Singapore's SOF

last SG · 2003-04-10T03:43:00+00:00

Hmm lets see Rapaid airborne deployment we have the guards... (Not republican guards.... just guards) Deployable from super pumas and chinooks. Armed with s...

foga SG

so 48 means a battalion strength?

Innocent_Malaysian SG

i think so. or is it a regiment?

foga SG

hmmm... dun know man. i'm from the infantry.
so how about the aifv you've got from turkey?
gonna produce them in malaysia in the future?

Innocent_Malaysian SG

infantry huh?
tell me more

foga SG

the usual lor.
anyway wat's soo interesting about singapore's infantry?
reservist liao anyway...

Innocent_Malaysian SG

what weapon u handle b4?

foga SG

me?
me use M-16S1 ok! dun play play ah!
wat else i use...
bayonnet, helmets and mess tins if you deem fit as e\weapons...

Innocent_Malaysian SG

wah, Rambo ah.

i wont play play....tak berani..
takut kau

foga SG

haha think we getting a bit off topic liao.
so remeber wat i had asked bed\fore?
the other three malaysia spec op forces apart from paskal.
what are they?

Innocent_Malaysian SG

tell and explain 2 morow..im sleeping now

foga SG

good night

Moustache SG

sure we have SOF..by different names..

They are called : republican guard, paramilitary, what ever...ha ha Laughing

De|usi0n SG

wat’s in a name….

Arena SG

Our SOF is actually called Uncle SUNNY
while there are oso a naval SOF called Auntie Rainy

spencer99 SG

And all along I thought ARV means "Armoured Recovery Vehicle"

CenturionMBT SG

funny, i didn’t know their’s are manned.

CenturionMBT SG

Malaysian SOF consists of Grup Gerak Khas (GGK), Pasukan Khas Laut (Paskal), VAT 69 and Unit Tindakan Khas (UTK). Malaysia also has an elite Rapid Deployment Force (a size of a Brigade) called Pasukan Aturgerak Cepat (PAC), but it was not considered as a Special Operations unit.

GGK is the largest SOF element in Malaysia. It is basically a commando regiment in the Malaysian Army Corps. The mission of the GGK is to provide a squadron to locate, report, harass and disrupt the enemy through long range infiltration as well as operating in close collaboration with guerilla or partisan forces. GGK will also plan, prepare for, and when directed, deploy to conduct unconventional warfare, internal defense, special reconnaissance and direct actions etc. in support of Government policy objectives within designated areas of responsibility.

GGK continually train to conduct unconventional warfare in any of its forms - Guerilla / Anti-Guerilla Warfare, Escape and Evasion, Subversion, Sabotage, Counter Terrorist and their most highly regarded expertise - Jungle Warfare. It has an awesome reputation in operations against the communist terrorists. The troopers are also schooled in direct action operations and special reconnaissance. Currently, there are 3 fully equipped regiments (21st, 22nd & 11st GGK). GGK had seen action in Cambodia, Somalia, western Sahara, Namibia and Bosnia among others.

The Royal Malaysian Navy set up its sea commando unit called Special Naval Force or Paskal by its Malay acronym in 1980. The unit was established using commando-trained officers and men from the services Security Regiment. Some of its personnel are stationed in man-made 'islands' in the Spratlys and in strategic areas within the country's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Paskal is equipped with the latest hi-tech weaponry as their operations is partly supported by a group of oil consortium (one of the Paskal's main missions is to protect oil rigs in the Malaysian coastal area).

In those days of communist insurgency, Malaysian police had a paramilitary arm called Pasukan Polis Hutan (PPH). They had several battalions and among them was the elite one, known as 69th Commando Battalion or VAT 69. It was actually formed in 1969 (hence the name - 69). The normal police too had an elite unit - Unit Tindakan Khas (UTK). UTK had a SWAT-like function as well as close protection roles. After the communist terrorist laid down arms in 1989, VAT 69 had problems finding a proper role. Finally on December 1997, the PPH was renamed as Pasukan Gerakan Am (PGA) while UTK and 69th Commando Battalion was disbanded and merged. It was then called Pasukan Gerakan Khas (PGK).

The Royal Malaysian Air Force once had a commando unit codenamed Handau or (maybe) Pasukan Khas TUDM. Officially, Handau is not recognized as an SOF unit by the Malaysian Armed Forces. The tentative "special forces" designation is probably due to the unit's airborne capability. Some GGK members were also roped in to join Handau at its formation. Lately, the RMAF had formed a regiment called the Regimen TUDM containing Handau as well as the CART (Combat Air Rescue Team). The purpose of Regimen TUDM is to conduct combat search and rescue mission (CSAR) to recover downed pilots behind enemy lines or hostile territory, but they are much more popular with life-saving services to the civilians (courtesy flights etc.). Other than that, Regimen TUDM may also search and eliminate enemy troops who execute sabotage against RMAF air bases.

