Nigerian Armed Forces Special Force - Some of Their Pictures And Their History

What are the Special Forces?

The Special Forces are made up of several elite military units with distinct areas of expertise. Each has a unique purpose intended to address particular security threats. Personnel are drawn from all three branches of the armed forces.

When were the Special Forces established?

Today’s Special Forces have their origins in the commando units created during the Second World War 1939-1945. But most of these were disbanded in 1945, after the War Office concluded that they were no longer inneed.

Special Forces today

The Special Forces currently consist of the Special Air Service, Special Boat Service and Special Reconnaissance Regiment

The various units' areas of expertise include behind-the-lines operations, undercover raids, counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism, hostage rescue, reconnaissance and covert surveillance.

They are assisted by the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing, who specialise in covert battlefield insertion and extraction, and the Special Forces Support Group.

How do the Special Forces recruit?

Special Forces personnel are recruited from across the three branches of the armed services, but mainly from the Army Navy and Airforce. Most applicants will have completed several years' service with their current unit.

Making the cut

The Special Forces are highly selective. Applicants have to pass extreme physical and psychological tests. Only a small percentage make the cut.

The selection process includes a series of five timed marches across the Brecon Beacons, swimming while wearing kit, a jungle survival course, and tests on evading capture and resisting interrogation.

Determination, endurance, adaptability, and intelligence are just some of the characteristics that instructors look out for.

Once inducted into their units, Special Forces soldiers undertake a process of continuous training to keep up the elite standards required for them to meet challenges that they will face in the field.

Expectations

Physical ability is essential, but it is not enough. Teamwork and creativity are just as important. To conduct a successful mission, Special Forces troops may be required to deliver medical care, communicate in foreign languages, or make precise navigational calculations.

As a result, there is no typical Special Forces soldier. Each person holds a unique combination of qualities and capabilities, and this helps to form an effective team. Sometimes the people who possess the required characteristics are not the obvious candidates.

Origins of the Special Forces

During the Second World War, Britain created a range of special units who undertook a variety of daring operations against the Axis Powers. The bravery and commitment of these forces has become the stuff of legend.

The Commandos

In 1940, the British established a new raiding and reconnaissance force. Well-trained and highly mobile, they were to carry on the war against the Axis after the evacuation from Dunkirk.

Special Air Service

Created during the Second World War, the SAS operated behind enemy lines in North Africa and Europe. Today, its highly trained men are renowned for their skills in covert surveillance, close combat fighting and hostage rescue.

Special Boat Service

This is Britain’s maritime special forces unit. Since the Second World War, its highly trained men have served around the world, on land and at sea, often carrying out daring undercover raids and engaging in marine counter-terrorism.

Nigerian Special Forces

Rewind to the past, specifically to 2014. As terror group Boko Haram grew more brazen, in the North-East particularly, the Nigerian government proceeded to create a Special Forces unit, a team of elite military personnel comprising members of the Nigerian Army, Navy and Air Force.

The unit’s troops were trained in Nigerian Special Forces Training Institutions and also underwent counter terrorist and counter insurgency training in an Eastern European country adept at countering terrorist groups.

In 2017, 26 officers and 440 soldiers of the unit also underwent training in Pakistan, under the Special Services Group, the Pakistani Army’s, famous in the international military community for their successful counter insurgency operations in Afghanistan and the northwest regions of Pakistan.

Nigeria’s military is tasked with preserving the country’s territorial integrity, contributing to national emergencies and security, promoting security in Africa and furthering Nigerian foreign policy, and contributing to global security.

Since independence, Nigeria has experienced five military coups, as well as separatist and religious wars, and these years of military rule has negatively affected the equipment, morale and discipline of the armed forces.

However, the Nigerian military has been undergoing a process of transformation since 2008 and has been expanding and re-equipping.

A Joint Task Force was established to respond to terrorism and other threats in the Niger Delta.

Defence spending has been growing rapidly over the last several years, especially in response to the numerous security challenges the country is facing, notably the Boko Haram insurgency, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea and oil-related crime in the Niger Delta.

Other security issues include civil insecurity and terrorism, religious and ethnic violence, drug trafficking and arms smuggling.

Nigerian Army

The Nigerian Army is the largest of the three branches of service, with some 100 000 personnel, and is facing the brunt of the country’s security challenges, notably the Boko Haram insurgency.

A large portion of the Army’s budget has been spent on improving military facilities and supporting internal security and foreign peacekeeping deployments.

Nigeria has been trying to modernise its Army by making it more professional, more sustainable and more rapidly deployable.

Nigerian Navy

Many of the Nigerian Navy’s vessels are in the best condition now due to the Navy is embarking on a highly ambitious expansion programme that aims to acquire 49 naval vessels and 42 helicopters over the next decade.

A number of vessels have been delivered over the last several years, such as the ex-US Coast Guard Hamilton class cutter Nigirian Navy Ship Thunder, and dozens of inshore patrol vessels.

Nigerian Airforce

After years of neglect, which saw dozens of aircraft like the Jaguar and MiG-21 fleets grounded, the Nigerian Air Force is refurbishing existing airframes and acquiring new types.

It has, and continues to, reactivate stored Charlie -130s, Alpha Jets, and Pumas using domestic and foreign companies like the local Aeronautical Engineering and Technical Services Limited.

Nigeria is slowly growing its local defence industry, with local companies manufacturing everything from small arms to patrol boats.

Modant Marine and the Naval Dockyard have built boats for the Navy notably, the Dockyard in mid 2012 delivered to the Navy the 31 metre Nigerian Navy Ship Andoni patrol boat.

More are under construction. On the land systems side, in July 2012 the Nigerian military commissioned Nigeria’s first locally produced armoured personnel carrier, the Igirigi, built by Defence industries coporation of Nigeria Marom, a joint venture between the industry and Israel’s Marom Dolphin Nigeria Limited.

Established in 1964, the Defence industries also operates an Ordnance Factory in Kaduna, where it makes small arms and ammunition, including assault rifles, machine guns and sub-machine guns.

Its Special Vehicle Plant is carrying out the refurbishment and upgrade of Scorpion light tanks, Steyr tracked armoured personnel carriers.

The local aerospace industry is involved in the maintenance of some Nigerian military aircraft while the Air Force Institute of Technology is developing the Amebo series of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Nigeria has repositioned its military as an African peacekeeping force, it has been and remains, one of Africa’s leading peacekeeping nations and has spent over 10 billion dollars contributing personnel and equipment over the last fifty years.

Since 1995 it has deployed peacekeepers to Liberia, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Sudan (Darfur), Mali and Somalia.