The Parachute Ranger School ( sv, Fallskärmsjägarskolan, FJS), is the

Swedish Army The Swedish Army ( sv, svenska armén) is the land force of the Swedish Armed Forces. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1521, when the men of Dalarna chose 16 young able men as body guards for the insurgent nobleman Gustav Vas ...

paratrooper A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...

ranger school and the home of ''

Fallskärmsjägarna The 323rd Parachute Ranger Squadron ( sv, 323. Fallskärmsjägarskvadron) or ''Fallskärmsjägarna'' (English: "Parachute Rangers" or "Airborne Rangers") is a Swedish military special operations capable airborne ranger unit specialising in long-r ...

'' (Parachute Rangers) and ''

Särskilda operationsgruppen ''Särskilda operationsgruppen'' (English: ''Special Operations Task Group'', abbreviated SOG, literal translation: ''Special Operations Group''.) is a special forces unit within the Swedish Armed Forces which has been active since 2011. The uni ...

'' (Special Operations Group). The school was founded in 1952 by captain

Nils-Ivar Carlborg Nils Ivar (''Nils-Ivar'') Carlborg (29 March 1913 – 21 September 2005) was a Swedish Army officer. He started the paratrooper training in Sweden and founded the Swedish Army Paratroop School of which he was its first commander (1952–1953). H ...

with the intention of creating and training small specialized units no bigger than platoons which were capable of operating deep behind enemy lines and inside enemy-controlled territory. Training is provided for both normal and static line jumps using the C-130 Hercules aircraft, as well as nighttime jumps, free fall jumps, HALO and HAHO. The school was reorganized into the 323rd Parachute Ranger Company in 2009.

History

The Parachute Ranger School was founded as the Swedish Army Parachute Ranger School (''Arméns fallskärmsjägarskola'') in 1952 by then captain

. The task was to use small platoon-sized units to penetrate and disrupt the enemy. The mode of transport was the airplane and at low altitude the parachute to get as far as possible behind enemy lines. The unit was initially a part of

Karlsborg Anti-Aircraft Regiment Karlsborg Anti-Aircraft Regiment ( sv, Karlsborgs luftvärnsregemente), also Lv 1, was a Swedish Army anti-aircraft unit that was active in various forms between 1937–1961. The unit was based in Karlsborg. History Karlsborg Anti-Aircraft Regi ...

(Lv 1). When the Karlsborg Anti-Aircraft Regiment was disbanded in 1961, the unit came to be subordinate to the commanding officer of Göta Signal Regiment (S 2). The Parachute Ranger School was until 1978 located in the "Parachute Ranger Camp" (''Fallskärmsjägarlägret''), which until 1951 was the camp (barracks) ("Gamla lägret") of the Second Quartermaster Company (''Andra intendenturkompaniet'', Int 2) at Vätterstranden in Karlsborg. In 1978 the operations were moved to ''Slutvärnet'' at

Karlsborg Fortress Karlsborg Fortress ( sv, Karlsborgs fästning) is situated on the Vanäs peninsula in Karlsborg by lake Vättern, the province of Västergötland, Sweden. Construction on the fortress began 1819 to realize the so-called ''central defense idea'' ad ...

. In connection with the 1982 Defense Bill, the

Life Regiment Hussars The Life Regiment Hussars ( sv, Livregementets husarer; designated K 3) is one of the world's oldest regiments still active. The regiment descends directly from units set up by King Gustav I of Sweden (Gustav Vasa) in 1536, when Sweden set ...

(K 3) was relocated from

Skövde Skövde () is a locality and urban centre in Skövde Municipality and Västra Götaland County, in the Västergötland (Western Gothland region) in central Southern Sweden. Skövde is situated some 150 km northeast of Gothenburg, between Swe ...

