
OF-2
Ranks and insignia of NATO are combined military insignia used by the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The rank scale is used for specifying posts within NATO.
Definitions
NATO maintains a "standard rank scale" in ...
) and enlisted personnel must have spent their committed military careers for at least five years and must be volunteered to join the Special Service Group.
Once selected through successfully undergoing through the medical evaluation, the interested personnel must report to the
Parachute Training School in
Peshawar to volunteer for the airborne training, and must get the airborne qualification badge from the airborne training school.
The airborne training course held for four weeks where the interested personnel must excelled the
HALO/HAHO methods with five-day jumps and three-night military free fall.
After gaining their airborne qualification badge, the army personnel then reports to Cherat from Peshawar– a nominal distance between two cities is approximated between – engage through this
journey by the foot while wearing their full military gear (30 kilograms).
The interested individual must undergoes a 24-week of military training and training process once reported to
Cherat
Cherat (Pashto: چېراټ) is a hill station dating from the 1860s that is located immediately above the villages of Chapri, Saleh Khana, Kotli Kalan and Dak Ismail Khel in the Nowshera District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. Cherat lies 3 ...
.
The training courses in the Special Service Group emphasis strong
physical conditioning and mental fitness, including the everyday based
surprised strategic thinking quiz
and a 36-mile march in 12 hours.
Violation of the military code and ethics by the trainee soldier resulted in including the march from Cherat to
Chapri with full military gear.
The curriculum of the basic
military training
Military education and training is a process which intends to establish and improve the capabilities of military personnel in their respective roles. Military training may be voluntary or compulsory duty. It begins with recruit training, proceed ...
course included the mastery in
Judo and
Karate
(; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...
ka, special weapons training, military navigation, and handling and disarming of the chemical explosives, survival skill training.
There are schools of special warfare that the trainee soldier chooses: Snow and High Altitude School, Mountain Warfare School, Airborne Warfare School, Desert Warfare School, Sniper School, and Frogman School. These schools offers the advanced training courses which runs for additional 25–30 weeks (depending on student's choosing of his career), and only successfully
passed out personnel are awarded with badges of their specialized fields by their specialized school faculty.
The dropout rates of Special Service Group(Army) is 85 to 90 Percent because of extremely tough training process. Every year, thousands of Applicants apply to join the SSG but at the end, maximum of 100 to 120 cadets get their recommendation letter for Special Service Group. The army personnel interested in the
underwater demolition must be trained with their Navy counterparts in
Manora Island in the
Karachi coast
The Port of Karachi ( ur, , ''Bandar gāh Karāchī'') is one of South Asia's largest and busiest deep-water seaports, handling about 60% of the nation's cargo (25 million tons per annum) located in Karachi, Pakistan. It is located on the Karac ...
including being qualified to get their
long-range swimming qualification badge from the Naval authorities.
The Special Service Group criteria meet
special forces training and selection criteria of the United States Army
Interaction with other special forces
Since its establishment in 1956, the Army Special Service Group have been regularly interacted and trained together with the
United States Army Special Forces–though the Pakistan Army's
infantry branch had first participated in ''Exercise Vulcan'' and ''Exercise Handicap'' in 1954.
Besides training and the interaction with the
United States Army, Pakistan Army Special Service Group have held joint special warfare training exercises with 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-terro ...
(SAS) of the
British Army,
Special Forces Command of the
Turkish Land Forces,
Special Operation 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 ...
of the
Royal Jordanian Army, the
Special Operation 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 ...
of the Chinese
People's Liberation Army Ground Forces, and the
Spetsnaz of the
Russian Ground Forces.
For their overseas deployment for the purpose of the education and training, the Special Service Group have been deployed in
Bangladesh,
Saudi Arabia,
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 ...
,
Bahrain,
Maldives,
United Arab Emirates,
Turkmenistan,
Egypt,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, and
Iraq where its operatives have overseen the friendly nations special forces programs.
Since 1998, the Army Special Service Group biannually conducts the military exercise with the
Turkish Land Forces's
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 ...
, which have been designated as the "''Jinnah–Atatürk Series''."
The military exercise held in Pakistan is known as "''Atatürk Exercise''" while in Turkey, it is known as "''Jinnah Exercise''."