CenturionMBT SG

Grup Gerak Khas

In handling the problems arising from the Confrontation in 1965, the Honorable Tun Abd Razak bin Dato Hussien who was the Defence Minister, issued a specified instruction to form an experimental task force unit. The Ministry of Defence then came out with instructions for volunteers and a number of volunteers from the Army and the Navy took the challenge. On 25th of February 1965, an introductory training was conducted by 40th British Royal Marine Commando at Majidee Camp, Johore Baharu, Johore.
From the 300 volunteers who enrolled, only 15 were selected to undergo the 6 weeks Basic Commando course. On completion, only 4 Officers and 9 Other Ranks managed to get through. They were:

Major Abu Hassan bin Abdullah (Colonel Retired)
Lieutenant Mohd Ramli bin Ismail (Major General Retired)
Second Lieutenant Ghazali bin Ibrahim (Major General Retired)
Second Lieutenant Hussin bin Awang Senik (Colonel Retired)
6842 Sergeant Ariffin bin Mohamad
300152 Sergeant Anuar bin Talib
4861 Sergeant Zakaria bin Adas
201128 Sergeant Yahya bin Darus
202072 Corporal Silva Dorai
203712 Corporal Moo Kee Fah
13852 Lance Corporal Johari bin Haji Morhd Siraj
10622 Lance Corporal Sabri bin Ahmad
This achievement proved that Malaysians were capable of undertaking whatever roles and tasks given. With the guidance from the instructors from the 40th British Royal Marine Commando, the Special Service Group began expanding and in that year alone, they conducted 6 courses of Basic Commando.

Major Abu Hassan bin Abdullah was the First Commanding Officer of the The Malaysian Special Service Group (MSSG), and Sergeant Ariffin became the first Squadron Sergeant Major. In late 1965, the strength of MSSG was 70%. In keeping with the development of the Armed Forces; officers and other ranks were sent abroad for specialized courses such as airborne, rigger, special operations forces, ranger and amphibious.

MSSG also conducted joint training with foreign Special Operations Forces. MSSG took part in operations in East Malaysia and during the 13 May 1969 incident. After the Confrontation in 1967, there were discussions whether to disband or continue the special forces unit. The argument was that the financial implication of MSSG unit is similar to that of maintaining two Infantry Battalions. Despite the argument, MSSG was moved to Segenting Camp, Port Dickson in 1968.

The confrontation and the 13 May incident proved that the MSSG is an asset to the government and should remain and further expanded to a regiment. In deploying all the new units and elements, MSSG was then moved to Sungai Udang Camp, Malacca and on 1 August 1970, the first Special Service Regiment was formed. The Special Service Group was accredited in 1971 but its members still belonged to their respective 'corps'. This situation however caused problems in the personnel career planning. To avoid these problems, volunteers were enlisted to join the Special Forces. In 1973, the corps was assigned with 6 officers.

CenturionMBT SG

Paskal

History of Paskal or Pasukan Khas Laut began in 1975, when The Royal Malaysian Navy saw a need for a security regiment trained in modern maritime warfare. It's main purpose is to protect naval bases all over Malaysia. At that time, the RMN main base was still at KD Malaya (Woodlands, Singapore).

The first batch of 30 officers and men were sent to Surabaya, Indonesia and they were initially trained by instructors from KOPASKA (TNI-AL / Indonesian Navy Underwater Combat Unit ).

On 1st October 1980, Paskal was officially established when the Government started to enforced the EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) on Malaysian waters. Other than that, there was also a requirement to protect Malaysian offshore stations near the islands of dispute, Spratly. Paskal was actually the first team sent to occupy Layang-Layang atoll on behalf of the Government.

CenturionMBT SG

VAT 69 / UTK

In those days of communist insurgency, The Royal Malaysian Police had a paramilitary arm called Pasukan Polis Hutan (PPH). They had several battalions and among them was the elite one, known as 69th Commando Battalion or VAT 69. The normal police too had an elite unit - Unit Tindakan Khas (UTK). UTK had a SWAT-like function as well as close protection roles. After the communist terrorist laid down arms in 1989, VAT 69 had problems finding a proper role. Finally on December 1997, the PPH was renamed as Pasukan Gerakan Am (PGA) while UTK and VAT 69 was disbanded and merged. It was then called Pasukan Gerakan Khas (PGK).

The history of VAT 69 began when the Honorable Allahyarham Tun Dr. Ismail who was the Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security, proposed the formation of a special unit trained for fighting the communist terrorist. It was actually formed in 1969 (hence the name - 69). The establishment of VAT 69 was inline with Royal Malaysian Police requirement to create a small combat unit with the same tactics and technique just like the communist terrorist.

In October 1969, about 1600 PPH personnel from several battalions volunteered to join VAT 69. After the selection process, only 60 personnel were qualified to undergo basic commando training. As the formation of VAT 69 were highly classified, all training was conducted at Fort Kemar, located deep in the jungle of Perak where transportation are limited to helicopter and small aircraft only.

The first training was supervised by a group of instructors from British SAS (Special Air Service). On completion, only 30 personnel managed to get through. They actually formed the first troop of 69th Commando Battalion. In 1977, New Zealand SAS was involved in training 3 new squadrons of VAT 69. A special course to train VAT 69's own instructors were also conducted. Finally, the expansion program completed in 1980 in which VAT 69 now had 4 fully equipped infantry squadrons with it's own logistic unit.

It was not known when actually the UTK had been formed. UTK were also trained by British SAS and they operate in a very different way from the typical American SWAT teams. They have approximately 100 plus members and the selection phase is so tough that the passing rate was supposedly 20 - 10% only. Even the selection process reflects SAS influence. UTK personnel mostly uses handguns / pistols (Sig-Sauers) and prefer to be in undercover roles. Just like GGK, the UTK were also involved in The 16th Commonwealth Games security measures.

Both VAT 69 and UTK have very good records and they are very low profile, especially - the UTK. As for VAT 69, they were used against the pirates who terrorized the coastal towns of Sabah, one of the states in East Malaysia. After the deployment of VAT 69, the piracy attacks had almost stopped.

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