Ταγματάρχης Καίσαρ Σέεμαν

Πρωθυπουργός την περίοδο του θανάτου του Καίσαρος ήταν ο Αλέξανδρος Διομήδης και υπουργός Στρατιωτικών ο Παναγιώτης Κανελλόπουλος. Σκοτώθηκε το Σάββατο πρωί 13 Αυγούστου 1949, καθώς τελείωνε νικηφόρα επιχείρηση στη Βάρμπα, μεταξύ Βίτσι και Πρεσπών κατά των κομμουνιστών ανταρτών. Ήταν διοικητής της Α΄ Μοίρας Καταδρομών. Η κηδεία του έγινε την Δευτέρα 15 Αυγούστου στο Α΄ Νεκροταφείο Αθηνών. Ως πεσών εν πολέμω και λόγω βαθμού και αξιώματος εδικαιούτο επισήμου εξοδίου τελετής από τον Μητροπολιτικό Ναό των Αθηνών. Απο την κυβέρνηση όμως και για την αποφυγή τυχόν ταραχών, η οικογένεια παρεκλήθη και συνήνεσε να γίνει στον χώρο του Α΄ Νεκροταφείου, με όλες τις τιμές.

Ο Καίσαρ γεννήθηκε την πρωτοχρονιά του 1917. Ήτανε το τελευταίο από τα πέντε παιδιά του Ιωσήφ και της Λουΐζας Σέεμαν. Ο πατέρας του υπήρξε απόγονος δεύτερης γενιάς Ελληνοβαυαρικής οικογενείας από την εποχή του Όθωνα. Η μόνη σχέση του Ιωσήφ με την Βαυαρία ήτανε το επώνυμο. Μητρική του γλώσσα υπήρξε η Ελληνική, καθώς στα χρόνια που μεσολάβησαν από το 1860, είχε αποκοπεί τελείως από κάθε ξενική επιρροή. Δεν μίλαγε ούτε καταλάβαινε την Γερμανική γλώσσα. Στο σχολείο ο Καίσαρ υπήρξε άριστος μαθητής με ιδιαίτερη κλίση στα μαθηματικά.

Ο καθηγητής του στο Δημόσιο Γυμνάσιο Λεωνίδας Πετρογιαννόπουλος, μαθηματικός, Μικρασιατικής καταγωγής και μετέπειτα διευθυντής της Ευαγγελικής Σχολής στην Αθήνα, τον εκτιμούσε αφάνταστα για τις επιδόσεις του και το ήθος του. Όνειρο του Καίσαρα ήτανε να σπουδάσει μηχανικός στο Πολυτεχνείο. Οι καιροί όμως ήτανε δύσκολοι και η ανώτατη παιδεία την εποχή εκείνη απαιτούσε πολλά έξοδα, στα οποία η οικογένεια αδυνατούσε να αντεπεξέλθει. Πριν από τον Καίσαρα υπήρχαν δύο αδελφές και δύο αδελφοί. Η μόνη λύση γι’ αυτόν ήτανε η Σχολή των Ευελπίδων, στην οποία και εισήχθη σε ηλικία 17 ετών. Στις στρατιωτικές του σπουδές και την εκπαίδευση δόθηκε ολοκληρωτικά. Με ιδιαίτερη ικανοποίηση μας διηγείτο τις επιδόσεις του κατά τις εξόδους του τα Σαββατοκύριακα.

