Levina
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Establishment-22 - India's Tibetan troop
In October 1962 China attacked India from two fronts, shocking Nehru and collapsing the efforts to build an amicable relationship with PRC. The war ended with China taking 4000 Indian prisoners of war, it was a defeat for India.The Chinese attack had exposed the vulnerability of the Indian defense network across the Himalayan border.
On his b'day, Nov 14 1962, this Tibetan unit was formally raised with the full support of CIA and Major Sujan Singh Uban was put at the helm of affairs.
The commando group took its intriguing name after the 22 Mountain Regiment that Uban had fought for during WWII. The Establishment-22 made its home base at Chakrata, 100 kilometers from the city of Dehra Dun.
Also a Mustang Base was established in Nepal by establishment-22 and CIA, which trained Tibetans in guerilla warfare. Later the Mustang rebels were used to rescue His Holiness the Dalai Lama from Chinese captivity, into exile in India.
Portrait of Major General Sujan Singh Uban, Inspector General (IG) of Special Frontier Force (SFF)
The Dalai Lama and Maj Gen Uban inspect the SFF at Chakrata - June 1972
All the commandos of establishment- 22 were parachute qualified after five jumps with three refresher jumps every year. It is said that the Tibetans especially excelled as parachutists. When the first airborne exercise was started in the summer of 1963, Major Uban recalled that even cooks and drivers implored for their opportunity to jump.
Indian Air Force officer and parachute instructor of the unit M. K. Anand recounted that “there was even a pregnant lady, the wife of the Tibetan ranking member, serving as rigger, who kept her pregnancy a secret to keep jumping".
The unit achieved distinction of conducting jumps at altitude up to 15,400 feet and its para-jumping exercise at Rambirpur in Ladakh is regarded as one of the world’s highest altitude para-jumping. The unit’s weapons were all provided by US and avoided over-sophistication and expensive gadgets. In 1966 size of the Establishment-22 was doubled and with this the unit was given a new name – Special Frontier Force.
SFF para-jumping exercise at Sarasawa.
In one of the interviews Captain Manmohan Singh Kohli, 78, adviser to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (then called the Frontier Rifles) recalls , "The SFF men were real tough… Once, when we were building a helipad a large rock had to be removed. It needed seven men to lift — even six wouldn’t do. Then, one of the SFF guys said, ‘Put it on my back.’ And he alone carried it about 15 feet and threw it.”
SFF troops during Operation Eagle.
Hank Booth with the top SFF marksmen at his sniper course, December 1967.
Standing at center is Jamba Kalden, the SFF's senior political leader.
(Henry "Hank" Booth,an American, was dispatched in 1967 to offer a class in sniping).
Soon India decided to add Gurkhas to their ranks. In Brigadier Uban's words "the Tibetans were more ferocious,but the Gurkhas were more disciplined." To keep peace within the force, a cap was set at no more than 100 Gurkhas. It was also decided that the two ethnicities would not be mixed, the Gurkhas would be segregated into their own "G Group" at Chakrata. But they would be given the same paramilitary training as in the previous SFF cycles, G Group was relegated primarily to base security and administration. While the Tibetan majority were rotated along the Ladakh and NEFA border in company-size elements.
At one stage to feed the remote SFF outposts along the border, the CIA had enlisted the Kellogg Company to help develop a special tsampa loaded with vitamins and other nutrients.
Since then SFF has participated with exemplary skill in Operation Eagle (securing Chittagong hills during the Bangladesh War of 1971, where 46 soldiers of the regiment died), Operation Bluestar (clearing Amritsar’s Golden Temple in 1984), Operation Meghdoot (securing the Siachen glacier in 1984) and Operation Vijay (war with Pakistan at Kargil in 1999).
Not all the SFF missions were within India's frontier. Back in 1964, an Establishment 22 team had staged a brief but deadly foray from Nepal toward Tingri.
The Tibetan guerrilla formation is India's special frontier force, many young Tibetan Exiles still serve in the Indian Army today and it’s a highly-respected career in the community.
Today for India, SFF may be still necessary for defending its northern border from Pakistan and China. However despite their heroic exploits in the military operations thus far and their continued commitments to safeguarding Indian borders for last fifty years, SFF jawans continue to face discrimination in terms of low pay, no reliable retirement pension and other benefits. These unsung jawans remained extraordinarily resilient and have not shown their weariness in fighting India's war.
Tibetan troops of SFF after victory in Chittagong where they conducted clandestine operations during 1971 war. They are equipped with Bulgarian variants of AK-47 and M-1 Garand rifles supplied by the USA.
Refrences:
Merabsarpa Journal » Special Frontier Force
CIA's secret war in Tibet : Kenneth Conboy and James Morrison
The curious case of establishment 22
******************************************************************************************************************
SFF is something that came to my mind while having a casual chat with @utraash and I have often proudly claimed to be a part of SFF for I think I resemble a gorkhali (which of course was a joke lol).
@DRAY @SarthakGanguly @Phoenix89 @OrionHunter @Abingdonboy @nair @kurup @thesolar65 @Aarush and others.
.
