Amalgamation of Spl Forces of the Army, Marcos, Garuds for war on terror awaits approval of PM
In a significant move to counter terrorism in the country and neighbourhood besides conduct unconventional warfare and covert operations, the Defence Ministry has approved setting up of a Special Operations Command (SOC). The proposed command will amalgamate elite commandos of Special Forces of the Army, Marine Commandos (MARCOS) of Navy and Garuds of IAF. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by the Prime Minister, will take the final call on it in November.
The CCS will also examine two other proposals cleared by the Defence Ministry to create Space and Cyber Commands. The three Services have agreed to pool their resources for these commands after nearly two years of deliberations. These Commands are a necessity in modern day warfare where synergy amongst all the armed forces is a must to achieve strategic and national objectives.
The SOC will integrate the highly-trained commandos of the three Services to deal with out of area contingencies like warding off any threat to remote islands in Andaman & Nicobar and other such regions in the Indian Ocean.
The SOC of the US was responsible for taking out Osama bin Laden in Pakistan when US Navy SEAL commandos stormed his hideout. The US SOC works in close co-ordination with the CIA in its war against terror.
Phase-I of setting up the SOC in India will involve an amalgamation of manpower and assets of the three Services. Phase-II will see modifications in standard operating procedures (SOPs), once the Command gets operational, sources said here on Saturday.
While the three Services have agreed to have such a command for effective response to any threat without losing time, they will continue to operate in their assigned domains, officials said.
Elaborating upon it, officials said the Special Forces of the Army will continue to carry out anti-insurgency and counter-terrorist operations in Jammu & Kashmir and the North-East besides specialised tasks.
At present, the Special Forces have eight battalions (one battalion has 1,000 men) and they have vast experience of operating in jungles of the North-East, Jammu & Kashmir and as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka. The Army proposes to have two more battalions by the end of next year thereby increasing the strength of Special Forces to ten units.
The one battalion strong MARCOS, raised in the early 1980s, is engaged in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. A small detachment is carrying out specialised tasks in Wular lake in Kashmir. Its commandos came to limelight for the first time when they took on the terrorists for the first few hours after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008. Incidentally, MARCOS also took part in some operations during the IPKF deployment in Sri Lanka.
With a view to guard its airfields and assets like state of the art fighter jets and other sensitive equipment, the IAF raised Garuds commando force five years back.
While the role of these commandos is more or less static, the SOC may see them playing a bigger role, sources said.
As for the command structure of the SOC, a Lt General will head it and equivalent rank officers from IAF and Navy will head the Space and Cyber Commands. Given the expertise in commando operations, the Army will head the SOC while Space Command will have an IAF officer as the chief while a Navy officer will helm the Cyber Command, they said.
The 14-member Naresh Chandra Taskforce on National Security in its report to the Prime Minister last year had also strongly favoured setting up of a SOC. The report was of the opinion that the Indian Special Forces are not being utilised to their full potential and they needed to be brought together under the SOC, which would report directly to the Chiefs of Staff Committee.
Joint command for special op gets nod
Indian Strategic Studies: Joint command for special op gets nod
In a significant move to counter terrorism in the country and neighbourhood besides conduct unconventional warfare and covert operations, the Defence Ministry has approved setting up of a Special Operations Command (SOC). The proposed command will amalgamate elite commandos of Special Forces of the Army, Marine Commandos (MARCOS) of Navy and Garuds of IAF. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by the Prime Minister, will take the final call on it in November.
The CCS will also examine two other proposals cleared by the Defence Ministry to create Space and Cyber Commands. The three Services have agreed to pool their resources for these commands after nearly two years of deliberations. These Commands are a necessity in modern day warfare where synergy amongst all the armed forces is a must to achieve strategic and national objectives.
The SOC will integrate the highly-trained commandos of the three Services to deal with out of area contingencies like warding off any threat to remote islands in Andaman & Nicobar and other such regions in the Indian Ocean.
The SOC of the US was responsible for taking out Osama bin Laden in Pakistan when US Navy SEAL commandos stormed his hideout. The US SOC works in close co-ordination with the CIA in its war against terror.
Phase-I of setting up the SOC in India will involve an amalgamation of manpower and assets of the three Services. Phase-II will see modifications in standard operating procedures (SOPs), once the Command gets operational, sources said here on Saturday.
While the three Services have agreed to have such a command for effective response to any threat without losing time, they will continue to operate in their assigned domains, officials said.
Elaborating upon it, officials said the Special Forces of the Army will continue to carry out anti-insurgency and counter-terrorist operations in Jammu & Kashmir and the North-East besides specialised tasks.
At present, the Special Forces have eight battalions (one battalion has 1,000 men) and they have vast experience of operating in jungles of the North-East, Jammu & Kashmir and as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka. The Army proposes to have two more battalions by the end of next year thereby increasing the strength of Special Forces to ten units.
The one battalion strong MARCOS, raised in the early 1980s, is engaged in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. A small detachment is carrying out specialised tasks in Wular lake in Kashmir. Its commandos came to limelight for the first time when they took on the terrorists for the first few hours after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008. Incidentally, MARCOS also took part in some operations during the IPKF deployment in Sri Lanka.
With a view to guard its airfields and assets like state of the art fighter jets and other sensitive equipment, the IAF raised Garuds commando force five years back.
While the role of these commandos is more or less static, the SOC may see them playing a bigger role, sources said.
As for the command structure of the SOC, a Lt General will head it and equivalent rank officers from IAF and Navy will head the Space and Cyber Commands. Given the expertise in commando operations, the Army will head the SOC while Space Command will have an IAF officer as the chief while a Navy officer will helm the Cyber Command, they said.
The 14-member Naresh Chandra Taskforce on National Security in its report to the Prime Minister last year had also strongly favoured setting up of a SOC. The report was of the opinion that the Indian Special Forces are not being utilised to their full potential and they needed to be brought together under the SOC, which would report directly to the Chiefs of Staff Committee.
Joint command for special op gets nod
Indian Strategic Studies: Joint command for special op gets nod
