Restructuring Australia’s Special Operations Forces
Current Composition and Future Challenges Australia’s special operations units, including the SASR, Commando Regiments, Special Operations Engineer Regiment, Navy’s Clearance Diving Teams, and the Air Force’s Joint Terminal/Close Combat Attack Controller teams, form a highly capable but disparate force. These units have excelled in counter-insurgency operations over the past three decades. However, emerging threats from peer and near-peer competitors necessitate a strategic overhaul to maintain our edge.
In response to the rise of great power competition in the Indo-Pacific, a comprehensive restructuring of Australia’s special operations forces is essential. This involves:
- Creating Special Operations Command as an independent branch, enhancing its capability to operate across multiple domains.
- Expanding the Army’s special operations by establishing new Raider regiments to disrupt enemy operations behind lines, complementing the SASR and evolving Commando regiments.
- Transforming the Navy’s Clearance Diving Teams into a maritime-focused special operations force, akin to the UK’s Special Boat Service.
- Reshaping the Air Force’s No. 4 Squadron into a Special Tactics Squadron for special operations aeromedical support, while consolidating and expanding special operations aviation squadrons to provide dedicated airlift and close air support.
An expanded Special Operations Support Squadron will handle recruiting, training, and supporting logistics, signals, intelligence, and cyber warfare capacities, ensuring a robust and integrated force.
This strategic overhaul aims to position Australia’s special operations forces to respond swiftly and effectively to future regional and global challenges, maintaining our 4o national security and competitiveness in an era of multipolarity.
The commando unit and the green berets have a significant place here in Australia, if my memory serves me correctly Simpson the Vietnam veteran was a commando from a commando unit in Sydney, that alone plays a big part in keeping our heritage in place.
Our problem here in Australia is we have people making decisions without actual knowledge, how may of these decision makers served in Ww2, Korea, or Vietnam fir that matter, my guess is bloody none and they are the so called decision makers.
Leave things as they are, retain the Commando green beret and the commando badge, we have seen what has become of our SAS through idiots, we don’t have an elite service to speak of, God help us if we ever get attacked.
Tony Brown