Commando

A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite

Originally "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as opposed to an individual in that unit. In other languages, commando and kommando denote a "command", including the sense of a military or an elite special operations unit. In the militaries and governments of most countries, commandos are distinctive in that they specialize in unconventional assault on high-value targets.

In English, to distinguish between an individual commando and a commando unit, the unit is occasionally capitalized.^[2]

Etymology

The term commando originally derives from Latin commendare, to recommend, via the Dutch word kommando, which translates as "a command or order" and also roughly to "mobile infantry regiment". This term originally referred to units of Boer mounted infantry, who fought during the Xhosa Wars and the First and Second Boer Wars. The Dutch word Kommando, in turn, would have originated from the Portuguese term "Comando", used in India in the sense of a group of troops under an autonomous command that performed special missions during a battle or siege. The word was adopted into Afrikaans from interactions with the Portuguese in their nearby African colonies, in whose language the word comando means "command".^[3] In South Africa similar troops operated in small detachments, usually traveling on horseback, and launched rapid attacks against British troops. During the Second World War, both the British and the Germans decided to reuse this term to designate the new special operations troops they had formed (the British designated Commandos and the German Kommandos). Later the term was used by other countries to designate some of their elite forces.

Less likely, it is a

The Oxford English Dictionary ties the English use of the word meaning "[a] member of a body of picked men ..." directly into its Afrikaans' origins:[4]

1943 Combined Operations (Min. of Information) i. Lt. Lieutenant-Colonel D. W. Clarke... produced the outline of a scheme.... The men for this type of irregular warfare should, he suggested, be formed into units to be known as Commandos.... Nor was the historical parallel far-fetched. After the victories of Roberts and Kitchener had scattered the Boer army, the guerrilla tactics of its individual units (which were styled 'Commandos')... prevented decisive victory.... His [sc. Lt.-Col. D. W. Clarke's] ideas were accepted; so also, with some hesitation, was the name Commando.

During World War II, newspaper reports of the deeds of "the commandos" only in the plural led to readers thinking that the singular meant one man rather than one military unit, and this new usage became established.

Selection

Due to the special mental and physiological requirements made of the applicants, there are restrictions entering "commando" units. Applicants have to fulfil special requirements. Selecting applicants with the highest motivation, modern special forces run special selection processes.

Historically there is evidence of selection for the Otdelnly Gwardieskij Batalion Minerow, predecessors of the modern Russian spetznas. Soldiers had to be younger than 30 years, were mostly athletes or hunters and had to show the highest motivation. During training and selection some participants died since they were exhausted and left to their devices.^[5]

The German Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK) demands from their applicants high levels of physical resilience, teamwork, willingness to learn, mental resilience, willpower, sense of responsibility, flexibility, secrecy and adaptation. These skills are proved during assessment.^[6]

The fitness test of the U.S. Navy SEALs tests swimming speed over 500 yards, number of push-ups and sit-ups within 2 minutes, pull-ups and running 1.5 miles.^[7]

Long Range Desert Group hired their personnel after a very long interrogation. First SAS members had to complete a march of 50km, and the Royal Marine commandos tested their applicants' motivation during an obstacle course using real explosives and machine gun fire close to Achnacary in Scotland. The French Foreign Legion assesses their applicants through medical, intelligence, logic, and fitness tests as well as interrogations, small drills and solving small tasks.

Commando soldiers shall think independently. This is the opposite of military tradition but necessary to work in small and smallest groups, avoiding enemies' reconnaissance.^[8]

Boer name origin and adoption by Britain

During the Great Trek, conflicts with Southern African peoples such as the Xhosa and the Zulu caused the Boers to retain the commando system despite being free of colonial laws. Also, the word became used to describe any armed raid. During this period, the Boers also developed guerrilla techniques for use against numerically superior but less mobile bands of natives such as the Zulu, who fought in large, complex formations.^[2]

In the First Boer War, Boer commandos were able to use superior marksmanship, fieldcraft, camouflage and mobility to expel the British (wearing red uniforms, poorly trained in marksmanship and unmounted) from the Transvaal. These tactics were continued throughout the Second Boer War. In the final phase of the war, 25,000 Boers carried out asymmetric warfare against the 450,000-strong British Imperial forces for two years after the British had captured the capitals of the two Boer republics. During these conflicts the word entered the English language, retaining its general Afrikaans meaning of a "militia unit" or a "raid". Robert Baden-Powell recognised the importance of fieldcraft and was inspired to form the scouting movement.

