Special Service Group
The Pakistan Army Special Service Group or SSG is the special forces unit of the Pakistan Army. They are also known by their nickname of "Maroon Berets" due to their headgear. The SSG is responsible to deploy and execute five doctrinal missions: foreign internal defence, reconnaissance, direct action, counter-terrorism operations, and unconventional warfare. Other operational roles and responsibilities attributed to the SSG include: search and rescue, counter-proliferation, search and destroy, hostage rescue, information operations, peacekeeping missions, psychological operations, security assistance, and HVT manhunts. Chain of command and control of the SSG falls within the domain  of the Pakistan Army's Strategic Forces Command (ASFC), and its personnel are directly recruited into the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)'s counter-terrorism division upon their retirements. Much of the SSG's activities and operations are shrouded in secrecy and public knowledge of their work is heavily controlled through selective declassified documents and published literary works by retired military veterans or authorized media. History. Roots of establishment. In 1950, the Pakistan Army established the school, Close Quarter Battle School, dedicated for teaching the methods of close quarters combat under Colonel Grant Taylor of the British Army in Quetta, Balochistan  in Pakistan– the school was later moved to Attock under Colonel Kahoon, also an officer in the British Army. Citing unknown and unspecified reasons, the Close Quarter Battle School under Col. Kahoon was permanently closed and its passed out personnel who had earlier formed the 312th Garrison Company (312 Gar Coy (FF)), a light infantry, initially attached the military unit to the Frontier Force Regiment (FF Regiment) in 1952— the 312 Gar Coy (FF) still remains to be a part of the Frontier Force Regiment. Creation from the 19th Regiment. In 1953–54, the United States Army raised a special forces  unit within the Pakistan Army to provide intelligence and combat defense against Soviet Union's expanding sphere of influence in the Central Asia. The U.S. assistance helped raise the special forces unit from the simple infantry regiment, the 19th Baloch, that provided an ideal cover from its covert nature of works. In 1955, the 17th Baloch infantry was incorporated with the 19th Baloch, followed by the special forces training began to conduct under Lt Col. Donald W. Bunte from the Special Forces of the United States Army. On 23 March 1956, the Special Service Group (SSG) was established as a  Battalion under the command of its first commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel A. O. Mitha, after founding the School of Special Operations (SSO) under the advisement of army officers from the U.S. Army's Special Forces. The Special Service Group's institution and the physical training remained under the command of Lt-Col. Mitha until 1961–62. The headquarter of the Army Special Service Group was then based out in Cherat, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. Initially, the SSG were popular as the Green Berets with Baloch insignia in the 1950s, but SSG dropped their green berets in favor of adopting the Baloch  Regiment's maroon berets– hence giving them the nickname the Maroon Berets. In 1964, the Parachute Training School (PTS) was established under the watchful guidance of 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army, and training on the desert warfare with U.S. Special Forces' Mobile Training Team begin, followed by the Navy SSG established by the U.S. Navy SEALs as a deep diving team, which was known for its physical training in Karachi in 1966–70. In 1970, the Musa Company was established that solely specialized in anti-terrorist operations, receiving training from the British SAS advisers after U.S. had suspended the  IMET program with Pakistan in 1981. The Army SSG initially had six battalions and each battalion had specialization units, specialized in the different war spectrum: desert, mountain, long-distance ranger, and deep diving warfare. In August 1965, the operational scope of the Army SSG was expanded from a battalion-size to larger special operation outfit. In 1968–70, the Pakistan Army integrated the Chinese introduced physical training, tactics, weapons, and equipments. Deployments and covert operations. Covert actions, Indo-Pakistani wars, and overseas missions. The first war time deployment of the Army Special Service Group took place in 1960 with their first  special reconnaissance mission in the former tribal belt near the porous Durand Line– the Afghanistan-Pakistan's line of international border. In 1960–61, the Army Special Forces team under Major Mirza Aslam Beg had successfully inserted in Dir and took control of the law and order situation be removing the instigating Nawab of Dir in Chitral in North-West Frontier Province. In 1964–65, the teams of Special Service Group successfully executed the covert operation in Indian-administered Kashmir but the operation failed from the very beginning due to lack of understanding of the local culture and language, eventually met with  hostility with locals who alerted the Indian government authorities. The second war with India saw the testing and shaping of the Army Special Service Group when the Indian Army charged and invaded the Pakistan-side of Punjab in response to the covert actions took place in Indian Administered Kashmir. The airborne missions of the Army Special Service Group included performing the combat parachuting at the Indian airbases with an intention of launching a ground assaults in the Indian Air Force's air stations in Pathankot, Adampur, and the Halwara. 