Special forces of Australia

Since 1941, the Australian military has raised a range of special forces and special operations units, including:^[1]^[2]

Commando units such as the Independent and Commando Companies raised during World War II, and the 1st and 2nd Commando Regiments which were raised post-war.^{[Note 1]}
Reconnaissance and intelligence gathering units such as M and Z Special Units of the Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD) and the Allied Intelligence Bureau (AIB) during World War II,^[4]^[5] and later the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) and Regional Force Surveillance Units (RFSU)s.^[6]
Counter-terrorism units such as the Tactical Assault Groups (formed from elements of the SASR and 2nd Commando Regiment).^[7]
Non-special forces support units such as the Special Operations Engineer Regiment (SOER),^{[Note 2]} Special Operations Logistics Squadron (SOLS),^[8] No. 4 Squadron RAAF,^[9]^[10] 171st Aviation Squadron^[11] and No. 200 Flight RAAF.^[12]

All of Australia's special forces units have been grouped together under the Special Operations Command since December 2002.^[8]

Notes

^ The 2nd Command Regiment was previously called the 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (Commando).^[3]
^ SOER was previously called the Incident Response Regiment (IRR).^[8]

^ Horner 2002, pp. 19–35.
^ Kuring 2004, pp. 259–260 & 432–435.
^ "New Name for Sydney Commandos" (Press release). Department of Defence. 19 June 2009.
^ Kuring 2004, p. 259.
^ Horner 2002, p. 25.
^ Lord & Tennant 2000, p. 27.
^ Hill, Robert (25 May 2004). "Australia's Response to Terrorism". Department of Defence (Australia). Archived from the original on 15 March 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c Blaxland 2014, p. 328.
^ Allard, Tom (17 March 2008). "New squadron will aim to cut civilian deaths". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
^ Air Power Development Centre (June 2014). "Combat Control in the RAAF". Pathfinder: Air Power Development Centre Bulletin (Issue 224). Royal Australian Air Force. Retrieved 8 June 2015. {{cite journal}}: |issue= has extra text (help)
^ "6th Aviation Regiment". Department of Defence. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
^ RAAF Historical Section 1995, pp. 174–175.

Blaxland, John (2014). The Australian Army from Whitlam to Howard. Port Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107043657. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Horner, David (2002). SAS: Phantoms of War. A History of the Australian Special Air Service (Second ed.). Sydney, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-647-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Kuring, Ian (2004). Redcoats to Cams: A History of Australian Infantry 1788–2001. Loftus, New South Wales: Australian Military Historical Publications. ISBN 1876439998. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Lord, Cliff; Tennant, Julian (2000). ANZAC Elite: The Airborne and Special Forces Insignia of Australia and New Zealand. Wellington, New Zealand: IPL Books. ISBN 0-908876-10-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
RAAF Historical Section (1995). Units of the Royal Australian Air Force. A Concise History. Volume 4 Maritime and Transport Units. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. ISBN 0-644-42796-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)