“Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent’s fate” (Sun Tzu, Art of War)

In the modern era, we are living in grey warfare zones, whereby the line between peace and conflict has been blurred. Neither absolute peace nor absolute conflict exists. Even during peacetime, clandestine operations and skirmishes occur every time. Countries are always engaged militarily with their rivals. The modern structure of warfare is just like an onion, which has so many layers, one after the other. 

On the same note, wars have layers, including unconventional, conventional, sub-conventional, or covert missions. Thus, the role of special forces of a state has now become much more important than ever. Although nearly all states have elite military units, few are regarded as world-class commandos. And Pakistan’s Special Service Group (SSG) lies in this category – one of the best special forces units in the world.

The Special Services Group is a highly specialized Special Operations Force of the Pakistan Army. They have also been referred to as the “Black Storks” and the “Maroon Berets” and are known under the Codename “SSG.” SSG is led by a Major General. The SSG force, which is a force similar to the Special Operations Forces of the US Army and the SAS of the British Army, is very important in enhancing the regular forces’ offensive power against enemies.

The establishment of SSG can be traced back to 1948, when Pakistani northern tribesmen infiltrated into the Kashmir Valley to fight the oppressive Hindu regime. The newborn Pakistan Army learned similar lessons from the roles played by Germans and allies throughout World War II about the advantages of having a skilled, elite military force capable of carrying out sabotage operations behind enemy lines. 

The Pakistan Army was successful in establishing a special forces battalion inside the current Baloch Regiment in 1953–54. After establishing its new headquarters at Cherat, KPK, it was at first classified as the 10th Battalion, but it soon gained promotion to the 19th Battalion in 1956. The first CO of this battalion was Lieutenant Colonel Abu Bakr Osman Mitha.

Role of US Special Forces 

As part of a mobile training team, a few special operatives of the CIA and the........

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