The first of these series of exercise were held in Pakistan, with twenty-one
Turkish Land Forces officers and fourteen enlists coming to Pakistan for the exercise– Pakistan reciprocated the visit in 2000.
The ''Jinnah-Atatürk Series'' are oriented and focused towards the snow, high-altitude, and mountain warfare."
With renewed
military relations with the
United States Army in the 1990s, the Army Special Service Group conducted several military exercises with the
United States Army Special Forces (SF), known as the "''Exercise Inspired Venture/Gambit''", with first being held in 1993.
The ''Exercise Inspired Venture/Gambit'' is oriented and directed towards focusing on special weapon familiarization, mountain warfare, night time assaults, air assault techniques in counter-terrorism measures.
Since 2006, the Army Special Service Group also conducts training with the
People's Liberation Army Ground Forces
Special Operation 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 ...
, which is known as the ''Pakistan-China Joint Exercise Friendship''– this exercise is oriented towards tackling insurgencies and improving methods in
counterterrorism
Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that Government, governments, law enforcement, business, and Intelligence agency, intellig ...
. In 2008–09, the Army Special Service Group, together with the
United States Army Special Forces, participated in the multinational security exercise, the
Operation Bright Star, held in
Alexandria in
Egypt in 2009 to train with the
Thunderbolt Forces of the
Egyptian Army.
In 2016, the Army Special Service Group conducted the annual military exercise with the
Russian Ground Forces'
Spetsnaz–the Russo-Pakistani military exercise is known as ''Druzhba'' (lit. Friendship).
The ''Druzhba'' with Russian
Spetsnaz are oriented and focused towards mountain warfare and tactics in counterterrorism in taking out and eliminating the terrorist organizations with first being held in 2016 and the recent being held in 2018.
Operations
Counterterrorism operations timeline
* On 5 September 1986,
Pan Am Flight 73
Pan Am Flight 73 was a Pan American World Airways flight from Bombay, India, to New York, United States with scheduled stops in Karachi, Pakistan and Frankfurt, West Germany.
On September 5, 1986, the Boeing 747-121 serving the flight was hijack ...
was hijacked by terrorists while it was refueling in Karachi. In the chaos, the pilots had managed to escape causing the hijackers to begin negotiations with the authorities. As negotiations stalled and the terrorists began to kill the passengers forced towards the back of the plane. Plane doors were opened allowing passengers to jump. The SSG was forced storm the plane, killing one hijacker and capturing the rest.
* On 20 February 1994,
some terrorists of Afghanistan hijacked a school bus with 74 children and 8 teachers. They drove to the Afghan mission in Islamabad where they released 57 students but kept 16 boys and the teachers. The negotiations led nowhere and it was decided to free the hostages by force. The SSG commandos used a secondary explosion as a distraction and entered the room at the Afghan embassy where the hostages were being held, killing the three hijackers. The operation lasted about 20 seconds.
* On 25 May 1998, three terrorists took over a PIA Fokker plane,
Flight 544, who wanted it to fly to Bhuj in Gujrat India. As negotiations dragged, SSG commandos rushed the plane and apprehended all 3 hijackers. None of the passengers were harmed during the assault.
* On Sept 2007, At least 15 soldiers from SSG commando unit were killed and 27 commandos were wounded in a blast, apparently set off by a suicide bomber. The attack took place about 50 miles outside the capital, Islamabad, in the cantonment area of Tarbela Ghazi at the brigade headquarters of the Special Operation Task Force.
* On 10 October 2009,
militants attacked the Pakistan Military Headquarters, taking hostage 42 civil and military officials. SSG commandos rescued 39 hostages and killed 4 militants, capturing one. The militants have been linked to Ilyas Kashmiri being a leading Al Qaeda commander operating alongside Tehrik-e-Taliban. A total of six SSG commandos and three hostages were killed in the operation. As reported by ISPR (Inter Services Public Relations
Three more SSG commandos, injured during the operation, died in the hospital on 12 October.