Αποφοίτησε το 1938, ονομασθείς ανθυπολοχαγός Πεζικού και τον Νοέμβριο τοποθετήθηκε σε μονάδα των βορείων συνόρων μας, όπου και υπηρέτησε καθ’ όλη την διάρκεια του πολέμου 1940-41, ως διοικητής μαχίμου τμήματος. Ήταν από τους πρώτους που διέφυγαν το 1942 κατά την γερμανική κατοχή στην Αίγυπτο. Στην Αλεξάνδρεια κατετάγη στον νεοϊδρυθέντα Ιερό Λόχο. Εκεί εκπαιδεύθηκε σε ειδικές καταδρομικές επιχειρήσεις και από Άγγλους εκπαιδευτές ως αλεξιπτωτιστής. Υπό την διοίκηση του Βρετανού ταξιάρχου Τέρνμπουλ έλαβε μέρος σε συνδυασμένες επιχειρήσεις για την απελευθέρωση των ελληνικών νήσων από τις δυνάμεις γερμανικής κατοχής. Ως κομάντος με άλλους επτά αξιωματικούς μια νύκτα του Σεπτεμβρίου 1944 σκαρφάλωσαν στα βράχια του Σαν Μιχάλη της γερμανοκρατούμενης Σύρου και αποτέλεσαν το προγεφύρωμα για την έλευση στην αρχή του επόμενου μήνα διμοιρίας του Ιερού Λόχου με ομάδα πολυβόλων υπό τον Άγγλο ταγματάρχη Κομπέρ. Ο Καίσαρ, όπως και οι άλλοι κομάντος ανακηρύχθηκαν επίτιμοι δημότες Ερμουπόλεως. Ο Συριανός Πάνος Ζαφειρόπουλος, ιδιοκτήτης του κτήματος «Αγία Παρασκευή», όπου εγκατεστάθησαν οι Έλληνες κομάντος μαζί με τον συμπολίτη του Αρ. Ανδρούτσο έγραφαν μετά τον θάνατό του στην τοπική εφημερίδα «Θάρρος»: «Η παρουσία του Καίσαρος Σέεμαν, του οποίου η αγνή μορφή θα μείνει στην ψυχή όσων συμπολιτών τον εγνώρισαν, διεφύλαξε την Σύρο από κάθε επιβουλή». Και παρακάτω γι’ αυτόν και το συνάδελφο και αδελφικό του φίλο λοχαγό Ιωάννη Κοκοσούλη, που σκοτώθηκε από τον ίδιο όλμο, γράφουν: «Ποιος Συριανός θα λησμονήσει τους αητούς αυτούς, που μια νύκτα του Σεπτεμβρίου 1944 σκαρφάλωσαν με άλλους έξι συναδέλφους τους ως κομάντος σε μια ακτή της Σύρου,κάτω από τη μύτη των κατακτητών, για να μας φέρουν το άγγελμα της ελευθερίας, που τόσα χρόνια περιμέναμε». Ως αλεξιπτωτιστής ο Καίσαρ είχε πάρει μέρος στην απελευθέρωση άλλων οκτώ νήσων του Αιγαίου.

Για τον λόγο αυτό τιμήθηκε ιδιαιτέρως, αφού το στρατόπεδο της Σχολής Αλεξιπτωτιστών στον Ασπρόπυργο φέρει το όνομά του. Μετά την απελευθέρωση από τους Γερμανούς ο Καίσαρ Σέεμαν έλαβε μέρος στον εθνοκτόνο πόλεμο κατά των κομμουνιστών ανταρτών ως υποδιοικητής αρχικά και διοικητής μετέπειτα στη Β΄ Μοίρα Καταδρομών. Μετέσχε σε πλήθος μαχών. Τραυματίσθηκε δύο φορές. Την πρώτη μόνο φορά αναγκάσθηκε να πάρει αναρρωτική άδεια δύο εβδομάδων. Ήτανε στις επιχειρήσεις Αιτωλοακαρνανίας, μεταξύ 26 Φεβρουαρίου και 4 Μαρτίου 1948, που συνέβη ο ένας τραυματισμός του. Είχε δεχθεί την περίθαλψη του ιατρού Νικολάου Μουτσοπούλου στη Ναύπακτο. Έγραψε ο ιατρός στην εφημερίδα «Εμπρός» την επαύριον του θανάτου του: «Οι κάτοικοι της Ναυπακτίας και Δωρίδος με αμέτρητη ευγνωμοσύνη και θαυμασμό για την μεγάλη συνδρομή, την προσωπική του και των παληκαριών του κατά τις κρίσιμες μάχες στο Μακρύβαλτο και Μακριά Ράχη και την κρίσιμη ενίσχυσή τους στην ηρωική αντίσταση του 6ου Τάγματος Χωροφυλακής εναντίον της πολυπληθούς δυνάμεως του αρχισυμμορίτου Παπούα, αισθάνονται ιερό και επιβεβλημένο το καθήκον να ενώσουν ισότιμα με τους οικείους του τον πόνο τους για την απώλεια του αγαπημένου ήρωά τους».

Ο Καίσαρ Σέεμαν υπήρξε πραγματικά αγνός στην ψυχή. Πανέξυπνος και γενναίος αντιμετώπιζε με θάρρος και καρτερία κάθε δύσκολη αποστολή. Ουδέποτε φοβήθηκε τον θάνατο, αγαπούσε όμως τη ζωή. Όταν, παιδί εγώ, τον ρωτούσα πως αισθάνεται όταν έρχεται αντιμέτωπος με τους συμμορίτες στις εκ του συστάδην μάχες, μου έλεγε: «Δεν φαντάζεσαι πόσο αλλοτριώνεσαι στο πεδίο της μάχης. Φροντίζεις να πυροβολείς πρώτος, γιατί αν αργήσεις ο αδελφός σου θα σε φάει».