In October 1962 China attacked India from two fronts, shocking Nehru and collapsing the efforts to build an amicable relationship with PRC. The war ended with China taking 4000 Indian prisoners of war, it was a defeat for India.The Chinese attack had exposed the vulnerability of the Indian defense network across the Himalayan border.
On his b'day, Nov 14 1962, this Tibetan unit was formally raised with the full support of CIA and Major Sujan Singh Uban was put at the helm of affairs.
The commando group took its intriguing name after the 22 Mountain Regiment that Uban had fought for during WWII. The Establishment-22 made its home base at Chakrata, 100 kilometers from the city of Dehra Dun.
Also a Mustang Base was established in Nepal by establishment-22 and CIA, which trained Tibetans in guerilla warfare. Later the Mustang rebels were used to rescue His Holiness the Dalai Lama from Chinese captivity, into exile in India.
Portrait of Major General Sujan Singh Uban, Inspector General (IG) of Special Frontier Force (SFF)
The Dalai Lama and Maj Gen Uban inspect the SFF at Chakrata - June 1972
All the commandos of establishment- 22 were parachute qualified after five jumps with three refresher jumps every year. It is said that the Tibetans especially excelled as parachutists. When the first airborne exercise was started in the summer of 1963, Major Uban recalled that even cooks and drivers implored for their opportunity to jump.
Indian Air Force officer and parachute instructor of the unit M. K. Anand recounted that “there was even a pregnant lady, the wife of the Tibetan ranking member, serving as rigger, who kept her pregnancy a secret to keep jumping".
The unit achieved distinction of conducting jumps at altitude up to 15,400 feet and its para-jumping exercise at Rambirpur in Ladakh is regarded as one of the world’s highest altitude para-jumping. The unit’s weapons were all provided by US and avoided over-sophistication and expensive gadgets. In 1966 size of the Establishment-22 was doubled and with this the unit was given a new name – Special Frontier Force.
SFF para-jumping exercise at Sarasawa.
In one of the interviews Captain Manmohan Singh Kohli, 78, adviser to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (then called the Frontier Rifles) recalls , "The SFF men were real tough… Once, when we were building a helipad a large rock had to be removed. It needed seven men to lift — even six wouldn’t do. Then, one of the SFF guys said, ‘Put it on my back.’ And he alone carried it about 15 feet and threw it.”
SFF troops during Operation Eagle.
Hank Booth with the top SFF marksmen at his sniper course, December 1967.
Standing at center is Jamba Kalden, the SFF's senior political leader.
(Henry "Hank" Booth,an American, was dispatched in 1967 to offer a class in sniping).
Soon India decided to add Gurkhas to their ranks. In Brigadier Uban's words "the Tibetans were more ferocious,but the Gurkhas were more disciplined." To keep peace within the force, a cap was set at no more than 100 Gurkhas. It was also decided that the two ethnicities would not be mixed, the Gurkhas would be segregated into their own "G Group" at Chakrata. But they would be given the same paramilitary training as in the previous SFF cycles, G Group was relegated primarily to base security and administration. While the Tibetan majority were rotated along the Ladakh and NEFA border in company-size elements.
At one stage to feed the remote SFF outposts along the border, the CIA had enlisted the Kellogg Company to help develop a special tsampa loaded with vitamins and other nutrients.
Since then SFF has participated with exemplary skill in Operation Eagle (securing Chittagong hills during the Bangladesh War of 1971, where 46 soldiers of the regiment died), Operation Bluestar (clearing Amritsar’s Golden Temple in 1984), Operation Meghdoot (securing the Siachen glacier in 1984) and Operation Vijay (war with Pakistan at Kargil in 1999).
Not all the SFF missions were within India's frontier. Back in 1964, an Establishment 22 team had staged a brief but deadly foray from Nepal toward Tingri.
The Tibetan guerrilla formation is India's special frontier force, many young Tibetan Exiles still serve in the Indian Army today and it’s a highly-respected career in the community.
Today for India, SFF may be still necessary for defending its northern border from Pakistan and China. However despite their heroic exploits in the military operations thus far and their continued commitments to safeguarding Indian borders for last fifty years, SFF jawans continue to face discrimination in terms of low pay, no reliable retirement pension and other benefits. These unsung jawans remained extraordinarily resilient and have not shown their weariness in fighting India's war.
Tibetan troops of SFF after victory in Chittagong where they conducted clandestine operations during 1971 war. They are equipped with Bulgarian variants of AK-47 and M-1 Garand rifles supplied by the USA.
Refrences:
Merabsarpa Journal » Special Frontier Force
CIA's secret war in Tibet : Kenneth Conboy and James Morrison
The curious case of establishment 22
******************************************************************************************************************
SFF is something that came to my mind while having a casual chat with @utraash and I have often proudly claimed to be a part of SFF for I think I resemble a gorkhali (which of course was a joke lol).
@DRAY @SarthakGanguly @Phoenix89 @OrionHunter @Abingdonboy @nair @kurup @thesolar65 @Aarush and others.
.
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But I ain't surprised. No wonder most of these guys are living in a cocoon made by the CPC! 
When people lack freedom, they tend to spout CPC sponsored nonsense! 