180 SSG commandos boarded a Pakistan Air Force's C-130 Hercules , the three airborne formations were flown detected on the night of 7 September 1965, first performing combat jumping at Pathankot at 02:30 hours but the wind velocity led to the scattering of the teams, due to the difficult terrain and poor visibility, none of the teams were able to re-group after the drop. Of the 180 commandos dropped, 138, including all officers but one, were captured and safely taken to prisoner of war (POW) camps. Twenty-two were lynched by villagers armed with sticks, police and even bands of muleteers released by the Indian Army, from the animal transport  battalion of the nearby Corps headquarters. Only 20 commandos were unaccounted for and most escaped back to Pakistan under the fog. Most of these were from the Pathankot group, dropped less than 10 km from the border in an area that had plenty of ravines, riverine tracks to navigate back along. One notable, commando-style escape was of Major Hazur Hasnain, the Halwara group commander who, along with his friend, hijacked a jeep and somehow managed to return safe. The Pakistani accounts, the latest of which comes now from several participants in the wake of the 1965 at 50 commemorations , acknowledged the SSG-commando disaster but blamed it on poor briefing, planning and callous arrogance of the commanders. Some of these former Pakistani soldiers even write about having met some of these paratroopers and exchanged notes with them on how badly planned the operation was. Here is the account of Col SG Mehdi, himself a commando officer then. By 1970–71, the Pakistan Army had permanently posted one Army Special Service Group 3rd Commando Battalion in East-Pakistan under Lt-Col. Tariq Mehmood, begin working with local authorities in maintaining security situation in the East-Pakistan, near the border of Eastern  India. The performance of the Army Special Service Group was reported to be much better than their performance in 1965, with 1st Command Battalion (Yaldram) and 2nd Commando Battalion (Rahber) engaged in several of their successful sabotage missions against the Indian Army's artillery and infantry regiments, while the 3rd Command Battalion in East oriented towards successfully engaging in the seek and destroy missions. Their final mission included the mounting of the successful defense of the Shahjalal International Airport against the Indian Army-backed "Mukti Bahini", and were the last army special forces formation that had departed from the airport  before the Dacca fall to India on 16 December 1971. From 1972–77, the Pakistan Army went into reorganization and major restructuring of its combat services but the Army Special Service Group remained active in successfully tackling the armed insurgency in Balochistan in Pakistan. War in Afghanistan and Sri Lankan civil war. In 1979–89, the Army Special Service Group had been seconded in covert actions in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union's armed intervention. There have been unconfirmed reports of the Army Special Service Group engaging in armed battles with the Soviet paratroopers in incidents including the Battle for Hill 3234  and the Operation Magistral. When the Battle for Hill 3234 concluded, the Soviet paratroopers found that the Afghan mujaheddin actually wore the black uniforms with rectangular black-yellow-red stripes, and suspected to be Army Special Service Group personnel; Pakistan's government has officially denied their involvement. The American author, Aukai Collins, identified the elements as "Black Storks" who crossed the border to join the Afghan mujahideen – a claim also backed by American author, David Campbell. Another battle was taken place between the Soviet paratroopers and the Afghan mujahideen in Kunar in 1986 that suspected the Army Special Service Group 's involvement but the Russians dismissed the claim and noted that the battle was fought between the GRU's 15th Spetsnaz Brigade and Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf's group. Siachen, Kargil, and War on Terror in Afghanistan. When the Indian Army's successful expedition took control of the Siachen Glacier from Pakistan, the ISI's Covert Action Division (CAD) inserted in the region, confirming the intrusion and movement of Indian Army soldiers in 1983. The Army Special Service Group was immediately deployed to engage in the armed battle with the Indian Army at above sea level. Led by Captain Muhammad  Iqbal, the only 12-men Army Special Service team had to hiked at the to reach the Indian Army's resting camp. Battle with Indian Army ensued and Special Service Group commandos lost the battle and had to retreat to lower heights of Siachen Glacier, giving Indians one of the first victories in Siachen Glacier battle ground Over the years, the Army Special Service Group have not developed expertise in high altitude warfare, but are regularly deployed in Siachen. Army Special Service Group activities included the hike towards the mountains in Kargil in 1999 but the Indian Army soon discovered  Infantry regiments movements resulting in another massive assault on Pakistan that resulted in defeat of Pakistani forces. Since 2001, the Army Special Forces have been engaged in counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan and remote areas in areas adjacent to Afghanistan—their notable antiterror operation included the successful clearance of the Red Mosque in Islamabad from al-Qaeda sympathizers. The Army Special Forces teams also taken parts in raiding and attacking