Όταν σκοτώθηκε σε ηλικία 32 ετών ο Καίσαρ Σέεμαν έφερε τον βαθμό του ταγματάρχη, προαχθείς επ’ ανδραγαθία. Δύο μέρες πριν από τον θάνατό του στις 11 Αυγούστου 1949 είχε προταθεί για προαγωγή στον βαθμό του αντισυνταγματάρχη επ’ ανδραγαθία και πάλι. Μετά θάνατον του απενεμήθη ο βαθμός του Ταξιάρχου.

Στην Μέση Ανατολή και στην πορεία του προς την Αλεξάνδρεια γνωρίστηκε με τον Γιάννη Κοκοσούλη, επίσης ανθυπολοχαγό, νεότερό του, από την περιοχή της Τρίπολης, έναν τίμιο, αγνό και ικανό αξιωματικό. Συνδέθηκαν με αδελφική φιλία στο άγνωστο και ξένο περιβάλλον του πολυπληθούς και ετερόκλητου στρατεύματος της Μέσης Ανατολής και συμπαραστέκονταν ο ένας στον άλλο σε κάθε αντιξοότητα. Μαζί τοποθετήθηκαν στη Β΄ Μοίρα Καταδρομών αρχικά-διοικητής και υποδιοικητής αντίστοιχα- και μαζί μετακινήθηκαν στην Α΄ Μοίρα Καταδρομών ύστερα από τον σοβαρότατο τραυματισμό του προηγούμενου διοικητή Δημήτρη Ζαφειροπούλου και του υποδιοικητή του. Μαζί παντρεύτηκαν, σε κάποια στιγμή διαλείμματος, στη Θεσσαλονίκη ο Καίσαρας με την Ελευθερία Κατσαμακίδου, στην Αθήνα ο Γιάννης με τη Μαρία Μωράκη.

Μαζί πέρασαν και στο πάνθεον των ηρώων, την ίδια ώρα, στον ίδιο τόπο. Τον Αύγουστο του 1946 γεννήθηκε ο γιος του Καίσαρα, Ιωσήφ. Ήταν πολύ μικρός ο Ιωσήφ όταν σκοτώθηκε ο πατέρας του και αισθάνεται δυστυχής, που δεν τον θυμάται ζωντανό. Τον έχει γνωρίσει μονάχα από τις οικογενειακές και υπηρεσιακές του φωτογραφίες και από τις διηγήσεις της μητέρας του, η οποία τον ανέθρεψε με κάθε δυνατή επιμέλεια. Η Ελευθερία πέθανε το 1983 σε ηλικία 63 ετών. Της αξίζουν ο θαυμασμός και η αγάπη μας για τους αγώνες που έκανε για τον Ιωσήφ, ο οποίος σήμερα ζει και εργάζεται στο Λονδίνο.

Για μένα ο θείος ο Καίσαρ υπήρξε πρότυπο ανδρείας και ήθους. Θυμάμαι ακόμα την ανδροπρεπή μορφή του και το παράστημά του με την στολή του Έλληνα αξιωματικού αλλά και την μειλίχια προς εμέ συμπεριφορά του, που μερικές φορές διανθιζόταν με σκηνές στρατιωτικής πειθαρχίας και εκπαίδευσης. Με αγαπούσε ιδιαίτερα καθώς ήμουν ο πρώτος ανιψιός του, το παιδί της μεγαλύτερης αγαπημένης αδελφής του, η οποία τον είχε αναλάβει υπό την προστασία της κατά τα παιδικά του χρόνια καθώς τους χώριζε διαφορά έντεκα χρόνων.

Για μένα ο Καίσαρ ήτανε ο Τάκη-Πλούμας του Μιλτιάδη Μαλακάση:

«Στα παιδικά μου χρόνια, ο πιο μεγάλος

ξάδελφός μου μ’ έπαιρνε μαζί

στα πανηγύρια, που ήτανε παρ’ άλλος

πρώτος στην ομορφιά και στην ορμή…

Κι εγώ λίγο ξωπίσω του όλο θάμπος

στο γρήγορο αλογάκι μου κι εγώ

δυνόμουν να τον φτάνω κι ήμουν σάμπως

νάχα φτερά, κορμάκι αερινό!...

Ω το λεβέντη του Μεσολογγιού μας

Τον ήλιο της αυγούλας μου ζωής!

Και να μετρώ και νάναι ο Τάκη-Πλούμας

Τριάντα χρόνια μέσα στη γης»…

                                                                                                                  Παύλος Οικονόμου

(Ο κ. Παύλος Ν. Οικονόμου είναι ομότιμος καθηγητής του Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών και γιος της Βιργινίας, μεγαλύτερης αδελφής του Καίσαρα Σέεμαν)

Πηγή

The SAS mission to bring home their fallen comrade

THE injured soldier cried in pain and collapsed in the compound of the British Army's Middle East HQ in Cairo.

