The Malaysian Rapid Deployment Force (

Abbr. An abbreviation () is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening, contraction, initialism (which includes acronym), or crasis. An abbreviation may be a shortened form of a word, usually ended with a trailing perio ...

: RDF; ) is a

rapid reaction 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 ...

that to can be quickly deployed during an emergency (wartime or peacetime) usually via air or light

land transport Land transport is the transport or movement of people, animals or goods from one location to another location on land. This is in contrast with other main types of transport such as maritime transport and aviation. The two main forms of land tr ...

. Malaysia RDF has military and non-military components.

History

On 10 October 1994, three

Malaysian Army The Malaysian Army (; Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is the land component of the Malaysian Armed Forces. Steeped in British Army traditions, the Malaysian Army does not carry the title ‘royal’ () as do the Royal Malaysian Navy and the Royal Malaysi ...

airborne battalions, the 8th Royal Ranger Regiment (Para), 9th Royal Malay Regiment (Para) and 17th Royal Malay Regiment (Para) were reorganised and redesignated into a single

airborne force Airborne forces are Ground warfare, ground combat units airlift, carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in airborne units are also known as par ...

termed the 10th Parachute Brigade, also known as 10 Para. In March 2011, the

Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia The Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia (, Jawi script, Jawi: ), commonly known as Bomba, is a federal agency of Malaysia responsible for firefighting and technical rescue. ''Bomba'' is a Malay language, Malay word derived from the Portugue ...

(FRDM) established the

Special Tactical Operation and Rescue Team of Malaysia The STORM (backronym: Special Tactical Operation and Rescue Team of Malaysia; ) is a specialised firefighter unit within the Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia. They are one of the special rescue team of the department and also a component o ...

, or popularly known as STORM. The new team originally functioned as a Special Rescue Unit for incidents involving urban areas, landslides, high-building rescue, wide-area

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

(SAR), forest fires, flood and natural disasters. In March 2014, after flight MH370 went missing, the scope and capabilities of the STORM widened to include SAR for aircraft crashes. The team was retrained to be part of the Rapid Deployment Force.

Components

The Malaysian Rapid Deployment Force has two components. The military component was added in 1994, while the non-military component was added in 2014. The military component includes parachute capability, while the non-military components are spread across the nation and act as

first responders A first responder is a person with specialized training who is among the first to arrive and provide assistance or incident resolution at the scene of an emergency. First responders typically include law enforcement officers (commonly known as ...

Rapid Deployment Force

The RDF is officially named the Rapid Deployment Forces of

Malaysian Armed Forces The Malaysian Armed Forces (: MAF; ; Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ), are the armed forces of Malaysia, consists of three branches; the Malaysian Army, Royal Malaysian Navy and the Royal Malaysian Air Force. The number of MAF active personnel is 113,000 ...

(RDF-MAF; ). This component is a key component for the Malaysian RDF. Currently, there is only the 10th Parachute Brigade inside this component. This component is supported by the

Royal Malaysian Air Force The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF, ; Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) was formed on 2 June 1958 as the Royal Federation of Malaya Air Force (; ). However, its roots can be traced back to the Malayan Auxiliary Air Force formations of the British Royal A ...

(RMAF) for air transportation. Few platoons are based at the RMAF Airbase for

Quick reaction 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 agency, law enf ...

roles. The members of the RDF-MAF can be identified with its maroon 'PAC' shoulder tab on their left shoulder. PAC is the acronym for the ''Pasukan Aturgerak Cepat''. Its members are trained as parachute forces.

Special Tactical Operation and Rescue Team

The Special Tactical Operation and Rescue Team of Malaysia (STORM; ) is the FRDM's

urban search and rescue Urban search and rescue (abbreviated as USAR or US&R) is a type of technical rescue operation that involves the location, extrication, and initial medical stabilization of victims trapped in an urban area, namely structural collapse due to natu ...

(USAR) team. It was established in 2011 to operate with the Federal Government Heavy USAR Taskforce. The SMART team initially responded to emergencies in the cities at West Malaysia. STORM's role later expanded to include aircraft crash SAR and its region of operations were widened to include

East Malaysia East Malaysia (), or the Borneo States, also known as Malaysian Borneo, is the part of Malaysia on and near the island of Borneo, the world's third-largest island. East Malaysia comprises the states of Sabah, Sarawak, and the Federal Territory ...

. The STORM is the most elite unit in the FRDM. Its members are spread throughout FRDM State's Headquarters.{{Cite news, url=https://www.utusanborneo.com.my/2017/04/13/latihan-mantapkan-kemahiran-storm-dalam-menangani-sar-berskala-besar, title=Latihan mantapkan kemahiran STORM dalam menangani SAR berskala besar, last=Kepu Sidi, date=13 April 2017, work=

Utusan Borneo ''The Borneo Post'', established in 1978, is the largest and widely circulated English-language daily newspaper in East Malaysia and also the alternately circulated newspaper in Brunei (as a strong competitor to the main existing newspapers of ...

, access-date=25 July 2019, language=ms Its members can be identified with the 'STORM' unit patch and the 'STORM' Camouflage Dress.

References

Malaysian Army 1994 establishments in Malaysia Rapid reaction force units and formations