In 1941, Lieutenant-Colonel D. W. Clarke of the British Imperial General Staff, suggested the name commando for specialized raiding units of the British Army Special Service in evocation of the effectiveness and tactics of the Boer commandos.[2] During World War II, American and British publications, confused over the use of the plural "commandos" for that type of British military units, gave rise to the modern common habit of using "a commando" to mean one member of such a unit, or one man engaged on a raiding-type operation.^[2]

Green berets and training

Since the 20th century and World War II in particular, commandos have been set apart from other military units by virtue of their extreme training regimes; these are usually associated with the awarding of

In addition, many Commonwealth nations were part of the original British Commando units. They developed their own national traditions, including the Australian Special Air Service Regiment, the New Zealand Special Air Service, and the Rhodesian Special Air Service, all of whom share (or used to) the same insignia and motto as their British counterparts. During the Second World War, the British SAS quickly adopted sand-coloured berets, since they were almost entirely based in the North African theatre; they used these rather than green berets to distinguish themselves from other British Commando units. (See History of the Special Air Service). Other Commonwealth commando units were formed after the Second World War directly based on the British Commando units, such as the Australian Army Reserve 1st Commando Regiment (Australia), distinct from the Regular Army 2nd Commando Regiment (Australia), who originated from the 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment in 1997 .

The

Commando or special forces operators typically are more emotionally stable, conscientious, and closed minded than matched civilian controls and other types of soldiers.[13]

World War I

Austro-Hungarian assault units

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During the winter of 1914–1915 large parts of the Eastern Front switched to trench warfare. To cope with the new situation many Austro-Hungarian regiments spontaneously formed infantry squads called Jagdkommandos. These squads were named after the specially trained forces of Russian army formed in 1886 and were used to protect against ambushes, to perform reconnaissance and for low intensity fights in no-man's-land.

Austro-Hungarian High army command (Armeeoberkommando, AOK) realized the need for special forces and decided to draw on German experience. Starting in September–October 1916 about 120 officers and 300 NCOs were trained in the German training area in Beuville (near the village of Doncourt) to be the main cadre of the newly raised Austro-Hungarian army assault battalions. The former Jagdkommandos were incorporated into these battalions.

Italy

The first country to establish commando troops was Italy, in the summer 1917, shortly before Germany.^{[citation needed]}

Italy used specialist trench-raiding teams to break the stalemate of static fighting against

World War II

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Australia

The

Z Force, an Australian-British-New Zealand military intelligence commando unit, formed by the Australian Services Reconnaissance Department, also carried out many raiding and reconnaissance operations in the South West Pacific theatre, most notably Operation Jaywick, in which they destroyed tonnes of Japanese shipping at Singapore Harbour. An attempt to replicate this success, with Operation Rimau, resulted in the death of almost all those involved. However, Z Force and other SRD units continued operations until the war's end.

The 2nd Commando Regiment is a special forces unit of the Australian Army and is part of Special Operations Command. The regiment was established on 19 June 2009 when the 4th Battalion RAR (Commando) was renamed.

Canada

A joint

In the Battle of Ilomantsi, soldiers of the 4th disrupted the supply lines of the Soviet artillery, preventing effective fire support. The battalion made over 50 missions in 1943 and just under 100 in 1944, and was disbanded on November 30 of that same year.

In December 1939, following the success of

The German

A report written by Major-General Robert Laycock in 1947 claimed that there was a German raid on a radar station on the Isle of Wight in 1941.^[21][22]

Greece

The Sacred band (

Italy's most renowned commando unit of World War II was Decima Flottiglia MAS ("10th Assault Vehicle Flotilla"), which, from mid-1940, sank or damaged a considerable tonnage of Allied ships in the Mediterranean.

After Italy surrendered in 1943, some of the Decima Flottiglia MAS were on the Allied side of the battle line and fought with the Allies, renaming themselves the Mariassalto. The others fought on the German side and kept their original name but did not operate at sea after 1943, being mostly employed against Italian partisans; some of its men were involved in atrocities against civilians.

In post-war years the Italian marine commandos were re-organised as the "

Japan

In 1944–45, Japanese

pilots of 1944–45.

Nakano School trained intelligence and commando officers and organized commando teams for sabotage and guerrilla warfare.

The navy had commando units "S-toku" (Submarine special attack units, see

Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces of Kure 101st, Sasebo

101st and 102nd.

