page_title: 68th Special Forces Brigade (Bulgaria)
section_title: Modern Day
hierarchical_section_title: 68th Special Forces Brigade (Bulgaria) / Post Cold War to Present Day / Modern Day
caption_attribution_description: English: Bulgarian Operators of 68th Brigade SF - Dismounted patrol, north of KAIA, Kabul Български: Оператори от 68 бригада "Специални сили" - пеши патрул, северно от летище "Кабул"
context_page_description: The 68th Special Forces Brigade was the unconventional warfare branch of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. As such it was an independent branch, directly subordinated to the Chief of Defence since 1 February 2017. Before that the brigade was within the force structure of the Land Forces. It was one of two Bulgarian military special operations units. The other is the highly capable, but much smaller Naval Special Reconnaissance Detachment, which is a combat frogmen unit, retained within the structure of the Bulgarian Navy. The 68th SF Brigade was transformed into the Joint Special Operations Command on November 1, 2019.
context_section_description: With the increased threat of international terrorist organisations in the 2000s and 2010s the 68th Special Operations Forces Brigade, renamed to 68th Brigade of Special Forces (68ма Бригада специални сили) underwent a moderate renaissance in its special capabilities. The Brigade has deep training ties with similar foreign formations, especially the US Army 10th Special Forces Group, but also the Portuguese Special Forces Brigade in Lamego, the Greek and Romanian special forces, the Serbian Special Operations Brigade etc. The Brigade has renewed its stocks of weapons (of mostly Heckler & Koch and Barrett manufacture, but also relying heavily on Arsenal AD Bulgarian manufactured weapons), special equipment and mobility inventory (Mercedes-Benz Zetros, Actros, G-Wagen, Unimog, HMMWV etc.). It is compatible with NATO operational standards and procedures and its Alpha Task Force Detachment is attached to the NATO Quick Reaction Forces. The exact structure is not publicly known, but its around 1500 service members roughly form:
  Command and Staff
  Command Company
  Signals Company
  2nd Tactical Special Operations Task Force (2ра Тактическа група специални сили, formerly Alpha Task Force Detachment and Alpha Company - Рота Алфа) - the Task Force of 150 special operators was certified by NATO officials during the Inflexible Courage 2017 multinational exercise held in Bulgaria and from 1 January until 31 December 2018 will be on high alert as part of the Special Operations Component Command of the NRF–18 NATO Response Force. This became the standard procedure, as the 1st Tactical Special Operations Task Force was certified at the Inflexible Courage 2016 and is in a 1-year rotation of the NRF-17 Special Operations Component Command.
  1st, 2nd and 3rd SF Battalions (either the 3rd one is a Training battalion or an additional 4th SF Training Battalion is included in the structure)
  Special Forces Training Center at the brigade garrison in Plovdiv, including a Killing House, parachute simulation tower etc.
  Tsrancha Special Forces Training Range
  logistical units
  The Brigade's missions include:
  Special (covert/ clandestine) Reconnaissance (специално разузнаване)
  Irregular Warfare and Counter-Insurgency (водене на партизанска и антипартизанска война)
  Counter-Terrorism (контратероризъм)
  Military Assistance (mentoring of paramilitary forces) (военно подпомагане)
  Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) (бойно търсене и спасяване)
caption: Bulgarian SF in deployment.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-H10", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image DateTime": "2010:04:10 02:39:29", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "2252", "Image XPTitle": "[0, 0]", "Image XPSubject": "[32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, ... ]", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0]", "Image Padding": "[]", "Image OffsetSchema": "4188", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "9", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "125", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:04:10 02:39:29", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:04:10 02:39:29", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "29/8", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "37/2", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "00", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2592", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1944", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "1908"}