The Armed Forces Special Operations Division (AFSOD) is a tri-service command of the

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Armed Forces are supported by ...

. The division is tasked to carry out

special operations Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include ...

. The AFSOD draws personnel from all three

special warfare 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 equip ...

branches of the Armed Forces.

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four ...

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

A. K. Dhingra, who is a war veteran from the

Para SF Para (Special Forces), also known as Para SF, are a group of special forces battalions of the Parachute Regiment in the Indian Army. These units specialize in various roles including hostage rescue, counter-terrorism, unconventional warfa ...

, was appointed in May 2019 as the first head of the AFSOD. The division is expected to be converted into a full sized tri-service

command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on Apple Macintosh computer keyboards ...

in future.

History

Origins

The Naresh Chandra Task Force was set up in July 2011 by

National Security Advisor A national security advisor serves as the chief advisor to a national government on matters of security. The advisor is not usually a member of the government's cabinet but is usually a member of various military or security councils. National secu ...

Shivshankar Menon to review the recommendations of the Kargil Review Committee, assess the implementation progress and further suggest new reforms related to national security. The task force was led by Naresh Chandra, retired

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the India ...

officer, and comprised 13other members, including Gopalaswami Parthasarathy,

Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer originating from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. An air chief marshal is equivalent to an Adm ...

Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy (Retd), Admiral Arun Prakash (Retd),

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

V. R. Raghavan (Retd), Anil Kakodkar,

K. C. Verma Krishan Chander Verma (born 30 March 1949) was the Director of Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), the external intelligence agency of India, his official designation was Secretary (R). He did his schooling from Mayo College, Ajmer. He belongs to ...

and

V. K. Duggal Vinod Kumar Duggal (born 26 November 1944) is a retired Indian civil servant. Duggal served as Home Secretary in the Government of India from 2005 to 2007 in the government of Manmohan Singh. He belongs to the 1968 batch of IAS. On 23 December 2 ...

. The committee conducted the first holistic review of national security since the Kargil Review Committee and submitted its classified report to

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indi ...

on 23 May 2012. Among its recommendations, the Task Force recommended the creation of a cyber command, an aerospace command and a special operations command. All three units were proposed to be tri-service commands in order to bring the various special forces units of the military under a unified command and control structure. The AFSOD is a downsized implementation of this proposal. The creation of the AFSOD was approved by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the List of Prime Ministers of India, 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the List of chief ministers of Gujarat, Chief Minist ...

during the Combined Commanders' Conference at Jodhpur Air Force Station on 28 September 2018.

Initial exercises

The division concluded its first exercise, code named 'Smelling Field', on 28 September 2019. The exercise was carried out in the district of Kutch in the state of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...

. The exercise was meant to help in ironing out, and subsequently addressing the challenges faced by the division. A second exercise, code named 'DANX-2019', was subsequently held in the

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India consisting of 572 islands, of which 37 are inhabited, at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The territory is about north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated ...

Organisation

The AFSOD will function under the

Integrated Defence Staff The Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) is an organisation responsible for fostering coordination and enabling prioritisation across the different branches of the Indian Armed Forces. It is composed of representatives from the Indian Army, Indian Navy ...

. Units from all the three

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 equip ...

of the

will be stationed in the division. The division is expected to be fully operational by November 2019.

Role

The AFSOD is expected to serve as the main organisation responsible for carrying out

within and outside India. They are expected to carry out missions such as targeting high-value installations and degrading the war-fighting capabilities of hostile nations. The rationale behind the creation of this division is to pool the special abilities of each of the

units of the Armed Forces and enable them to operate together. The division will also help in reducing operational costs, since it will enable each of the special warfare units to utilise common equipment.

Components

The division is expected to have around 3,000 soldiers, though the exact number remains classified. The main components of the AFSOD are: * Para (Special Forces): The Para SF is the special warfare branch of the

. They will form a major portion of the AFSOD. * MARCOS: The MARCOS is the special warfare branch of the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

. It is specialised in operations in a maritime environment, although it can operate in all environments. * Garud Commando Force: The Garud Commando Force is the special warfare branch of the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

. They are tasked to undertake missions in support of air operations. They are deployed at important military bases and assets and conduct search and rescue missions during wartime. *Other systems: The division will be given operational control of transport aircraft, specialised weapon systems and surveillance equipment.

Deployments

Jammu and Kashmir

On 24 November 2019, the AFSOD was operationally deployed for the first time in

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

to conduct

counter-insurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the activities of guerrillas or revolutionar ...

operations in the region.

References

{{Military of India 2018 establishments in India Military units and formations established in 2018 Military units and formations of India Special forces of India Joint military units and formations of India