Special Forces Operation Command

Armed Forces (PAT) chief Jen Tan Sri Dato 'Sri Commander Hj Zulkifli Hj Zainal Abidin completed the Armed Forces Commander 2019 at the Ministry of Defense Auditorium on Jan 4, 2019. The mandate of the 2019 Armed Forces Commander is intended to provide an overview, guidance and reference to all services related to the direction of the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) for 2019 themed Year of Joint. The concept of mutual cohesion is closely linked to the interoperability between the three branches of the ATM service in which there are six key elements that PAT emphasizes in its mandate.

The first element of emphasis is on unions, where the establishment of data fusion centers (DFC) and information fusion centers (IFC) will serve as the one-stop center responsible for providing important information for the purpose of coordinating and determining the proper response response in any security situation. activities under military operations other than war (MOOTW). In addition, the ATM will create a Special Forces Operation Command that combines the special forces elements of the three services in performing special tasks of national and strategic importance as well as the ATM in an effort to establish regional governance throughout the country for the implementation of operations and operations. others will be more effective and efficient.

Without stating when the team would begin operating, he said it would also deal with matters such as training and MAF doctrines involving other countries. “The Joint Force Headquarters (MAB) and MAF Headquarters need to strengthen their role as the major platforms in mobilising this military unit together and enhancing the ‘joint’ element in all aspects including training, exercise and operations. “The establishment of these ‘regional commands’ will be reviewed in detail from various aspects including organisation, structure, and composition,“ he said during his new year’s address at Wisma Pertahanan.

The Malaysian Armed Forces is continuously improving facilities, infrastructure, and capabilities for its commando units so as to be prepared for new threats posed by terrorist, militants, and pirates, according to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. Najib told the media that the GGK would be restructured into more effective and sharper battle units to face these low-intensity threats, as they cannot be dealt with as in conventional warfare. The GGK is specially prepared for any act of terrorism, such as the use of militant force in kidnapping, piracy, and the hijacking of strategic assets, buildings, or locations. Najib asserted that the use of conventional military methods was unsuitable to dealing with such a situation, and the more effective way was to deploy a smaller and leaner unit like the well-trained and highly capable GGK. As a result, Najib recommends that the GGK be equipped with more and better weaponry, training, and members.

Because the Malaysian Armed Forces are small, with a limited budget, SOF is one key option in strengthening Malaysia’s defense and securing its national interest. During the Malaysian–Indonesian Confrontation, the use of SOF helped prevent a bigger conflict between Malaysia and Indonesia. SOF operations deterred the Indonesian army from attacking Malaysia and influenced the Indonesian government to end the escalation. This shows that developing SOF capabilities helped improve Malaysia’s security against its conventional competitors. For regional and global special operations, the Malaysian Armed Forces should consider acquiring amphibious force support ships, small STOL aircraft, and more helicopters capable of close air support, medical evacuation, insertion, and extraction.

The principal special ops unit of the Malaysian Army is 21 Grup Gerak Khas (GGK), a brigade-sized formation that controls Special Forces battalions. The GGK is the administrative and command element while the three Special Forces battalions (sometimes designated regiments) are the “teeth” units. The 11th Regiment Gerak Khas functions as the special forces regiment and is organized into four saber squadrons assigned hostage rescue, counter-revolutionary warfare, direct action, and so on.

Established in 1965 by the Ministry of Defense while Malaysia was under the rule of the late Tunku Abdul Rahman (Malaysia’ first Prime Minister), the elite unit was formed as a preparation for defense against Indonesia’s ‘Crush Malaysia’ campaign. Since then, GGK has participated in many high-stake, regional and international missions involving guerilla warfare, escape and evasion, subversion, asymmetric warfare, and, of course, jungle warfare.

In 2008, the army’s GGK training techniques came under fire in parliament when a member exposed GGK’s shocking training treatment, alleging that the regiment was undertaking humiliating training techniques to train its commandos. This kind of issue could lead to negative perceptions in some quarters of Malaysia. Nevertheless, the majority still believe that tough training must be the norm if one wants to become a special forces member.

Since Malaya has an extensive coastline and a portion of the country is located across an expanse of sea, the Pasukan Khas Laut (PASKAL), the Malaysian Navy’s special ops unit, is very important. Malaysia enforces a 200-mile EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) off its shores, and one of the jobs of PASKAL is to carry out combat boardings of suspicious ships in the EEZ. Much of the initial training for the PASKAL operator takes place at the Special Warfare Training Center and is similar to that of the GGK Kommandos. However, as PASKAL trainees enter their advanced phase they receive more intensive training in HALO/HAHO, combat diving, small boat operations, CSAR (Combat Search and Rescue), combat tracking, urban warfare, unconventional warfare, sabotage and explosives, CQC, tactical cliff climbing, sniping, intelligence, and languages.

Pasukan Khas Udara (PASKAU) is the special operations unit of the Malaysian Air Force. As with USAF Special Tactics units, PASKAU has the missions of CSAR and Target Designation, but it also has a fully trained hostage rescue unit and all operators are Kommando qualified and can carry out ambushes or other counter-infiltration missions around Malaysian air bases. The hostage rescue team specializes in aircraft assaults and would be charged with rescuing hostages on a hijacked Malaysian airliner. Other members of the SST (Tactical Assault Squadron) specialize in Kommando raids against enemy air assets.