Second Lieutenant Archibald David Stirling had perilously scaled an internal fence using his crutches as a ladder.

But sentries had been alerted and were hunting him down with rifles raised.

With seconds to spare he forced his way into the office of General Ritchie and delivered a daring proposal.

Daring ... David Stirling

Imperial War Museum

Stirling, the son of a Scottish laird, had hatched a plan with pal Jock Lewes to form a revolutionary new force of raiders who would operate deep behind enemy lines to destroy aircraft, gain intelligence and attack supply lines.

Instead of sending Stirling to prison for breaking in to the HQ, Army bosses liked the idea.

He and Lewes created their gang of "misfits, rogues and rule-breakers" exactly 70 years ago this week. They took as their motto "Who Dares Wins" and became known as the Special Air Service, or SAS.

The regiment has never been busier than it is today in Afghanistan.

New figures gathered by The Sun show the recent heroics played out against the Taliban behind enemy lines in Helmand.

In just six days between November 15 and 21 last year, 270 special forces operations were launched, during which 19 Taliban leaders and 252 fighters were "taken from the battlefield" in kill-or-capture raids.

And in the 90 days before November 18, special forces conducted 1,488 operations with 387 insurgent leaders killed or captured as a result.

The numbers cover all special forces operations from all the host nations but sources said SAS troops bagged the lion's share during the winter push.

However, the regiment's most secretive mission is yet to come.

The family of Lieut Jock Lewes - dubbed "The Godfather Of The SAS" - has revealed a cloak-and-dagger operation to recover the hero's remains from the Libyan desert where the regiment first worked.

Lewes trained the first SAS squad, who he dubbed "My little band of cut-throats".

But shortly after the regiment's first successful operation in 1941 he was shot down by a Nazi warplane in the Libyan desert and buried in an unmarked grave.

Now, for the first time - and 70 years after he died - The Sun can reveal how SAS heroes have helped to locate their founder's final resting place near Benghazi.

Search ... Jock Lewes, killed by a Messerschmitt in Libya in 1941

Pen and Sword Books

Now they aim to bring Lewes back to Britain and have him lie alongside his fallen special forces pals for all eternity.

His nephew John Lewes said: "Stirling said himself in a 1942 letter that 'Jock could far more genuinely claim to be the founder of the SAS than I.'

"Together they conceived one of the most successful fighting units in history.

"At the time of the North African campaign in the Second World War there had been a lot of talk in the British Army on how to solve the problem of large commando raids on the enemy - which were largely unsuccessful as the sheer numbers meant the enemy was always alerted.

"Stirling and Jock came up with the idea of a small unit of hand-picked men to conduct highly dangerous parachute experiments in Libya.

"They wanted these men to have complete freedom to operate outside normal Army rules - and expose themselves to the most daring exploits in the name of British interests.

"He wanted this small band to feel they could do anything to defeat the Nazis.

"The idea was to trick the Germans and Italians into thinking they were a much larger paratrooper regiment."

The first mission of the newly trained SAS - originally called 'L' Detachment, Special Air Service Brigade - was a disaster. A third of the unit, 22 men, were killed or captured. But its second mission was a resounding success. The unit attacked three airfields in Libya, destroying 60 aircraft without loss of a single British life.

John, a 50-year-old teacher from Bedford, said: "Jock had devised a special sticky lightweight bomb the size of a tennis ball, which could be attached to the side of vehicles and planes.

"Using these, the small SAS unit could blow up aircraft easily and quickly - which they did with great speed in this raid.

"The Axis didn't know what had hit them."

But in December 1941 Lewes was returning from a raid on German airfields when the truck he was travelling in was attacked by a lone German Messerschmitt.

Lewes was wounded in the thigh and bled to death within minutes. He was buried on the site where the attack happened but until now its location was unknown.

John said yesterday: "Stirling was devastated by Jock's death and he considered the inability to bury his friend with full honours to be a stain on the regiment.

"As a member of his family, I'd also always hoped to recover his remains. In the last two years we were contacted by Gil Boyd, an ex-2 Para soldier and CID officer who set up an organisation called Gravewatch.

Unmarked grave ... location of Jock Lewes' death in Libya

"This project locates the final resting places of war heroes and aims to bring their remains back to Britain to bury them with full honours. Amazingly Gil is convinced they have managed to locate the site of Jock's death.

