Special Frontier Force The Special Frontier Force ( SFF ) is a paramilitary special force of India created on 14 November 1962 . Its main goal originally was to conduct covert operations behind Chinese lines in the event of another Indo - China war . The SFF came to be known as ' Establishment 22 ' due to its first Inspector General , Major General ( Retd . ) Sujan Singh Uban of Indian Army , who used to be commander of 22 Mountain Regiment during World War II , a Military Cross holder and a legendary figure in the British India Army . Singh commanded the 22nd Mountain Regiment during World War II in Europe and a Long Range Desert Squadron ( LRDS ) in North Africa . Based in Chakrata , Uttarakhand , the force was put under the direct supervision of the Intelligence Bureau , and later , the Research and Analysis Wing , India ' s external intelligence agency . History . Ethnic Tibetans have been a part and parcel of the modern Indian Army for as long as it has existed . Independent formations of Tibetan ( including Ladakhi , Bön , and Sikkim ese ) units were to patrol and police the lands they were native to . During the time of the Great Game , the British Indian Army began to employ Tibetans as spies , intelligence agents , and even covert militia in northern India and Tibet proper . At the time of Indian independence , the Northern Hills of India remained the most isolated and strategically overlooked territory of the subcontinent . During the 1950s , the American Central Intelligence Agency and the Indian Intelligence Bureau established Mustang Base in Mustang in Nepal , which trained Tibetans in guerilla warfare . The Mustang rebels brought the 14th Dalai Lama to India during the 1959 Tibetan Rebellion . Formation . After the Sino - Indian war and towards the end of 1962 , after hectic lobbying by Intelligence Bureau ( IB ) , the Nehru government ordered the raising of an elite commando unit and specialised mountain divisions primarily composed of Tibetan resistance fighters . Chushi Gangdruk leaders were contacted for recruitment of Khampas into this new unit . An initial strength of 5000 men , mostly Khampas were recruited at its new Mountain Training Facility at Chakrata , Dehradun . The SFF made its home base at Chakrata , 100 km from the city of Dehra Dun . Chakrata was home to the large Tibetan refugee population and was a mountain town in the foothills of the Himalayas . Starting with a force of 12 , 000 men , the SFF commenced six months of training in rock climbing and guerrilla warfare . The Intelligence agencies from India and the US also helped in raising the force ; namely CIA & RAW . The SFF ' s weapons were all provided by the US and consisted mainly of M - 1 , M - 2 and M - 3 machine guns . Heavy weapons were not provided . Established under the direct supervision of the Prime Minister , the unit under the operational command of IB and later R & AW , was designated the Special Frontier Force ( SFF ) , and was primarily used for conducting clandestine intelligence gathering and commando operations along the Chinese Theatre . Initial training was conducted by the CIA paramilitary officers and the IB ' s own special operations unit . In 1968 SFF , with the help of the Aviation Research Centre which provided airlift facilities , became fully airborne - qualified and a dedicated mountain and jungle warfare unit . During this period , the Indian government also formed the Ladakh Scouts and the Nubra Guards paramilitary force on similar lines . SFF was later incorporated in the Special Services Bureau ( SSB ) of R & AW . By late 1963 , inter - service rivalry led to severe criticism by the Indian Army . To prove that the SFF ' s worth , the Inspector General sent 120 men from the SFF for a field exercise , codenamed Garuda , with the Army . The exercise proved to be a dramatic success for the SFF and the Army was now less inclined to criticise the force . In 1964 , the SFF led by the Inspector General , began its airborne training at Agra . The SFF then began its own airborne training program at Sarsawa airbase near Saharanpur . By the late 1960s , the SFF was organised into six battalions for administrative purposes . Each battalion , consisting of six companies , was commanded by Tibetan who had a rank equivalent to a lieutenant colonel in the Army . A Tibetan major or captain commanded each company , which was the primary unit used in operations . Females also participated in the force and they were in the signal and medical companies . During this time , the SFF was never used against its intended enemy , China . However , the unit did conduct limited cross - border reconnaissance operations , as well as highly classified raids to place sensors in the Himalayas to detect Chinese nuclear and missile tests . The Organization . SFF is headed by the Inspector General ( IG ) who works under the supervision of Director General of Security , Cabinet Secretariat ( this post is held ex - officio by the Secretary , Research and Analysis Wing ) ( R & AW ) . The current SFF force levels are around 10 , 000 men . Battalions have a strength of around 900 , are composed of six companies each company consisting of 123 men . There is also a force of around 700 Gorkhas in the SFF at any given time . Transport is provided by the Indian Air Force ' s Sarasawa based 117 Helicopter Unit " Himalayan Dragons " which provides airlift capability with its HAL Dhruv s and Mi - 17Sh Transport Helicopters . ARC also provides air surveillance