the terrorists elements in near border with Afghanistan, working often with U.S. Army's Special Forces in Afghanistan. In 2014, the Army Special Service Group reportedly successful in their  manhunt operation after targeting and killing of Adnan Gulshair, a Saudi citizen known as the Global Operations Chief of al-Qaeda. In January 2013, India accused Pakistan that Army Special Service Group led an attack across the Line of Control in which Indian soldiers were killed and beheaded. Later in August 2013, a patrol of five Indian soldiers were killed 450 metres inside Indian territory, which India also believes was a handiwork of the " Musa company" of Pakistan Army Special Service Group, who works in conjunction with terrorists. These raids are part of cross border raids launched by Pakistan. Organizational  structure. Due to their selection competitiveness, demanding military physicals, and commitment required per standard of the Army's Special Forces, the Special Service Group was restricted to the Brigade level until June 2003. On 14 June 2003, the major reorganization in the structure of the Army Special Service Group took place when the special forces were moved as a military division with Major-General A. F. Alvi becoming the first general officer commanding (GOC). In an official documentary recognized and known structure of the Army Special Service Group given in "YouTube" is given below: Notes: Source of officially recognized and  known structure of the Army Special Service Group given in "YouTube". The early organizational structure of the Army's Special Service Group was initially based on the regimental system, with three battalions specialized in the military diving, airborne, mountain warfare techniques. After the third war with India in 1971, the Army Special Service Group was expanded with the eight battalions that specialized in their own set of war course of actions–each battalions is specialized in their criterion of war and are considered specialists in their fields. The headquarter of the Army Special Service Group was based in Cherat where  the special forces schools are located but this changed with the brigade combat teams (BCTs) being deployed in different parts of the country. The operational responsibility of the special operations conducted by the Army Special Service Group, nonetheless, falls under the command of the Army Strategic Forces Command (ASFC) operating from the Army GHQ in Rawalpindi, along with the Army Rangers and Strategic Plans Division Force–the CBRN defense team. Battalions in the Special Forces. The Special Service Group is organized in eight battalions and three companies– all trained and specialists in the specific type of war operations. In common  practice and military formation, the Battalions typically consists of between ~300–800 personnel, but the department of army has never issued an actual strength number of its personnel serving in the battalions in the special forces. The official strength number of serving personnel in each battalions is subjected to the classified information. In Pakistan Army, the Special Forces battalions are typically commanded by the lieutenant-colonels (varies, and depends on availability), and the battalions are organized into the groups under the command of the serving colonels. The command of the Army's Special Service Group (Army SSG) is under the command  of the Major-General whose identity is also kept in secrecy, along with other army personnel, citing security. Sources:. "For a description of the modern special forces, see: global context of the Special forces." Selection and training. Qualifications and physicals. The Army specialist recruiter teams usually visit the different headquarters of the army's formation, distributing the pamphlets to the officers at OF-1 rank and enlisted personnel. The military physical standards, examinations, and criteria are same for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines' special forces selections and training, often training in close coordination. The Navy Special Service Group (SSGN ) plays an important role in the overall architecture of the special operations forces, their qualification standards, fitness at all levels, and eligibility required for the security clearances. There are three schools that the overall basic eligibility requirements to be considered for entry into the schools of the Special Forces are: Selection and training. The medical standards in various physical courses into the entrance in the maintained to be very high and extremely competitive, resulting in a major dropouts at the very early stage of selection, according to the Pakistan Army's official report in 2013. The Pakistan Army's Medical  Corps keeps the qualification and selections standards difficult and competitive in the Pakistani military to only ensure that the suitable and qualified intakes in the Special Forces in the Pakistan military as the special forces cannot be mass-produced nor it can arise in the extenuating situations. Prior to joining the Special Service Group, the interested junior army officers (usually at OF-1 and OF-2) and enlisted personnel must have spent their committed military careers for at least five years and must be volunteered to join the Special Service Group. Once selected through successfully undergoing through the medical evaluation, the  interested personnel must report to the Parachute Training School in Peshawar to volunteer for the airborne training, and must get the airborne qualification badge from the airborne training school. The airborne training course held for four weeks where the interested personnel