The Black Swans () was a special forces unit within the

Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (; ; ARBiH), often referred to as Bosnian Army, was the military force of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was established by the government of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina i ...

. It was a Patriotic League unit formed in 1992 in

Sapna Sapna ( sr-cyrl, Сапна) is a town and municipality located in Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. History People have lived in the Sapna region since the earliest days. In the Midd ...

, under the 2nd Corps (later 1st Corps) which eventually numbered 800 men. It earned a reputation for battlefield bravery. The first commander,

Mehdin Hodžić Mehdin Hodžić aka Kapetan Senad (October 15, 1957 – May 10, 1992) was a Bosnian military officer and a member of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Hero of the Liberation War and the ...

, was a former member of the Special anti-terrorist unit of the Yugoslav Ministry of Internal Affairs ( MUP). When he took command of the Black Swans, he would be known as "Kapetan Senad" or Captain Senad. Captain

Hajrudin Mešić Hajrudin Mešić aka Kapetan Hajro (January 1, 1959 – October 30, 1992) was a Bosnian military commander and brigadier general in the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War. Early life Hajrudin Mešić was b ...

then went on to take command of the unit for a while. The most successful and lasting commander was Brigadier Hase Tirić. The Black Swans' areas of operation included

Konjic Konjic ( sr-Cyrl, Коњиц) is a List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, city located in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of two entities that make up Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in no ...

Igman Igman ( sr-cyrl, Игман, ) is a mountain plateau in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. Geologically, Igman is part of the Dinaric Alps and formed largely of secondary and tertiary sedimentary rock, mostly Limestone. It is located southwest of S ...

and Jablanica. The Black Swans wore black and/or woodland camouflage uniforms (of Bosnian, US or commercial origin) and with their unit patch worn on a black

brassard A brassard or armlet is an armband or piece of cloth or other material worn around the upper arm; the term typically refers to an item of uniform worn as part of military uniform or by police or other uniformed persons. Unit, role, rank b ...

on the right sleeve with the

ARBIH The Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (; ; ARBiH), often referred to as Bosnian Army, was the military force of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was established by the government of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina i ...

patch sometimes worn on the left sleeve. However, some members wore the Black Swans patch on their left sleeve (on a black brassard), pinned to one of the chest pockets or even pinned on their vests instead. Also, civilian clothing items (t-shirts, sneakers, caps) seem to have been common as well. A wide array of berets, scarves, headbands, bandanas, black watch caps, camouflage caps and civilian caps (trucker caps in black or black and white seem to have been common) were worn as well. Green headbands with the

Shahada The ''Shahada'' ( ; , 'the testimony'), also transliterated as ''Shahadah'', is an Islamic oath and creed, and one of the Five Pillars of Islam and part of the Adhan. It reads: "I bear witness that there is no Ilah, god but God in Islam, God ...

written in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

can also be seen. US surplus M1 helmets complete with

ERDL pattern The ERDL pattern, also known as the Leaf pattern, is a camouflage pattern developed by the United States Army at its Engineer Research & Development Laboratories (ERDL) in 1948. It was not used until the Vietnam War, when it was issued to elite ...

or M81 U.S. Woodland helmet covers were also common. Many fighters of the unit also fought with bare heads. The vests used were mostly of Bosnian army origin in OD or woodland, as well as some M1956 flak vests as well as the odd Croatian mesh vest (rare, but sometimes seen). Various types of civilian or military black flak vests and tactical vests were also used. Other equipment were usually of ex-JNA, NATO or commercial origin. In contrast with the uniformed and tactical look of the post-war Black Swans association, the war-time Black Swans were a rag-tag looking force – sourcing uniforms and equipment wherever they could find it, much like the rest of the Bosnian armed forces. A selection of the armament used by the unit:

Zastava M70 The Zastava M70 ( sr-Cyrl, Застава М70) is a 7.62×39mm assault rifle developed in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by Zastava Arms. The M70 was an unlicensed derivative of the Soviet Union, Soviet AK-47 (specifically the Type ...

Zastava M84 The Zastava M84 is a general-purpose machine gun manufactured by Zastava Arms. It is a gas-operated, air-cooled, belt-fed and fully automatic shoulder-fired weapon. The M84 is a licensed copy of the Soviet Union's PKM, with a few differences su ...

Heckler & Koch MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (, ) is a submachine gun developed in the 1960s by German firearms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. It uses a similar modular design to the Heckler & Koch G3, and has over 100 variants and clones, including selective fire, Se ...

Heckler & Koch G3 The Heckler & Koch G3 () is a selective fire, select-fire battle rifle chambered in 7.62×51mm NATO developed in the 1950s by the German firearms manufacturer Heckler & Koch, in collaboration with the Spanish state-owned firearms manufacturer CE ...

FN FAL The FAL (, English: Light Automatic Rifle) is a battle rifle designed in Belgium by Dieudonné Saive and manufactured by FN Herstal and others since 1953. During the Cold War the FAL was adopted by many countries of the NATO, North Atlantic Trea ...

, AKM,

FAMAS The FAMAS ( French: ''Fusil d'Assaut de la Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne'', lit. 'Assault rifle from the Saint-Étienne Weapon Factory') is a bullpup assault rifle designed and manufactured in France by MAS in 1978. It is known by ...

, and

Milkor MGL The Milkor MGL (Multiple Grenade Launcher) is a lightweight 40 mm six-shot revolver-type grenade launcher (variations also fire 37/38mm) developed and manufactured in South Africa by Milkor (Pty) Ltd. The MGL was demonstrated as a concept to t ...

References

Bosniak history Military units and formations of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina {{BosniaHerzegovina-hist-stub Military units and formations established in 1992 Military units and formations disestablished in 1998