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Sri Lanka Army Special Forces Regiment
The Special Forces Regiment (SF) ( Sinhala: විශේෂ බලකාය ''Visēsha Balakāya''; Tamil: சிறப்பு படைகள் ரெஜிமென்ட்) is a special forces unit of the Sri Lanka Army. Founded in 1986 as a combat tracker team , it was established as a regiment in 1988, and later expanded into a brigade. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terrorism, direct action and covert reconnaissance. Much like the British Army Special Air Service, much of the information about the SF is highly classified due to the secrecy and sensitivity of its operations. The Special Forces Regiment currently consists of four regular battalions organized into the Special Forces Brigade, under the operational command of I Corps forming its Special Operations Force along with the Commando Brigade. History With the escalation of the Sri Lankan Civil War in the mid 1980's the Sri Lanka Army formed a "Combat Tracker Team" in 1985 to condu ...
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Mahesh Senanayake
General N.U.M. Mahesh W. Senanayke, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP is a retired Sri Lankan Army officer who served as the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army from 2017 to 2019. Senanayake had previously been the Commander, Security Forces Headquarters – Jaffna, General Officer Commanding, 52 Division and Brigade Commander, Special Forces Brigade. Having started his military career as a military engineer, Senanayake became a special forces officer and is a veteran of all four phases of the Sri Lankan Civil War, he has served in both its Northern and Eastern theaters. Following his retirement, he contested the 2019 Sri Lankan presidential election and came fourth after the three candidates of the three major political parties in the island. Education Educated at Ananda College, Colombo, he holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Pune and is a graduate of the United States Army Command and General Staff College. Military career Early career Se ...
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Special Forces
Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special forces emerged in the early 20th century, with a significant growth in the field during the Second World War, when "every major army involved in the fighting" created formations devoted to special operations behind enemy lines. Depending on the country, special forces may perform functions including airborne operations, counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, foreign internal defense, covert ops, direct action, hostage rescue, high-value targets/manhunt, intelligence operations, mobility operations, and unconventional warfare. In Russian-speaking countries, special forces of any country are typically called , an acronym for "special purpose". In the United ...
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Regiment
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted in one geographical area, by a leader who was often also the feudal lord ''in capite'' of the soldiers. Lesser barons of knightly rank could be expected to muster or hire a company or battalion from their manorial estate. By the end of the 17th century, infantry regiments in most European armies were permanent units, with approximately 800 men and commanded by a colonel. Definitions During the modern era, the word "regiment" – much like " corps" – may have two somewhat divergent meanings, which refer to two distinct roles: # a front-line military formation; or # an administrative or ceremonial unit. In many armies, the first role has been assumed by independent battalions, battlegroups, task forces, brigades and other, si ...
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Gamini Hettiarachchi (military Officer)
Major General Gamini Hettiarachchi, WWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP is a retired Sri Lankan Army officer who served as the Commander, Security Forces Headquarters – East, General Officer Commanding, 21 Division and Brigade Commander, Special Forces Brigade. Having founded the Special Forces Regiment of the Sri Lankan Army, he is known as the "Father of the Special Forces Regiment". Hettiarachchi joined the Sri Lanka Army as a cadet officer in 1973 and received his basic training at the Army Training Center in Diyatalawa. On completing his training he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Sri Lanka Armoured Corps (SLAC). He served as a Troop Commander and a Squadron Commander in the 1st Reconnaissance Regiment, SLAC. In 1985, the army formed a Combat Tracker Team under the command of Major Hettiarachchi consisting of two officers and 38 men to conduct direct action and covert reconnaissance against LTTE units operating in the thick jungles in the northern part of the i ...
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LTTE
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, translit=Damiḷa īḷām vimukthi koṭi; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization that was based in northeastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the north-east of the island, due to the continuous discrimination and violent persecution against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese dominated Sri Lankan Government.T. Sabaratnam, Pirapaharan, Volume 1, Introduction (2003)T. Sabaratnam, Pirapaharan, Volume 1, Chapter 1: Why didn't he hit back? (2003) Violent persecution erupted in the form of the 1956 and 1958 anti-Tamil pogroms which were carried out by majority Sinhalese mobs often with state support following the passing of the 1956 Sinhala Only Act. Founded ...
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Direct Action (military)
Direct action (DA) is a term used in the context of military special operations for small-scale raids, ambushes, sabotage or similar actions. The US Department of Defense has defined direct action as "Short-duration strikes and other small-scale offensive actions conducted as a special operation in hostile, denied, or politically sensitive environments and which employ specialized military capabilities to seize, destroy, capture, exploit, recover, or damage designated targets. Direct action differs from conventional offensive actions in the level of physical and political risk, operational techniques, and the degree of discriminate and precise use of force to achieve specific objectives." The US military and many of its allies consider DA one of the basic special operations missions. Some units specialize in it, such as the Navy SEALs and 75th Ranger Regiment, and other units, such as US Army Special Forces, have DA capabilities but focus more on other operations. Unconvention ...