New Zealand

New Zealand formed the Southern Independent Commando in Fiji 1942.^{[citation needed]}

Poland

Main article:

Cichociemni

Cichociemni (Polish pronunciation:

occupied Poland (Cichociemni Spadochroniarze Armii Krajowej).^[23]

Soviet Union

Voyennaya Razvyedka (Razvedchiki Scouts) are "Military intelligence" personnel/units within larger formations in ground troops, airborne troops and marines. Intelligence battalion in the division, reconnaissance company in the brigade, a reconnaissance platoon in the regiment.[24]^{[page needed]}

Soviet Naval Frogmen The legendary Soviet Naval Scout Viktor Leonov commanded an elite unit of Naval Commandos. The 4th Special Volunteer Detachment was a unit of 70 veterans.^[24] Initially they were confined to performing small scale reconnaissance missions, platoon sized insertions by sea and on occasion on land into Finland and later Norway.^[24] Later they were renamed the 181st Special Reconnaissance Detachment.^[24] They began conducting sabotage missions and raids to snatch prisoners for interrogation.^[24] They would also destroy German ammunition and supply depots, communication centers, and harass enemy troop concentrations along the Finnish and Russian coasts.^{[25][page needed]} After the European conflict ended, Leonov and his men were sent to the Pacific theatre to conduct operations against the Japanese.

United Kingdom

Main article: Commandos (United Kingdom)

In 1940, the

military reconnaissance

forces. They intended them to carry all they needed and not remain in field operations for more than 36 hours. Army Commandos were all volunteers selected from existing soldiers still in Britain.

During the war the British Army Commandos spawned several other famous British units such as the Special Air Service, the Special Boat Service and the Parachute Regiment. The British Army Commandos themselves were never regimented and were disbanded at the end of the war.

The

Cichociemni) to conduct raiding operations in occupied Europe. They also worked in small teams, such as the SAS, which was composed of ten or fewer commandos because that was better for special operations. One example is Norwegian Independent Company 1, which destroyed heavy water facilities

in Norway in 1941.

The Royal Navy also controlled Royal Navy Beach Parties, based on teams formed to control the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940.^[26] These were later known simply as RN Commandos, and they did not see action until they successfully fought for control of the landing beaches (as in the disastrous Dieppe Raid of 19 August 1942). The RN Commandos, including Commando "W" from the Royal Canadian Navy, saw action on D-Day.^[27]

In 1942, the Royal Navy's nine Royal Marines infantry battalions were reorganized as Commandos, numbered from 40 to 48, joining the British Army Commandos in combined Commando Brigades. After the war the Army Commandos were disbanded. The Royal Marines form an enduring Brigade-strength capability as 3 Commando Brigade with supporting Army units.^[28]

The Royal Air Force also formed 15 commando units in 1942, each of which was 150 strong. These units consisted of trained technicians, armourers and maintainers who had volunteered to undertake the commando course. These Royal Air Force Commandos accompanied the Allied invasion forces in all theatres; their main role was to allow the forward operation of friendly fighters by servicing and arming them from captured air fields. However, due to the forward position of these airfields, the RAF Commandos were also trained to secure and make safe these airfields and to help defend them from enemy counterattack.^[29]

United States

Main articles:

Air Commando

During 1941, the

Battle of Guadalcanal, the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, and other parts of the Pacific Ocean Areas. In February 1944 the four Raider battalions were converted to regular Marine units. Additionally, as parachuting special forces units, Paramarines arguably also qualified as commandos^[30]

- though they too were assimilated into regular Marine units in 1944.

In mid-1942, the

Northwest Africa in Operation Torch, again by members of the 1st Ranger Battalion.^{[31][page needed}

]

After 1945

Main article: List of commando units

Israeli

• Operation Entebbe which took place in 1976 at the airport of Entebbe in Entebbe near Kampala Uganda. During the operation Israeli units liberated the passengers of an Air France flight 139 captured by German and Palestinian terrorists ^[32]
• Operation Rooster captured a Soviet radar station in 1969. Four Egyptian technicians were taken as prisoners to Israel.^[33]
• Operation Spring of Youth killed Muhammad Youssef al-Najjar and Kamal Adwan in 1973 in Beirut.^[34]

US

• Operation Neptune Spear killed Osama bin Laden in 2011^[35]
• Operation Irene, failure in capturing wanted criminals involved with the Somali Civil War in 1993^[36]

Terror (non-government)

• 1972: Kommando 2. Juni –
  Springer
  building in Hamburg
• 1977: Kommando Martyr Halimeh – Airplane to Mallorca captured to press free imprisoned members of Rote Armee Fraktion(RAF) and PLO^[37]
• 1986: Kommando Mara Cagol – Red Army Faction bombing of Siemens-Manager Karl Heinz Beckurt
• 2002: Commando of columbian FARC kidnapped Archbishop Jorge Enrique Jiménez Carvajal

See also

References