facilities through the Chakrata Air Base near SFF HQ . Training . Most training is still conducted at Chakrata , initial training lasting nine months and is similar to Indian Army training , with extensive additional courses on guerrilla tactics , mountain and jungle warfare . All commandos are parachute qualified after five jumps , with three refresher jumps every year . SFF personnels are trained in four basic areas : SFF operations . SFF was raised with covert operations in mind , mainly along the Indo - China border , however SFF has been fielded by R & AW and the Indian government in various covert and overt operation theatres . China . In 1964 intelligence reports kept indicating that China was preparing to test a nuclear bomb at its Lop Nor nuclear installation in Xinjiang . On 16 October 1964 China tested a nuclear weapon in Xinjiang . It was expected but not enough details were known . Later in November 1964 , the CIA launched a U2 flight out of Aviation Research Centre ( ARC ) ' s Charbatia Air Base in Orissa , but its return turned out to be a bit of a mishap . The U2 overshot the runway and got stuck in slushy ground caused by heavy rain in the monsoons . Following the normalization of Sino - Indian Relations after Deng Xiao Ping ' s market reform the SFF ceased most of their operations within the PRC . Getting it unstuck and out of India without being noticed by the Indian press , then even much more subject to leftist influences and hence antagonistic to the USA , was another clandestine operation . This gave all concerned quite a scare and it was decided to rely on other technical means . So CIA decided to launch an ELINT operation along with R & AW and ARC to track China ' s nuclear tests and monitor its missile launches . The operation , in the garb of a mountaineering expedition to Nanda Devi involved celebrated Indian climber M S Kohli who along with operatives of Special Frontier Force and CIA ( most notably Jim Rhyne , a veteran STOL pilot ) , was to place a permanent ELINT device , a transceiver powered by a plutonium battery , that could detect and report data on future nuclear tests carried out by China . The plan to install a snooping device was hatched far away in Washington D . C . , in the offices of the National Geographic Society . Barry Bishop , a photographer with the magazine , interested Gen . Curtis LeMay of the US Air Force in the idea . The actual efforts called for to place a permanent electronic intelligence ( ELINT ) device powered by a nuclear SNAP 19C power pack fuel cell . The first attempt to place this device on the Nanda Devi , by a Kohli - led SFF team under the cover of a mountaineering expedition failed as the team had to retreat in the face of adverse conditions and left the device in a small unmarked mountain cave after having hauled the device to just short of the 25 , 645 feet peak . When another Kohli - led expedition returned the following year to recover the device , it was found to be missing . In the meantime the Chinese not only kept testing nuclear weapons at regular intervals but also ballistic missiles . The urgency to gather information was never greater . Another mission was launched in 1967 to place a similar device on the Nanda Kot . This mission was successful but a couple of years later another problem cropped up ; snow would pile up over the antenna and render it blind . So Kohli and a SFF team were sent once again to bring it down , this time they retrieved it successfully . In October 1967 the Chinese began testing an ICBM capable of reaching targets 6000 miles away . There was renewed urgency to find out more . So SFF mountaineers went off on one more mission in December 1969 to successfully place a gas powered device on an undisclosed mountain supposedly in Chinese controlled areas . But by the following year , the US had the first generation of the TRW spy satellites in place and did not have to rely on the old ELINT devices . Indo - Pakistan Military Conflict of 1971 . SFF was extremely successful against Pakistan during the Indo - Pakistan Military Conflict of 1971 . Elements of the force were sent to Mizoram in late November 1971 . A strong Task Force was deployed and conducted pre - emptive strike operations in support of the Indian army formations along the Chittagong Hill Tracts . 1971 saw the SFF being used in major combat in the Indo - Pak war . Elements of the force were sent to Mizoram in late October . By November 1971 , around 3000 SFF members were deployed next to the Chittagong Hill Tracts . With cross - border attacks becoming more frequent , the SFF was then ordered to attack the Chittagong Hill Tracts . For this operation , code - named ' Eagle ' , the SFF members were given Bulgarian AK - 47s and US carbines . This operation saw the first Dapon , Tibetan equivalent of a Brigadier , to command part of the SFF task force . With war right around the corner , the SFF was given several mission plans , including the destruction of the Kaptai Dam and other bridges . The Inspector General urged that the SFF be used to capture Chittagong , but this was found not favourable , since SFF members did not have artillery or airlift support to conduct a mission of that magnitude . After three weeks of border fighting , the SFF divided its six battalions into three columns and moved into East Pakistan on 3 December 1971 . After capturing several villages in the Chittagong Hill Tracts , the Tibetans were given mortars and recoilless rifles and also two