[ ]
* On 16 December 2014, SSG Commandos from the Zarrar Company were tasked with clearing an
2014 Peshawar school massacre, Army Public School which was raided by seven Tahreek-e-Taliban (TTP) Terrorists in Peshawar. All Terrorists were eliminated and the school was cleared. Around 149 people, mostly students aged between 12-16 were killed by the Terrorists. The school had about 1,000 students, they were able to rescue about 840 peoples.
Notable members
Appearance and equipment
Uniforms and insignia
In the 1970s, the Army Special Service Group
Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) was standard
Khaki but this was changed to British-styled
DPM.
In the 1990s, the
Battle Dress Uniform was changed in favor of adopting the
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 ...
(or M81) with a
maroon berets, a common color for the airborne forces, with a silver metal tab on a light blue
felt square with a
dagger and
lightning bolts, and a wing on the right side of the chest.
The
counterterrorism teams, on the other hand, include camouflage and black
dungarees (for the CT team).
The Special Service Group Navy,
SSG Navy, is distinguished by a dark blue beret with three versions of the "fouled
anchor" navy badge for officers, NCOs and enlisted men. A metal SSGN qualification badge featuring a vertical dagger superimposed over a midget submarine is worn over the left pocket on dress uniforms. Parachute wings are worn over the right pocket.
The Special Service Wing,
SSW, is distinguished by
maroon berets with PAF Officer, JCO or Airmen insignia on the beret, and a wing on the right side of the chest. The combat uniform of SSW is olive drab camouflage. They also wear their special service wing insignia on the left shoulder "Winged Dragons and
lightning bolts".
Equipment
Pistols
*
SIG Sauer P226/P229
*
Heckler & Koch USP
*
Glock 17/19
*
POF Eye
POF Eye is a special-purpose hand-held weapon system, similar to the Israeli Cornershot. It was first revealed at the 5th International Defence Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS 2008), held at the Karachi Expo Centre in November 2008. It is designed fo ...
Submachine guns
*
Heckler & Koch MP5
*
FN P90
Assault rifles
*
M4A1 Carbine
*
Steyr AUG
The Steyr AUG () is an Austrian bullpup assault rifle chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO intermediate cartridge, designed in the 1960s by Steyr-Daimler-Puch, and now manufactured by Steyr Arms GmbH & Co KG.
It was adopted by the Austrian Arm ...
*
SIG SG 550
The SG 550 is an assault rifle manufactured by Swiss Arms AG (formerly a division of Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft, now known as SIG Holding AG) in Switzerland. "SG" is an abbreviation for ''Sturmgewehr'' ("assault rifle"). The rifle ...
Sniper rifles
*
PSR-90
*
Steyr SSG 69
The SSG 69 (''Scharfschützengewehr 69'', literally Sharpshooter Rifle 69) is a bolt-action sniper rifle produced by Steyr Mannlicher that serves as the standard sniper rifle for the Austrian Army.
Adopted in 1969 (hence the designation), it w ...
*
Accuracy International Arctic Warfare
*
Barrett M82
*
RPA Rangemaster .50
The Rangemaster is a series of bolt-action rifles produced by the British company RPA International, formerly known as RPA Precision Ltd. Before the Rangemaster, the company had focused on target rifles, and entered the tactical rifle market in 2 ...
Heavy Armament
*
M249
The M249 light machine gun (LMG), also known as the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW), which continues to be the manufacturer's designation, and formally written as Light Machine Gun, 5.56 mm, M249, is the American adaptation of the Belgian F ...
*
RPG-7
*
SMAW
*
MILAN ATGM
*
Anza MANPADS
*Source
Army Special Service Group's Weapon Systemby Military Factor
Inside Pakistan's Sharp Sword - The Special Service Group (SSG)by Pakistan's Premier Military Defence Forum.
Influence on the Inter-services branches
After the
second war with India in 1965, the Army Special Service Group had established its personnel physical fitness leading the Pakistan Navy to recognize the need of the special operation force but it had little experience and tradition in the
military scuba diving as well as had little understanding towards the nature of the seaborne special operations.
In 1966, the Army Special Service Group helped raise the
military diving division within the Navy from its frogman team— the
Musa Company that remains to be part the Army Special Service Group for inland
riverine operations.
