The Navy Special Action Regiment (RASM; ), also known as "Commandos Marine" (), is a special forces regiment belonging to the Algerian naval forces.

History

The Special Action Regiment of the Navy is a special forces regiment of the Algerian naval forces. It was in 2005 that the first promotion of commandos was born, they were directly affiliated to the Régiments de Fusiliers Marins (RFM) as a detachment of fighter commandos (DCC). The first promotions also benefited from a commando course at the EFCIP in

Boghar Boghar is a town and commune in Médéa Province, Algeria. History During the Roman Empire the town was the site of a Roman town called Voncaria. At the 411 Carthage conference, between Catholic and Donatist bishops, the town was represented ...

. There were 4 commando sections within the marine fusiliers regiments (RFM). However, it was decided to gather all the commando and combat diver sections in order to create a new special operations regiment for the

Algerian Navy The Algerian Naval Force (ANF; , ) is the naval branch of the Algerian military. The naval force operates from multiple bases along the country's nearly coastline, fulfilling its primary role of monitoring and defending Algeria's territorial water ...

. In addition, the RASM took over the combat divers of the former

special intervention group The Special Intervention Group (, GIS) is an Algerian special forces unit created in 1987, initially with 400 members. History Since 1992, GIS forces have operated within the context of violent confrontation between the Algerian government a ...

(GIS) shortly after the latter was disbanded in 2015.

Missions

The mission of the RASM is : * Special reconnaissance * Land combat actions from the sea or on the coast * Hostage rescue and extraction of persons at sea or on the coast * Destruction and sabotage of strategic targets * Interventions at sea in the framework of the State's action at sea (fight against terrorism, maritime piracy, illicit trafficking and maritime offences...) * The liberation of hostages on boats or ships and the resolution of serious crises at sea

Organization

The RASM has several companies with various specialties: * A headquarters * Assault company which is specialized in sea assaults and maritime counterterrorism * Hostage rescue company which is specialized in

counterterrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and Intelligence agency, intelligence ...

and

hostage rescue A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized—such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government—to act, o ...

* Reconnaissance and support company, which is specialized in reconnaissance and intelligence acquisition, but also in remote neutralization and support to units engaged in combat zones (

snipers A sniper is a military or paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic si ...

...) *

Combat diver A frogman is someone who is trained in scuba diving or swimming underwater. The term often applies more to professional rather than recreational divers, especially those working in a tactical capacity that includes military, and in some Europea ...

company, which is specialized in underwater action and maritime counterterrorism actions, and in hostage rescue, and is made up exclusively of

combat swimmers A frogman is someone who is trained in scuba diving or swimming underwater. The term often applies more to professional rather than recreational divers, especially those working in a tactical capacity that includes military, and in some Europea ...

. * Patrol company, which is specialized in maritime patrol and search. Each company includes a group specialized in hostage rescue on maritime or land targets, which are hostage rescue groups. However, divers are divided into 2 parts, there are the combat divers, and the clearance divers. * Combat divers: Combat divers have offensive missions. These divers are in charge of placing mines, assaulting port, coastal and ship targets, hostage rescue and participation in the first phases of the amphibious assault, and they can also perform intelligence. * Mine clearance divers: the missions assigned to mine clearance divers are the search for and identification of mines, their neutralization, destruction and removal of explosive devices placed underwater or on board vessels.

Training and coaching

The marine commandos are directly recruited within the marine rifle regiments, to become a marine commando it is mandatory to be a marine rifleman to participate in the selections. Future commandos are trained at the Ecole d'application des troupes de marine (EATM) in

Jijel Jijel (), the classical Igilgili, is the capital of Jijel Province in north-eastern Algeria. It is flanked by the Mediterranean Sea in the region of Corniche Jijelienne and had a population of 131,513 in 2008. Jijel is the administrative and trad ...

. Firstly, the marine riflemen who want to join the marine commandos have to pass a one-week selection phase at the EATM. At the end of the selection phase, if the candidate is selected, he will continue his studies with a commando training course, and will start the marine commando training at the school. The duration of their training is 4 months, the training is based on three axes: * Improving physical performance * Shooting * The fight Apart from this training, the focus is on diving, which consists of carrying out Maritime Commandos Operations (MCO), the objective is to be able to carry out attacks on coastal targets. In addition, marine commandos also take part in training abroad, in particular in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

with the

US Navy Seals The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main funct ...

US Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...

, Spanish FGNE, Tunisian marine commandos among others.

Equipment and armament

Armament

The marine commandos are always in double equipment during their actions ( automatic pistol +

assault rifle An assault rifle is a select fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge, intermediate-rifle cartridge and a Magazine (firearms), detachable magazine.C. Taylor, ''The Fighting Rifle: A Complete Study of the Rifle in Combat'', F.A. Moyer '' ...

), however according to the speciality and the mission the weapons can change, for example the divers do not have the same armament as the assault units...

Handgun

Glock 17 Glock (; stylized as GLOCK) is a brand of polymer- framed, short-recoil-operated, striker-fired, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military an ...

in 9 × 19 mm *

Caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized Felidae, wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long ...

in 9 × 19 mm

Assault rifle

AKS-74U The AK-74 (Russian: , tr. ''Avtomat Kalashnikova obraztsa 1974 goda'', lit. 'Kalashnikov assault rifle model 1974') is an assault rifle designed by small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1974 as a successor to the AKM. While primarily a ...

Crossbow A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an Elasticity (physics), elastic launching device consisting of a Bow and arrow, bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar f ...

(for divers) * Underwater combat weapons with darts Moreover, the assault rifles are custom made for each operator.

Machine gunner rifle

* PKM *

RPK The RPK (, English: "Kalashnikov's hand-held machine gun"), sometimes inaccurately termed the RPK-47, is a Soviet 7.62×39mm light machine gun that was developed by Mikhail Kalashnikov in the early 1960s, in parallel with the AKM assault rifl ...

Precision rifle

* Sako TRG 22 * SVD

Others

* Suction cup mines

Individual equipment

For hostage rescue groups, support and recognition units

* Algerian navy uniform (flecktarn camouflage) * Footwear: Tactical boots * Helmet: Fast

ops core *Bulletproof vest">Bullet-proof vest Bulletproofing is the process of making an object capable of stopping a bullet or similar high velocity projectiles (e.g. Fragmentation (weaponry), shrapnel). The term bullet resistance is often preferred because few, if any, practical materials ...

* Tactical vest * Elbow and knee pads * Protective goggles * Balaclava * Protective gloves * Thigh Holster * Camelback * Combat backpack *Ghillie suit (for

and

marksmen A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision shooting. In modern military usage this typically refers to the use of projectile weapons such as an accurized scoped long gun such as designated marksman rifle (or a sniper rifle) to shoot at ...

) *Communication headset

Special

* Bullet shield * Night vision apparatus * Night and infrared and thermal sights * Individual transmission apparatus * Radios * Silencers (which they place on their armaments) * Eotech viewfinder, acog... * Kayak * Diving thruster

Resources

Land vehicles

*All Terrain Vehicles,

Toyota Land Cruiser The , also sometimes spelt as LandCruiser, is a series of four-wheel drive vehicles produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. It is Toyota's longest running series of models. , the sales of the Land Cruiser totalled more than 1 ...

, Mercedes G-Class

Watercraft

* Semi-rigid boat of the zodiac type * Inflatable dinghy * Stars and patrol boats , Ocea FPB-98, *Intervention boat BK-10M

Aircraft Means

Mil Mi-171Sh Mil, mil, or MIL may refer to: Places * Mil, Syria, a village in Syria * Mil, Azerbaijan, a municipality in Beylagan Rayon * Mil, Markazi, a village in Markazi Province, Iran * Metropolitan area of Milan ( IATA code: MIL), Italy (Milan is city i ...

of the

Algerian Air Force The Algerian Air Force (, ) is the aerial arm of the Algerian People's National Army. History The Algerian Air Force was created to support the fight of the People's National Army against the French occupying forces. It came as part of the ...

*Helicopters of the

Algerian navy The Algerian Naval Force (ANF; , ) is the naval branch of the Algerian military. The naval force operates from multiple bases along the country's nearly coastline, fulfilling its primary role of monitoring and defending Algeria's territorial water ...

* Transport aircraft belonging to the

( C130, Casa C295,

Il-76 The Ilyushin Il-76 (; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau as a commercial freighter in 1967, to replace the Antonov An-12. ...

...)

References

{{Reflist Special forces of Algeria Algerian National Navy