Indian Air Force Mi - 4 helicopters . With the Pakistani Lt . General A . A . K . Niazi signing the ceasefire on 17 December , the SFF had lost 56 men and nearly 190 wounded . The SFF was able to block a potential escape route for East Pakistani forces into Burma . They also halted members of Pakistan ' s 97 Independent Brigade and 2 Commando Battalion in the Chittagong Hill Tracts . For their bravery and courage in battle , 580 SFF members were awarded cash prizes by the Indian Govt . In 1973 , the original Inspector General of the SFF was replaced and in 1975 a new rule pertaining to the SFF was issued . This prohibited the SFF from being deployed within 10 km of the Indo - Chinese border . This came about after several incidents in which SFF commandos had crossed the border and conducted unsanctioned cross - border operations . They trained the Bangladeshi underground unit , Mujib Bahini for their secret missions . For the Bangladeshi campaign , designated " Operation Mountain Eagle " , the SFF members were issued Bulgarian AK - 47 ' s and US carbines . SFF conducted several mission , including the destruction of the Kaptai Dam and other bridges . Internal operations . SFF was used in combating communal riots in mid 1970s and later was used in Operation Blue Star in 1984 . It was also used briefly for VIP security in late 1984 around the Prime Minister following the assassination of Indira Gandhi . Later this role fell upon the Special Protection Group . In 1975 a new rule pertaining to the SFF was issued , this prohibited the SFF from being deployed to within 10 km of the Indo - Chinese border unless under explicit instructions . This came about after several incidents in which SFF was found to be conducting unsanctioned cross - border raids and intelligence operations . Currently , one SFF battalion is stationed in the Siachen Glacier . Current roles . With warming of Indo - Chinese relations , SFF has expanded out from covert operations into various other fields like counter - terrorism . The major functions of SFF in the present day scenario are as follows : Counter - terrorism . One Squadron is responsible for counter - terrorism duties , with a team in a constant state of alert . The four squadrons rotate through this role on a six - monthly basis . Special Group teams regularly conduct CT operations in troubled Kashmir against militants on specific intelligence inputs . Special Group . The Director General ( DG ) Security , Research and Analysis Wing ( R & AW ) in 1982 dispatched 500 SFF operatives along with over 500 Indian Army special forces to Sarsawa for Counter Terrorist training . It is also thought that the selected troopers thereafter were sent to Israel for highly specialised training . These men formed the nucleus of an ultra - elite and highly classified new detachment , known as the " Special Group " . It is a volunteer force and persons are inducted only after a very tough probation and selection process . Alone among the ' Vikas regiments ' or SFF battalions , it is not made up of Tibetans but exclusively recruits Indians volunteering from Indian Army units . The SFF Special Group ' s headquarters is supported by an Intelligence and Planning wing , a Training wing and a specialist Signals Troop which is solely responsible for support operations . Having four squadrons each made up of around 100 troopers , which are further divided into four troops . Each troop has a specialised role . The Special Group has a wide range of responsibilities , each requiring specific training and disciplines . Special Group is also the parent unit of elite National Security Guard s ( NSG ) . The NSG was raised after SG participated in Operation Bluestar . It was thought that a paramilitary force not under the Ministry of Defence should be used for counter terrorism operations internally . The NSG is thus led by an IPS officer and comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs , even though the commandos who lead operations are themselves from the army . After the formation of NSG , the Special Group is no longer directly involved in hostage rescue and counter terrorism . Intelligence Gathering . Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol s or Pathfinder s must be able to remain hidden in close proximity to the enemy for days or weeks on end . The outfit was trained to do this against the Chinese but actually used the technique to great success in Pakistan - administered Kashmir and the fields of the northern state of Punjab . Combat Air Control . With the emphasis on air power in modern warfare there comes a need for skilled combat air controllers , men on the ground calling in air strikes . There is usually a trooper specially trained to guide in attack aircraft for a strike , verbally or using laser designator s . SFF Special Group troopers effectively demonstrated this capability during India ' s Kargil conflict with Pakistan in the summer of 1999 . Close Protection . The Special Group , along with the Special Protection Group ( SPG ) were the pioneers at close protection ( CP ) duties in India , having developed many of the protocols themselves , unique to the Indian subcontinent . Nowadays much of the VIP protection is the sole responsibility of the National Security Guards ( NSG ) and other specialised provincial units . Training Foreign Military . Over the years , the Special Group has shared their expertise with a few friendly nations like Maldives and Nepal , training their own special forces .