Introduction and instructions on combat
scuba diving and basic training were provided by the personnel from the
Musa Company before the Navy Special Service Group moved towards getting trained with the
U.S. Navy's
United States Navy SEALs
The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting sma ...
.
Over the several years, the Navy dependent on the Army to provide training to their
Navy SEAL Teams in the
Navy Special Service Group on education and training on the combat parachuting, sniper marksmanship, counterterrorism, and counterinsurgency.
Eventually, the Navy established their own schools on combat parachuting, sniping, counterterrorism, and the counterinsurgency but these schools are influenced and modeled after the Army's Special Service Group training methods whose instructors are the alumnus of the Army schools of special operation forces who tightly followed the army's philosophy, physical standards, and education.
The personnel of the
Navy SEAL Teams in the
Navy Special Service Group adopted to wear the Army Special Service Group
U.S. Woodland (M81) Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) with the distinction of the dark blue beret with three versions of the "
fouled anchor" with a navy badge (as shown in the footage) and a metal SSGN qualification badge featuring a vertical dagger superimposed over a midget submarine is worn over the left pocket on dress uniforms; parachute wings are worn over the right pocket.
In 1965, the
Pakistan Air Force had a special operation force established: the
Special Service Wing under
Brig.
Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thou ...
Mukhtar Dogar (local rank:
Air Commodore) but it was decommissioned in 1972 whose personnel went to join the Army Special Service Group. In 2003, the
Pakistan Air Force recommissioned the
Special Service Wing and their headgear is distinguished by
maroon berets with the airmen wears insignia on the beret, and a wing on the right side of the chest. The combat uniform of SSW is olive drab camouflage. They also wear their special service wing insignia on the left shoulder "Winged Dragons and
lightning bolts".
In popular culture
; Books, television series, movies and video games
* 1998: ''Aahan'', a popular television series produced by
ISPR and on-aired by
PTV. The main character
Wasi Shah and his coursemates gone through physical challenges and fitness required for becoming the Maroon Beret.
* 1998: ''
Alpha Bravo Charlie
''Alpha Bravo Charlie'' (Urdu: الفا براوو چارلی) is an action and thriller Pakistani drama, produced by ISPR and directed by Pakistani drama and film director Shoaib Mansoor.
It is a sequel to 1991 TV series '' Sunehray Din'' ' ...
'', a popular television series produced by
ISPR and on-aired by
PTV.
* 2003: ''Unlikely Beginnings: A Soldier's Life'', a book by
A O Mitha.
* 2006: ''
In the Line of Fire: A Memoir'', a book by
Pervez Musharraf.
* 2008: ''
Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army, and the Wars Within'', a book by Shuja Nawaz.
* 2013: ''
Waar'', the main character Major Mujtaba Rizvi (played by
Shaan Shahid), who is a former Maroon Beret and a Kargil war vet.
* 2014:
''Retribution'', the video game featuring sniping and special operation missions.
* 2017: ''
Yalghaar'', the war film based on the Special Service Group's 4th Command Battalion (Yalghaar)'s fiction covert operations.
See also
*
Special Service Group (Navy) —
Pakistan Navy
ur, ہمارے لیے اللّٰہ کافی ہے اور وہ بہترین کارساز ہے۔ English language, English: Allah is Sufficient for us - and what an excellent (reliable) Trustee (of affairs) is He!(''Quran, Qur'an, Al Imran, 3:173' ...
special forces
*
Special Services Wing
The Pakistan Air Force Special Service Wing is a special operations forces who specialised in all aspects of air-to-ground communication, including air traffic control, fire support (including fixed and rotary wing close air support), and comman ...
—
Pakistan Air Force special forces
*
1st Marines Battalion —
Pakistan Marines' reconnaissance battalion within the Navy.
References
Further reading
* Mitha, PA, Aboobaker Osman (2003). ''Unlikely Beginnings: A Soldier's Life''. Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan: Oxford University Press. p. 443. .
* Khan, PA, Ghulam Jilani (2004). اس اس جى : تاریخ کے اینے میں (English Lit: SSG: A historical past). Cherat: ISPR Publications, pp. 358.
{{Pakistan Infantry Regiments
Military special forces of Pakistan
Airborne units and formations of Pakistan
Military units and formations established in 1956