The 602 Commando Company () is a one of three commando (special operations capable) units of the

Argentine Army The Argentine Army () is the Army, land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the commander-in-chief of the Armed For ...

(EA).

Unit insignia

The members of the unit wear green berets with unit badges. The company is divided into three assault sections.

History

Today's unit was created 21 May 1982.

Falklands War

The unit had its baptism of fire in the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

(2 April–14 June 1982). The commander of the company was 39-year-old Major

Aldo Rico Aldo Rico (born 4 March 1943) is an Argentine retired Lieutenant Colonel and politician, famous for his role in the episodes of 1987 (usually referred to as "Semana Santa", or Easter week) and 1988 (the "Monte Caseros" mutiny) where sectors of th ...

. On the night of 29–30 May, Captain Andrés Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section attempted to seize Mount Kent but was beaten back in a

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-terr ...

(SAS) ambush from 16 Air Troop, although wounding two SAS men (Dick Palmer and Carl Rhodes) in the process. Another SAS man suffered a broken hand in the confusion of battle. On the morning of 30 May, Captain Tomas Victor Fernandez's 2nd Assault Section from 602 Commando Company suffered two killed on Bluff Cove Peak during the Mount Kent Skirmish, First Lieutenant Rubén Eduardo Márquez and Sergeant Oscar Humberto Blas, in an action with 17 Boat Troop and Major Cedric Delves' Tactical Headquarters (including part of the Intelligence Corps) from the British 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (22 SAS Regiment). The dead men were posthumously awarded the '' Argentine Nation for Valour in Combat Medal'' for showing great personal courage and leadership in the action. During this contact the SAS suffered two more casualties (Ewen Pearcy and Don Masters) from grenades (including an Intelligence NCO assigned to the SAS). The Argentine commandos literally stumbled on a camp occupied by 15 SAS troopers. That night, Captain Peter Babbington's K Company of 42 Commando,

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

and 7 'Sphinx' Battery from the Royal Artillery arrived nearby via helicopters. At about the same time, the 2nd Assault Section, having hidden all day, emerged from their hides intending to withdraw from the area, but came under prompt and heavy fire from the SAS in the form of Mountain Troop, and lost one NCO (Sergeant Vicente Alfredo Flores) captured. The SAS claim on their part, to have come under mortar bombardment while evacuating their wounded. The British artillery battery report one gunner (Van Rooyen) suffering a broken arm while taking cover among the slippery rocks in the bombardment. During the Argentine retreat from the Mount Kent area on 30 May, Sergeant Mario Antonio Cisnero from 602 Commando Company and Sergeant Luis Alberto Kovalski from 601 National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron, armed with machine guns, repeatedly fired at low-flying Royal Air Force fighter-bombers conducting strafing runs; the British reported the loss of one GR-3 Harrier (XZ 963, piloted by Squadron-Leader Jerry Pook) to small-arms fire. The 1st Assault Section fought in the

Battle of Top Malo House The Skirmish at Top Malo House took place on 31 May 1982 during the Falklands War between Special Operations Forces Group, Argentine special forces from 602 Commando Company and the British Royal Marines of the Mountain Leader Training Cadre, M ...

on 31 May 1982. In an action lasting 45 minutes, the Argentine Army Special Forces patrol under Captain José Arnobio Vercesi was defeated and the survivors captured in the encounter with the British Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre, a

unit, attached to the

3 Commando Brigade United Kingdom Commando Force (UKCF), previously called 3 Commando Brigade (3 Cdo Bde), is the UK's special operations-capable commando formation of the Royal Marines. It is composed of Royal Marine Commandos and commando qualified personnel f ...

(3 Cdo Bde) that reported 3 British badly wounded in the gun battle. Another British Marine (Sergeant McClean) suffered bone bruising when hit in the hand while attempting to fire a 66mm anti-tank rocket. On the night of 5–6 June Captain Andres Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section dislodged Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop, 42 Commando from Mount Wall, that had been calling down softening-up fire on the Mount Harriet defenders. According to Ferrero: On 8 June, Private 1st Class Argentino Foremny of the 602 Commando Company Blowpipe Team that Major Rico had sent forward to Mount Harriet, using the zoom sight of his portable surface-to-air missile launcher, reported the presence of two British transport ships (troopships ''Sir Galahad'' and ''Sir Tristram'') at Port Pleasant: Captain Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section suffered one killed (Sergeant Mario Antonio Cisnero) and one wounded (First Lieutenant Jorge Manuel Vizoso-Posse), while Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo's supporting National Gendarmerie section suffered another death (Sergeant Ramon Acosta) and another wounded (Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) in a fierce action near Murrell River on the night of 9/10 June, seizing much equipment and forcing the attacking Royal Marines platoon to withdraw, with Major Rico belatedly calling down fire support from Lieutenant-Colonel Martin Balza's 3rd Artillery Group in an attempt to cut off the British escape route and take prisoners. In this action in the early hours of Thursday 10 June 1982, 50 Argentine Army and National Gendarmerie Commandos fought against a reinforced platoon of Royal Marines. One Royal Marine (Corporal Peter Fitton ) was reportedly killed by either friendly or defensive mortar fire in the action or in the approach to Murrell River. According to the British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides: Marines-OP-equipment

Captain Hugo Ranieri, armed with a .300 Weatherby Magnum bolt-action rifle, fought as a sniper in the gun-battle: The next day, a 4th Regiment patrol under ''Subteniente'' Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz collected the British equipment abandoned in the action, and these were presented as war trophies to Argentine war correspondents in Port Stanley who filmed and photographed the equipment. On the night of 12–13 June, Captain Andres Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section of 602 Commando Company took up ambush positions in the vicinity of Mount William, in support of the 5th Marine Infantry Battalion. According to First Lieutenant Horacio Fernando Lauría, a judo-black-belt"In spite of the signals intelligence intercepts indicating an entire Gurkha battalion being no more than four kilometres to the west, the judo black belt engineer First-Lieutenant Horacio Lauria was eager to come to grips with the Gurkhas in the Pony Pass area to show the conscripts that the men from Nepal were human and that he could win a man-to-man contest." Van Der Bijl, Aldea, p. 188 from Captain Ferrero's patrol: The war ended on 14 June.

21st century

The company is based in Córdoba Province and is under the command of the

Rapid Deployment Force A rapid reaction force / rapid response force (RRF), quick reaction force / quick response force (QRF), immediate reaction force (IRF), rapid deployment force (RDF), or quick maneuver force (QMF) is a military or law enforcement unit capable of ...

as part of the Special Operations Forces Group.

References

External links