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Sri Lanka Army Commando Regiment
The Commando Regiment ( si, කොමාන්ඩෝ ‍රෙජිමේන්තුව ''komāndo rejimēnthuwa''; ta, இலங்கை இராணுவத்தின் கமாண்டோ படைப்பிரிவ) is the commando formation of the Sri Lanka Army. The unit specializes in various roles including hostage rescue, counter-terrorism, unconventional warfare, special reconnaissance, counter-insurgency, and personnel recovery. It was formed in 1980 and is based in Ganemulla, a suburb of Colombo. The Commando Regiment currently consists of four regular battalions organized into the Commando Brigade, under the operational command of I Corps forming its Special Operations Force along with the Special Forces Regiment. History In 1977 Lt. General Denis Perera issued a call to combating terrorism in Sri Lanka, a decision was made by the Army HQ to raise a special counter-terrorist unit. Maj. Sunil Peris from 1st Gemunu Watch, Capt. Sarath Handapangoda f ...
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I Corps (Sri Lanka)
1 Corps ("First Corps") is a field corps formation of the Sri Lanka Army. The Corps is headquartered at Kilinochchi in Northern Province. It was raised on 17 October 2021. It was formed with the amalgamation of the Reserve Strike Force, special forces units and the former Security Forces Headquarters - Kilinochchi (SFHQ-KLN) creating the Army's First Strike Corps. Units *Reserve Strike Force ** 53 Division, based at Inamaluwa, Dambulla *** Air Mobile Brigade *** 532 Brigade *** 533 Brigade ** 58 Division *** 581 Brigade *** 582 Brigade *** 583 Brigade *Special Operations Force *** Commando Brigade **** 1 Commando **** 2 Commando **** 3 Commando **** 4 Commando *** Special Forces Brigade **** 1 Special Forces **** 2 Special Forces **** 3 Special Forces **** 4 Special Forces * Affiliated Units ** 8th Medium Regiment, Sri Lanka Artillery ** B Sqd, 5th Reconnaissance Regiment, Sri Lanka Armoured Corps ** 9 Sri Lanka Signals Corps * Combat Support Services ** Forward ...
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Classified Information
Classified information is material that a government body deems to be sensitive information that must be protected. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people with the necessary security clearance and need to know, and mishandling of the material can incur criminal penalties. A formal security clearance is required to view or handle classified material. The clearance process requires a satisfactory background investigation. Documents and other information must be properly marked "by the author" with one of several (hierarchical) levels of sensitivity—e.g. restricted, confidential, secret, and top secret. The choice of level is based on an impact assessment; governments have their own criteria, including how to determine the classification of an information asset and rules on how to protect information classified at each level. This process often includes security clearances for personnel handling the information. Some corporations and non-gove ...
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Special Air Service
The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terrorism, hostage rescue, direct action and covert reconnaissance. Much of the information about the SAS is highly classified, and the unit is not commented on by either the British government or the Ministry of Defence due to the secrecy and sensitivity of its operations. The corps currently consists of the 22 Special Air Service Regiment, the regular component, as well as the 21 Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Reserve) and the 23 Special Air Service Regiment (Reserve), which are reserve units, all under the operational command of United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF). Its sister unit is the Royal Navy's Special Boat Service which specialises in maritime counter-terrorism. Both units are under the operational control of the Dire ...
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British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkhas, and 28,330 volunteer reserve personnel. The modern British Army traces back to 1707, with antecedents in the English Army and Scots Army that were created during the Restoration in 1660. The term ''British Army'' was adopted in 1707 after the Acts of Union between England and Scotland. Members of the British Army swear allegiance to the monarch as their commander-in-chief, but the Bill of Rights of 1689 and Claim of Right Act 1689 require parliamentary consent for the Crown to maintain a peacetime standing army. Therefore, Parliament approves the army by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years. The army is administered by the Ministry of Defence and commanded by the Chief of the General Staff. The British ...
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Reconnaissance
In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops ( skirmishers, long-range reconnaissance patrol, U.S. Army Rangers, cavalry scouts, or military intelligence specialists), ships or submarines, crewed or uncrewed reconnaissance aircraft, satellites, or by setting up observation posts. Espionage is usually considered to be different from reconnaissance, as it is performed by non-uniformed personnel operating behind enemy lines. Often called recce (British, Canadian and Australian English) or recon (American English), the word for this activity has at its root the associated verb ''reconnoitre'' or ''reconnoiter''. Etymology The word from the Middle French ''reconoissance''. Overview Reconnaissance conducted by ground forces includes special reconnaissance, armored reconnaissance, amphibio ...
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