Special Operations Volunteer Force The Special Operations Volunteer Force was a special program developed by the British and Malayan authorities during the Malayan Emergency . The unit existed from 1952 until the end of the Emergency in 1960 . Origins . The Malayan Emergency began during the aftermath of the Second World War . As the British tried to repair the Malayan economy , the Malayan Communist Party , or MCP , was organizing protests against labor conditions in the country . As the protests became more effective , the British responded with harsher measures . This in turn caused the protesters to become more militant , culminating in the beginning of organized violence with the assassination of three European plantation managers at Sungai Siput , Perak . An emergency was declared by the British government to deal with the insurgency . Eventually , to counter the insurgency , as part of the plan for dealing with the insurgency , the British implemented the Briggs Plan . In addition to cutting off the guerrillas from the population which supported them , the British made efforts to induce guerrillas to defect . After the assassination of the High Commissioner in 1952 , Lieutenant General Sir Gerald Templer was sent out to head British operations in Malaya . As part of his new program , an emphasis was placed on intelligence and psychological warfare operations . In addition to working at getting better intelligence , as well as forming relations with the locals in the regions where the insurgency had its greatest support , under Templer ' s lead captured insurgents were wooed to the British side . These defectors would eventually be employed in the Special Operations Volunteer Force . Formation . Under Templer ' s direction , psychological warfare was given special emphasis . As part of this strategy , surrendered or captured enemy guerrilla ' s , referred to as " surrendered enemy personnel " or SEPs and " captured enemy personnel " or CEPs , were treated as valuable resources . They were thoroughly debriefed , but always with an eye towards inducing continuing help rather than as a resource to be exhausted . The goal , through bribery or inducement , was to get the SEP / CEP to switch sides and fight on behalf of the government forces . The Special Operations Volunteer Force , or the SOVF , came into existence in 1952 . The program , although a military one , was controlled by the Special Branch . It was formed from surrendered communist insurgents . The goal was to put the guerrilla ' s experience to work for the British . SEP / CEP volunteers to the SOVF committed to serving for 18 months . They were paid at the same rate as the junior police officers and were based in the same police compounds from which other government forces operated . SEP / CEP volunteers were formed into platoons and placed under the command of a British police officer . At the start of the program , there were approximately 180 SEP / CEP volunteers which were formed into twelve platoons , each with 15 former guerrillas and a British police officer . Typically , a SOVF platoon would operate near villages in the region where the disaffected ethnic Chinese , the portion of the population supporting the MCP , lived . In the field , the SOVF platoons operated according to the former guerrillas ' experience . They would dress in clothing similar , carry weapons that the MCP guerrillas carried , and operated according to the same doctrine . However , the SOVF ' s mission was geared equally to inducing further defections . Although SOVF platoons could induce defections , they were also adept at eliminating MCP fighters , as well as spreading confusion among the MCP through so - called psyop and " black " tactics . Life after the SOVF . After completing their tour with the SOVF , the former MCP guerrillas could return to Malayan society with a clean record . However , some SOVF members were deemed to be unsuited to be returned to civil society . For those in that situation , British and Malayan officials would send them to the Kemedore Agricultural Settlement . There , they would work the farms there until their rehabilitation was deemed complete . Impact . As part of the larger policy implemented by Templer , the SOVF helped to undermine the MCP ' s propaganda . The success of the program helped to induce larger numbers of MCP guerrillas defect to the British - Malayan side , reestablishing government control in what had previously been MCP controlled areas . The success of the SOVF , as well as the British success as a whole , became part of the counterinsurgency taught to U . S . officers as the Vietnam War intensified . The American military emulated the SOVF strategy , though not the other components which made it a success , in the Kit Carson Scouts program for communist defectors in Vietnam .