Garrison to Karlsborg Garrison. This change meant that both the Parachute Ranger School and the Göta Signal Regiment became subordinate to the commanding officer of the Life Regiment Hussars. The Göta Signal Regiment was subsumed in the Life Regiment Hussars as a signal battalion and the Parachute Ranger School as a school unit. On 1 July 1994, the formal designation was changed to the Parachute Ranger Corps (''Fallskärmsjägarkåren''), but the abbreviation FJS survived. The name was then changed again to the Parachute Ranger School (''Fallskärmsjägarskolan''), and in 2005 the school became a part of the Swedish Armed Forces Special Forces (''Försvarsmaktens specialförband'', FM SF). In 2007 the school was split so that the operations part remained in the special forces system while the training company and the parachute division became subordinate to the Life Regiment Hussars. The Parachute Ranger School was discontinued in 2009, and was reorganized into the 323rd Parachute Ranger Company, 32nd Intelligence Battalion (''323. Fallskärmsjägarkompaniet, 32. Underrättelsebataljonen''), which also carry on the traditions of the Parachute Ranger School. Internally, the school's heraldic arms is used by the company.

Current activities

The school is currently responsible for all parachute training within the Swedish Armed Forces. Since the 1980s, FJS became more focused on training units focused on long range reconnaissance which is the parachute rangers' main objective today. The school also trains the elite force ''

'' - Special Operations Group which is an equivalent of the US

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 ...

and British

22 SAS 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 ...

- only part of their training is provided by FJS.

Heraldry and traditions

Colours, standards and guidons

The Swedish Parachute Ranger School presents one colour. It was drawn by Ingrid Lamby and Kristina Holmgård-Åkerberg and embroidered by machine in

appliqué Appliqué is ornamental needlework in which pieces or patches of fabric in different shapes and patterns are sewn or stuck onto a larger piece to form a picture or pattern. It is commonly used as decoration, especially on garments. The technique ...

technique by Engelbrektsson Flag factory. The colour was presented to the then Parachute Ranger Training Corps (FJS) at the Artillery Yard in Stockholm by the Supreme Commander, general

Owe Wiktorin General (Sweden), General Owe Erik Axel Wiktorin (born 7 May 1940) is a retired Swedish Air Force officer. Wiktorin was Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces from 1994 to 2000. His time as Supreme Commander was marked by major cutbacks of ...

on 30 April 1996. It was used as corps colour by FJS until 1 July 2000. The colour may be used according to the decisions of CO K 3.

Blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...

: "On wine red cloth the badge of the school; a spread-out parachute with five cords inside an open chaplet of laurels and in the second and fourth corners the year 1952 divided with two figures in each corner, all yellow."

Coat of arms

The coat of the arms of the Swedish Army Paratroop School (FJS) 1952–1994.

: "Azure, a spread-out parachute with five cords inside an open chaplet of laurel, all or." The coat of arms of the Swedish Paratrooper Training Corps (FJS) 1994–2000 and the Swedish Parachute Ranger School since 2000. Blazon: "Purple, a spread-out parachute with five cords inside an open chaplet of laurel, all or". File:Arméns fallskärmsjägarskola vapen.svg, Coat of arms of the Swedish Army Paratroop School (FJS) 1952–1994. File:Fallskärmsjägarskolan vapen.svg, Coat of the arms of the Swedish Paratrooper Training Corps (FJS) 1994–2000 and the Swedish Parachute Ranger School 2000–present.

Medals

In 2007, the ''Fallskärmsjägarskolans förtjänstmedalj'' ("Swedish Parachute Ranger School Medal of Merit") in gold and silver (FJSGM/SM) of the 8th size was established. The medalj ribbon is of purple moiré with a yellow stripe on each side.

Other

Since 2009, the 323rd Parachute Ranger Company (''323. fallskärmsjägarkompaniet'') continues the traditions of the Swedish Parachute Ranger School. Internally, the school's heraldic arms is used by the company.

Commanding officers

*1952–1953:

*1953–1954: Nils Engelheart *1954–1957: Torsten Nordin *1957–1959: Carl-Olof Wrang *1959–1961: Lars-Erik Sjöström *1961–1962: Magnus Eriksson *1962–1966: Rolf Lundkvist *1966–1971: Magnus Eriksson *1971–1982: Torbjörn Elming *1982–1987: Åke Thörnesjö *1987–1989: Anders Kihl *1989–1990: Rolf Käck *1990–1992: Svante Andersson *1992–1995: Anders Gerhard Lilliestierna *1995–1998: Lars G Ericsson *1998–2000: Björn Olsson *2000–2007: Bo Sköld *2007–2009: Thomas Hagman

History

Current activities

Heraldry and traditions

Colours, standards and guidons

Coat of arms

Medals

Other

Commanding officers

Names, designations and locations

See also

Footnotes

References

Notes

Print

Further reading