must excelled the HALO/HAHO methods with five-day jumps and three-night military free fall. After gaining their airborne qualification badge, the army personnel then reports to Cherat from Peshawar– a nominal distance between two cities is approximated between – engage through this journey by the foot while wearing their full military gear (30 kilograms). The interested individual must  undergoes a 24-week of military training and training process once reported to Cherat. The training courses in the Special Service Group emphasis strong physical conditioning and mental fitness, including the everyday based surprised strategic thinking quiz and a 36-mile march in 12 hours. Violation of the military code and ethics by the trainee soldier resulted in including the march from Cherat to Chapri with full military gear. The curriculum of the basic military training course included the mastery in Judo and Karateka, special weapons training, military navigation, and handling and disarming of the chemical explosives, survival skill training . There are schools of special warfare that the trainee soldier chooses: Snow and High Altitude School, Mountain Warfare School, Airborne Warfare School, Desert Warfare School, Sniper School, and Frogman School. These schools offers the advanced training courses which runs for additional 25–30 weeks (depending on student's choosing of his career), and only successfully passed out personnel are awarded with badges of their specialized fields by their specialized school faculty. The dropout rates of Special Service Group(Army) is 85 to 90 Percent because of extremely tough training process. Every year, thousands of Applicants apply to join the SSG but at  the end, maximum of 100 to 120 cadets get their recommendation letter for Special Service Group. The army personnel interested in the underwater demolition must be trained with their Navy counterparts in Manora Island in the Karachi coast including being qualified to get their long-range swimming qualification badge from the Naval authorities. The Special Service Group criteria meet special forces training and selection criteria of the United States Army, and Special Service Group's personnel are regularly sent to the United States to collaborate with the American Special Forces personnel for further training in special warfare and tactics. Interaction  with other special forces. Since its establishment in 1956, the Army Special Service Group have been regularly interacted and trained together with the United States Army Special Forces–though the Pakistan Army's infantry branch had first participated in "Exercise Vulcan" and "Exercise Handicap" in 1954. Besides training and the interaction with the United States Army, Pakistan Army Special Service Group have held joint special warfare training exercises with the Special Air Service (SAS) of the British Army, Special Forces Command of the Turkish Land Forces, Special Operation Forces of the Royal Jordanian Army, the Special Operation Forces of the  Chinese People's Liberation Army Ground Forces, and the Spetsnaz of the Russian Ground Forces. For their overseas deployment for the purpose of the education and training, the Special Service Group have been deployed in Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Bahrain, Maldives, United Arab Emirates, Turkmenistan, Egypt, Japan, and Iraq where its operatives have overseen the friendly nations special forces programs. Since 1998, the Army Special Service Group biannually conducts the military exercise with the Turkish Land Forces's Special Forces, which have been designated as the ""Jinnah–Atatürk Series"." The military exercise held in Pakistan is known as ""Atatürk  Exercise"" while in Turkey, it is known as ""Jinnah Exercise"." The first of these series of exercise were held in Pakistan, with twenty-one Turkish Land Forces officers and fourteen enlists coming to Pakistan for the exercise– Pakistan reciprocated the visit in 2000. The "Jinnah-Atatürk Series" are oriented and focused towards the snow, high-altitude, and mountain warfare." With renewed military relations with the United States Army in the 1990s, the Army Special Service Group conducted several military exercises with the United States Army Special Forces (SF), known as the ""Exercise Inspired Venture/Gambit"", with first being held in  1993. The "Exercise Inspired Venture/Gambit" is oriented and directed towards focusing on special weapon familiarization, mountain warfare, night time assaults, air assault techniques in counter-terrorism measures. Since 2006, the Army Special Service Group also conducts training with the People's Liberation Army Ground Forces Special Operation Forces, which is known as the "Pakistan-China Joint Exercise Friendship"– this exercise is oriented towards tackling insurgencies and improving methods in counterterrorism. In 2008–09, the Army Special Service Group, together with the United States Army Special Forces, participated in the multinational security exercise, the Operation Bright Star, held in Alexandria in  Egypt in 2009 to train with the Thunderbolt Forces of the Egyptian Army. In 2016, the Army Special Service Group conducted the annual military exercise with the Russian Ground Forces' Spetsnaz–the Russo-Pakistani military exercise is known as "Druzhba" (lit. Friendship). The "Druzhba" with Russian Spetsnaz are oriented and focused towards mountain warfare and tactics in counterterrorism in taking out and eliminating the terrorist organizations with first being held in 2016 and the recent being held in 2018. Notable members. ! Name and Members!! Portrait !! Notes Rank !! Notes on Credentials