The Tactical Divers Group (, APBT) is the premier special operations force of the

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; ). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Argentine Army, Army and the Argentine ...

. The Buzos Tácticos are based at Base Naval

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Argentine Sea, Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires ...

(BNMP) on the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. Its men are highly qualified

combat Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...

divers, EOD/demolition technicians, and

paratroopers A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light inf ...

History

The APBT was 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 ...

division created in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. The unit was established in 1952 on board LST ARA ''Cabo San Bartolomé'' with instructors who were former X-MAS

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

diver

commando A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as oppo ...

s. In those times a reduced Tactical Divers Group was operating in the ''Cabo'' ''San Bartolomé''; years later the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

created a second group assigned to the Escuadra Naval del Plata. In 1966 both services were merged, creating the actual Tactical Divers Group. In the 1982 invasion of Islas Malvinas, the main landing at Yorke Bay to the east of

Port Stanley Stanley (also known as Port Stanley) is the capital city of the Falkland Islands. It is located on the island of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2016 census, the city had a population o ...

on 2 April, was preceded by an

amphibious reconnaissance Amphibious reconnaissance consists of ground and naval reconnaissance in the littoral area bordering coastal or ocean areas. History Evolution of the doctrine At the turn of the 20th century, amphibious reconnaissance was first conceived ...

party of the APBT. They had been landed by the submarine ARA ''Santa Fe''. They successfully secured the beach and the lighthouse, and set up beacons to guide the amphibious vehicles of the assault group, which had disembarked from the landing ship ARA ''Cabo San Antonio'' some distance offshore. Some sources assert that ''Buzos Tácticos'' units attacked the Moody Brook barracks and besieged

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and British Overseas Territories. The name is also used in some other countries. Government Houses in th ...

, however these troops were mainly units of the

Amphibious Commandos Group The Amphibious Commandos Group (, APCA) is a special operations force of the Argentine Marine Corps. Role Trained to perform quick and objective amphibious reconnaissance, assault raids, and direct action operations. History It was create ...

(''Agrupación de Comandos Anfibios'', APCA). The error was due to hearsay reported by a journalist from the Argentinian magazine ''Somos'', which was the first to publish an account of the operation, although a number of individual APBT members assisted the Commandos in both actions, specially around Government House. Both the APBT and the APCA teams had returned to Argentina by nightfall, on the same aircraft which had brought in the first

Argentine Army The Argentine Army () is the Army, land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the commander-in-chief of the Armed For ...

reinforcements.

Organization and training

The APBT is trained to operate in diverse environments, such as jungle/riverine, maritime and extreme cold weather. All members are top niche

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

s and divers. The APBT course takes place mostly in the

area. Topics include HALO/HAHO parachuting, airborne,

unconventional warfare Unconventional warfare (UW) is broadly defined as "military and quasi-military operations other than conventional warfare" and may use covert forces or actions such as subversion, diversion, sabotage, espionage, biowarfare, sanctions, propaga ...

, underwater demolition, and

counter-terrorism 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 agencies use to co ...

. The course is open to line officers and

NCOs A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted rank ...

, and is very selective, with a high attrition rate. The members of this unit wear brown berets with unit badges. The unit is attached to the Submarines Force Command, which comes under the Chief of Naval Operations. This unit is one of the two

special operations Special operations or special ops 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 ma ...

forces' units of the

, the other being the (APCA), under the

Marine Infantry Command The Naval Infantry Command (), also known as the Naval Infantry of the Navy of the Argentine Republic () and generally referred to in English as the Argentine marines, are the Marines (military), amphibious warfare branch of the Argentine Navy a ...

.''Buzos Tácticos''

References

External links

* {{Underwater diving, prodiv Combat diving Naval units and formations of Argentina Special forces of Argentina Mar del Plata Military units and formations established in 1952

History

Organization and training

See also

References

External links