The 4 Reconnaissance Commando is a defunct

South African Special Forces The South African Special Forces Brigade, colloquially known as the Recces, is South Africa's principal special operations unit, specialising in various types of operations including; counter-insurgency, long-range-reconnaissance, unconventi ...

unit of the

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence F ...

that was formed in July 1978, specialising in amphibious operations.

History

In 1976, during Operation Savannah, a need was identified for more operational special forces units and in particular units with more specialised skills. In March 1976, Major

Malcolm Kinghorn Malcolm, Malcom, Máel Coluim, or Maol Choluim may refer to: People * Malcolm (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Clan Malcolm * Maol Choluim de Innerpeffray, 14th-century bishop-elect of Dunkeld Nobility * Máel ...

formed a sub-unit specialising in amphibious operations for use in Angola during Operation Savannah. It was formed at

Salisbury Island, Durban Salisbury Island is located inside the Port of Durban on the east coast of South Africa; it is a former island until the Second World War when construction of a naval base connected it to the mainland by a causeway. The island, then a mangrove-cove ...

and consisted of a headquarters unit of Kinghorn and a NCO and two units of six men each and was called Charlie (C) Group of 1 Reconnaissance Commando. On 1 May 1976, the Defence Minister approved the formation of 4 Reconnaissance Commando but it would take a further two years before it was formally established. The unit was formed on the 17 July 1978 as 4 Reconnaissance Commando at Langebaan with Major Kinghorn as the first commanding officer and the first RSM was Warrant Officer “Chili” du Plessis. It was initially made up of members of 1 Reconnaissance Commando. On 1 January 1979, Major Kinghorn was given a temporary rank of Commandant. During the 1981 reorganisation, 4 Reconnaissance Commando was renamed 4 Reconnaissance Regiment (4RR). The unit was said to be small with mainly white soldiers who operated in

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...

and

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

Structure

In 1978, 4 Reconnaissance Commando was initially structured into three groups: * Alpha Group – amphibious operations training, * Bravo Group – operational, * Charlie Group – diving, but when 4 Reconnaissance Commando was renamed 4 Reconnaissance Regiment in 1981 it was structured as: 4.1 Commando – operational component with five teams: * Diving Team – offensive operational attack divers * Boat Team – maintain and operate the teams boats and work with the naval vessels crews * Offensive Team – carried out the special forces tasks * Small Teams – carry out reconnaissance and lead the offensive teams to the targets * Reconnaissance Team – handle intelligence gathering operations in larger teams 4.2 Commando – training element later called Special Forces Amphibious and Urban School

Re-organisation after 1992

The next reorganisation occurred in 1992 when the Special Forces HQ was disbanded and renamed the Directorate Reconnaissance Forces and 4 RR remained but 2RR, the citizen force unit, was disbanded. In 1993, a further reorganisation occurred when the Directorate Reconnaissance Forces was renamed as the 45 Para Brigade and 4 Reconnaissance Commando was renamed the 453 Para Battalion. The last change occurred in 1995, 45 Para Brigade became the Special Forces Brigade and subsequently 453 Para Battalion is now called

4 Special Forces Regiment 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

Commanding officers

Officers commanding were: * * *

References

External links