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The 8 most elite special forces in the world
Business Insider ^ | 05/13/2015 | Tomas Hirst

Posted on 05/13/2015 7:45:03 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Elite special forces are some of the best-trained and most formidable units a country can boast.

They go where other soldiers fear to tread, scoping out potential threats, taking out strategic targets, and conducting daring rescue missions.

These really are the best of the best.

Although it's extremely difficult to rank these forces relative to one another, there are some units that rise above the rest in their track record and the fear they instill in their adversaries. These soldiers have been through rigorous training exercises designed to weed out those who can't hit their exacting standards.

In a world where the importance of the sheer size of a country's military forces is no longer a guide to their effectiveness, these soldiers are the ones state's look to in order to get the job done

8. The Special Services Group, SSG, in Pakistan is better known in the country as the "Black Storks" because of the commandos' unique headgear. Training reportedly includes a 36-mile march in 12 hours and a five-mile run in 20 minutes in full gear.

In October 2009, SSG commandos stormed an office building and rescued 39 people taken hostage by suspected Taliban militants after attack on the army's headquarters.

7. Spain's Unidad de Operaciones Especiales, or Naval Special Warfare Force as it has become since 2009, has long been one of Europe's best-respected special forces. Originally established as the volunteer Amphibious Climbing Company unit in 1952, it has since followed the SAS's example to become an elite fighting force.

Earning the UOE green beret, however, is a big ask with the failure rate of candidates averaging between 70% and 80%. It's not uncommon for 100% of new recruits to be rejected.

6. Russia's Alpha Group is one of the best-known special forces units in the world.

(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: alfagroup; alphagroup; blackstorks; elite; france; fsb; gign; israel; kgb; marines; military; navyseals; pakistan; russia; sas; sayeretmatkal; sbs; spain; specialairservice; specialboatservice; specialforces; specialservicesgroup; ssg; unitedkingdom; uoe
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To: Teacher317

Gurkhas are good soldiers, they are not Special Operations super soldiers.


41 posted on 05/13/2015 9:50:55 AM PDT by ansel12
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To: Lower Deck
Why? If based on past experience the ability to do x number of pushups and y number of situps and be able to run a specific distance in z minutes are good indicators of a person's ability to meet the physical part of the training then why raise it to some ridiculous figure?

80 pushups in 2 minutes isn't ridiculous at all. I could regularly do that back when I was in good shape coming out of basic. And that's full pushups, with ones that aren't low enough not even counting and wasting one. There were a couple guys in my troop at basic who could hit 100 pushups in two minutes.
42 posted on 05/13/2015 10:27:00 AM PDT by Svartalfiar
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To: ameribbean expat
Bahahaha

The US Navy SEALS might one-up even the Marines.

....Even though the Marines aren't even on the list...
43 posted on 05/13/2015 10:32:19 AM PDT by Svartalfiar
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To: Bruce Kurtz

Not really. It is five consecutive four minute miles. Those guys are supermen.


44 posted on 05/13/2015 10:58:53 AM PDT by Former Proud Canadian (Save Western Civilization. Embrace the new Crusades.)
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To: Old Retired Army Guy

Wouldn’t ISA and CIA/SAD be first and second, or are they not considered special operations?

Ed


45 posted on 05/13/2015 11:47:38 AM PDT by Sir_Ed
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To: SeekAndFind

German GSG9...?


46 posted on 05/13/2015 12:20:46 PM PDT by Jack Hammer
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To: ameribbean expat; Teacher317
Yeah, where are the SBS, RSAS, GDSE/GIGN, CIA SAD/SOG, DOE NNSA/OST, DOS DSS, USMS FRT, Polish GROM, German KSK, Singapore SWAT, FBI HRT, DEVGRU, Jordanian JSOC, British Gurkhas, French Foreign Legion 2RE, Rhodesian Selous Scouts, South African Murder Inc, Blackwater/Xe/Academi type security units which are all former SF.

Bad list IMHO. Lots of uber units out there and they usually train each other.

.....except for the Russians. Those guys do some crazy training with high casualty rates among their own.

47 posted on 05/13/2015 12:22:20 PM PDT by DCBryan1 (No realli, moose bytes can be quite nasti!!)
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To: Svartalfiar

Yeah, no MARSOC mentioned.


48 posted on 05/13/2015 12:22:57 PM PDT by DCBryan1 (No realli, moose bytes can be quite nasti!!)
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To: DCBryan1

like my CSM said to me... “The Russians are crazy...but they ain’t stupid...that’s a country where chess is a spectator sport...”


49 posted on 05/13/2015 3:16:18 PM PDT by ameribbean expat
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To: SeekAndFind; blueyon; KitJ; T Minus Four; xzins; CMS; The Sailor; ab01; txradioguy; Jet Jaguar; ...

Active Duty/Retiree ping.


50 posted on 05/13/2015 3:19:13 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
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To: SeekAndFind

I remember reading about the Turkish soldiers During the Korean War they were excellent at hand to hand fighting, but an unusual characteristic of them was they’re ability to heartily thrive as prisoners in North Korea.


51 posted on 05/13/2015 4:22:22 PM PDT by BerryDingle (I know how to deal with communists, I still wear their scars on my back from Hollywood-Ronald Reagan)
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To: SES1066
The warriors at ACE leave the PR stuff to the SEALs. They prefer to not get any public notice. That said the are very good at their job.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=954_1392065643

30 seconds.

52 posted on 05/13/2015 4:42:56 PM PDT by mad_as_he$$
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To: circlecity

Did anyone actually READ the article?

“8. The Special Services Group, SSG, in Pakistan is better known in the country as the “Black Storks” because of the commandos’ unique headgear. Training reportedly includes a 36-mile march in 12 hours and a five-mile run in 50 minutes in full gear.”

That’s FIFTY minutes, not twenty. Ten minutes per mile. Still a pretty good feat in full gear.


53 posted on 05/13/2015 5:57:09 PM PDT by Gideon300
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To: SeekAndFind

Hung out with a former High School acquaintance after he’d served as a SEAL.
“Un-perturbable”: is a very impressive quality.


54 posted on 05/13/2015 6:14:09 PM PDT by mrsmith (Dumb sluts: Lifeblood of the Media, Backbone of the Democrat/RINO Party!)
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To: mad_as_he$$

Good point. ACE (or CAG, also known by their better recognizer name, Delta Force) is at the top. The true quiet professionals.


55 posted on 09/17/2015 11:57:37 AM PDT by spetznaz (Nuclear-tipped Ballistic Missiles: The Ultimate Phallic Symbol)
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To: dfwgator

+1


56 posted on 09/17/2015 12:03:10 PM PDT by Tijeras_Slim
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