The Hunter Group was formed in 1968, as an experimental, non military group, with members of the group passing on some of their training (unofficially) onto other units of the

South African Army The South African Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Servi ...

History

Hunter Group was formed in May 1968 by Commandant G. van Kerckhoven of the South African Irish Regiment who saw a need to expand the counter-insurgency skills of certain members in the regiment and which would be superior to the basic skills provided to the average national serviceman. He was aided by an ex-

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

n army civilian weapons and unarmed combat expert named Grant-Grierson. Initially it drew members from the SA Irish regiment but as it reputation grew volunteers from other army units also joined. Members received 240 hours of training over weekends and at night over twelve months. Up to 700 men passed through the group's training with members forming or training the first

special forces Special forces or 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 ...

unit and 32 Battalion By 1976 the group had disbanded and its remaining members placed in Citizen Force (Reserve) unit 2 Reconnaissance Commando.

Training

Training included activities such as close weapons use, first aid, vehicle driving, parachuting,

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrori ...

, stress and shock training, bushcraft and survival, and many other skills. Member of the group wore privetly purchased camouflaged and other uniforms with some in the style of airborne smocks, with a silver scorpion insignia on a green background on their right sleeve.

History

Training

References

Further reading