The Georgian Special Forces Brigade

The Special Forces Brigade (Georgian: სპეციალური დანიშნულების ბრიგადა) is the elite Georgian Armed Forces component. It has been established to conduct special operations, covert operations, special reconnaissance, counter intelligence, counter terrorism, counter insurgency and asymmetric warfare in and outside the Republic of Georgia. The operational center is located in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Georgian Special Forces are subordinated under the MOD Special Operations Main Division to a brigade-level command structure. Each formation is split into several sub-divisions which are allocated on different Georgian regions, cities and strategically important areas. Most units are composed of veterans of past conflicts including the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, the wars in Georgia and the insurgency in Chechnya. Some soldiers served as officers in former Soviet Army formations in Russia and the Ukraine.

History

The very first of such formations was founded during the War in Abkhazia in 1992 but many already disbanded after several years of service. Since then various special formations occurred under mixed supervision. Since 2001, Georgia has intensified the training of its elite forces in cooperation with American, French, British, Israeli and other countries' special services. Georgian commandos participated in the Iraq War from 2003 until the complete withdrawal of the Georgian contingent in 2008 due to an escalation of hostilities in South Ossetia. According to independent accounts, a number of Georgian operatives were also deployed prior in Afghanistan to aid US Special Forces in hunting down Taliban leaders. Georgian officials have stated that a group of servicemen were deployed in Afghanistan for medical purposes.

In the very first hours of the 2008 South Ossetia War, Georgian special forces backed by artillery successfully eliminated armed opposition around the city of Tskhinvali as a prerequisite for the full-scale ground assault which followed shortly after in the morning of August 8. The Georgian military then announced that more than 11 villages in South Ossetia were under control of government forces. However the Georgian military would ultimately be pushed back out of South Ossetia following Russian intervention in the conflict.

Following the reversal, the bulk of Georgian special forces assisted Interior Ministry units in the evacuation of ethnic Georgians and VIPs out of South Ossetia. Sergeant Kakhaber Tavgorashvili died in the morning of August 8 in the course of fighting, the only member of Georgia's special forces to be killed in action to date. Around 55 were reported with injuries of different degrees. Special Forces followed the general withdrawal order but set up key points very close to Russian forces at towns like Igoeti and Gori.

Georgian special forces are credited with the notorious ambush on the armoured column of Lieutenant General Anatoly Khrulyov, former commander of the Russian 58th Army. The column consisting of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles was moving into the city of Tskhinvali in August 9, when it came under heavy fire from Georgian Commandos. Only five out of 30 vehicles were able to escape the attack.

Organization

The Special Forces Brigade consists of several battalions and detachments with each having a strength of 350 to 600 personnel. Special drills depend on located and training ground. If there is a home base of a unit located near a coast, the detachments stationed there, will be primarily specialized on underwater warfare. In mountainous areas, there is the availability of advanced training on mountains with ropes and by skiing.

Πηγή