| United Kingdom Special Forces | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 1987 (37 years ago) |
| Country |
 United Kingdom |
| Type | Special operations forces |
| Role | Special warfare |
| Part of | Ministry of Defence |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Major-general Mark Carleton-Smith |
The United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) is a Ministry of Defence directorate which provides a joint special operations task force headquarters. The UKSF is commanded by Director Special Forces. The directorate consists of the Special Air Service, Special Boat Service, Special Reconnaissance Regiment, Special Forces Support Group, 18 Signal Regiment and the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Formation
The UKSF was formed in 1987 to draw together the Army's Special Air Service and the Naval Service's Special Boat Squadron, which was renamed the Special Boat Service during the formation, into a unified command, based around the former Director SAS who was given the additional title of Director Special Forces. The directorate has been expanded by the creation of the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, the 18 Signal Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group.
Roles and tasks
UKSF' assets undertake a number of roles, with a degree of interaction and interoperability:
- Counter-terrorism
- Unconventional Warfare
- Covert reconnaissance
- Special reconnaissance
- Direct action
- Close protection
- Counter-revolutionary warfare
- Reconnaissance of the deep battlespace
- Offensive operations in the deep battlespace
- Battlespace preparation in transition to war
- Infrastructure disruption
- Capture of subjects of interest
- Human intelligence (HUMINT) collection
- Defence diplomacy
- Training of other nations' armed forces
Units
- Special Boat Service (Naval Service)[6]
- Special Boat Service (Reserve) (Naval Service)[8]
- 21 Special Air Service (Reserve) (British Army)[5]
- C Squadron[9]
- 22 Special Air Service (British Army)[10]
- 23 Special Air Service (Reserve) (British Army)[5]
- Special Reconnaissance Regiment (British Army)
- 18 Signal Regiment (Royal Corps of Signals, British Army)
- Special Forces Support Group
- A Company (1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment, British Army)[16]
- B Company (1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment, British Army)[16]
- C Company (1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment, British Army)[16]
- F Company (Royal Marines, Naval Service)[2]
- Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing
- 7 Squadron (Royal Air Force)[4]
- 657 Squadron (Army Air Corps, British Army)[4]
- 658 Squadron (Army Air Corps, British Army)[17]
See also
External links
- Official UKSF (Reserve) website
- Artists Rifles Advice & Training, a discussion forum for potential SAS Reserve (21 & 23) recruits
References
- ↑ Special Reconnaissance Regiment, publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Elite special forces unit set up, BBC. Retrieved 21 February 2014 (SFSG and SRS)
- ↑ "18 Signal Regiment". Ministry of Defence. http://www.army.mod.uk/signals/25870.aspx. Retrieved 2013.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Who is Based Here, RAF Odiham. Retrieved 21 February 2014 (JSFAW)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "SAS(R)". Ministry of Defence. http://www.army.mod.uk/specialforces/30603.aspx. Retrieved 2013.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "The secretive sister of the SAS". BBC. 16 November 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1659585.stm. Retrieved 10 March 2010. (SBS)
- ↑ "X-Men lead war on terror". London: The Sun. 21 May 2007. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article90849.ece. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
- ↑ "Special Boat Service (Reserve)". Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom). http://www.army.mod.uk/specialforces/30604.aspx. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- ↑ "21SAS CSQN". Ministry of Defence. https://web.archive.org/web/20100725072308/http://www.armyjobs.mod.uk/south/rolesandregiments/ta/pages/CSquadron21SpecialAirServiceRegiment%28V%29ArtistsRifles.aspx. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- ↑ Overstretched SAS calls up part-time troops for Afghanistan, www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2014
- ↑ "23SAS BSQN". Reserve forces and cadets association. https://web.archive.org/web/20100522000245/http://www.rfca-yorkshire.org.uk/Units/Leeds/B%20Sqn%2023%20SAS.htm. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- ↑ "23SAS DSQN". Ministry of Defence. https://web.archive.org/web/20101105053049/http://www.armyjobs.mod.uk/scotland/rolesandregiments/ta/Pages/DSquadron23SAS%28R%29.aspx. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- ↑ "23SAS GSQN". Ministry of Defence. https://web.archive.org/web/20100405022719/http://www.armyjobs.mod.uk/northwest/rolesandregiments/ta/Pages/GSquadron,23SpecialAirServiceRegiment%28R%29.aspx. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- ↑ "Special Forces Signals (Reserve)". Ministry of Defence. http://www.army.mod.uk/specialforces/30605.aspx. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
- ↑ Corps of Signals. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 1 PARA, www.army.mod.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2014
- ↑ Gary Parsons (January 2014). "News briefs". Stamford: Key Publishing. pp. pg.7.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The original article can be found at United Kingdom Special Forces and the edit history here.