United Kingdom Special Forces

United Kingdom Special Forces
Founded 1987 (30 years ago)
Country  United Kingdom
Type Directorate
Role Special operations coordination
Size 2,000 personnel (2009)[1]
Part of Ministry of Defence
Commanders
Director Special Forces James Chiswell

The United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) is a Ministry of Defence directorate that provides a joint special operations task force headquarters. The UKSF is commanded by the Director Special Forces. The directorate commands 22 Special Air Service Regiment, the Special Boat Service, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, the Special Forces Support Group, 18 Signal Regiment and the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing.[2][3][4][5][6][7]

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, 18 Signal Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group. Approximately 40% of all UK Special Forces are recruited from the Royal Marines.[8]

Roles and tasks

UKSF assets undertake a number of roles, with a degree of interaction and interoperability:

Units

Following the Army 2020 reforms, the 21st Special Air Service Regiment and 23rd Special Air Service Regiment were moved from the command of UKSF to 1st Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade in 2014.[13][14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "SAS and other special forces to be expanded to defeat al-Qaeda". the telegraph. 25 April 2009.
  2. 1 2 Special Reconnaissance Regiment, publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2014
  3. 1 2 Elite special forces unit set up, BBC. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  4. 1 2 "18 Signal Regiment". Ministry of Defence.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "JSFAW - Responsibilities and Composition". Royal Air Force. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014.
  6. ↑ "SAS(R)". Ministry of Defence.
  7. 1 2 "The secretive sister of the SAS". BBC. 16 November 2001. Retrieved 10 March 2010. (SBS)
  8. ↑ http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/-/media/careers-section-redesign/pdfs/20151027-_440-rm-career-guide-2015-r---specialisms.pdf?la=en-gb, page 78
  9. ↑ "Special Boat Service (Reserve)". Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom). Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  10. ↑ Overstretched SAS calls up part-time troops for Afghanistan, www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2014
  11. 1 2 "PLG Directive 73/07 Part 8, Restricted files - Administration Guide" (PDF). Veterans UK. Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (SPVA). December 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2014.
  12. ↑ Ripley, Tim (November 2015). "Order of Battle; Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing - The Royal Air Force in 2015 (Supplement)". AirForces monthly - Officially The World's Number One Military Aviation Magazine. No. 332. Bourne, Lincolnshire: Key Publishing Ltd. pp. 12,14. ISSN 0955-7091.
  13. ↑ Janes International Defence Review, May 2014, page 4
  14. ↑ Army Briefing Note 120/14, NEWLY FORMED FORCE TROOPS COMMAND SPECIALIST BRIGADES, Quote . It commands all of the Army’s Intelligence, Surveillance and EW assets, and is made up of units specifically from the former 1 MI Bde and 1 Arty Bde, as well as 14 Sig Regt, 21 and 23 SAS(R).
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