"Aerial photographs have shown that the vehicle parts lying deep in the Libyan desert are our Second World War trucks.

"We strongly believe this is the site where Jock's vehicle was struck by the German aircraft - and that his body lies there too. The site is in Nofilia, west of Benghazi.

"Gil was just arranging permission from the British High Commission and his contacts in Tunisia to send a team to collect my uncle when the Libyan conflict kicked off.

"But as soon as Gaddafi goes, we'll go and bring him home to sit alongside the SAS hall of greats."

Decades of daring

1941 SAS is founded by David Stirling and first called 'L' Detachment, Special Air Service Brigade.

1944 SAS was at the heart of the action during the Normandy Landings in June and served with great distinction in Belgium, Holland and Germany until end of Second World War.

1945 Despite their success, after the war the future of the SAS looked uncertain. Spending cuts reduced them to a single territorial unit but the growing Communist menace offered the regiment a lifeline, convincing politicians there was still a need for a covert, elite unit.

1950s SAS soldiers fought Communist insurgents in the jungles of Malaysia and Borneo and the deserts of Oman. It was during the latter conflict, from 1968 to 1976, that the SAS fought one of its most legendary battles. On July 19, 1972, in the coastal town of Mirbat, nine SAS troopers were surrounded by hundreds of heavily armed guerrillas but in six hours of fighting they killed at least 50, making them withdraw.

Rescued! ... Iranian siege

70s-80sThe SAS served in Northern Ireland throughout these years. during which their focus moved to counter-terrorism.

1980-82 In Iranian Embassy Siege in April 1980, millions watched on TV as 30 troops stormed the London embassy building, killing five of six terrorists.

Two years later, when the SAS helped to liberate the Falklands, unit member Captain John Hamilton led a small team through the icy wastes of South Georgia, 900 miles east of the Falklands, and forced the 100-strong Argentine garrison to surrender. He was later killed in action and posthumously awarded the Military Cross - the UK's second highest bravery award.

1991-2000 The First Gulf War in 1991 and the rescue of Brit hostages in Sierra Leone in 2000 kept the SAS in the news.

Afghanistan has seen some of the unit's fiercest fighting since the Second World War.

The secrecy over the unit was lifted in the 1990s when ex-members Andy McNab and Chris Ryan wrote books on their exploits.

Now, SAS has come full circle, with reports that they are operating in Libya, scene of their first raids in

myView

By ANDY MCNAB

SAS hero and Sun security adviser

"WHO Dares Wins" is a way of life for the regiment. It is living and breathing this motto that makes the SAS the best at what they do.

It is not only the harsh training of SAS troopers that results in the best. It is also how these troopers operate in battle that sets them apart from other special forces.

The SAS know that the most effective weapon in war isn't weapons - but information on what the enemy is planning.

In Afghanistan today, one of the most important jobs the SAS do is risk life and limb gathering intelligence because it is this which will defeat the Taliban and find the factories making IEDs that kill our troops.

Once the SAS have intelligence, they can destroy the enemy where it hurts most, faster and more efficiently than anyone else. That's where "Who Dares Wins" really matters.

---

Special Forces around the world

AMERICA - US Delta Force And US Navy SEALs: Delta Force was formed in 1977. Famous for the battle in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993 when their Black Hawk helicopter was shot down. The SEALs, formed in 1980, killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011.

FRANCE - GIGN: Formed in 1973, it has taken part in more than 1,000 operations and liberated more than 500 hostages.

RUSSIA - SPETSNAZ: Set up in 1949. Led operation to end the Moscow theatre siege in October 2002 when Chechen rebels seized hundreds of hostages.

AUSTRALIA - SASR: Created in 1964. In the Vietnam War killed as many as 598 of the enemy but lost only two men.

Πηγή

2nd Recon Conducts Helo Casting

CAMP LEJEUNE, NC — Marines and sailors from 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division and Force Reconnaissance Company, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, conducted helicopter casting operations aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, last June.

The purpose of the exercise was to familiarize the Marines on exiting a moving CH-53 helicopter into the ocean and maneuvering their team safely to shore.

“This training is a method of insert for amphibious operations we may utilize when the battalion is deployed with the MEU,” said Capt. Philipp Rigaut, the outgoing company commander for Company C, 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion. “We drop off the Marines over the horizon with a boat, and the Marines would come to shore for a reconnaissance mission.”

Although the Marine Corps has had its attention on Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade, the corps will continue to train for and uphold its roots as an amphibious fighting force prepared at anytime.

“Amphibious reconnaissance is actually very important, and it’s essential that we do this training,” said Rigaut. “This is an important part to a successful MEU deployment, so we’ll make sure we’re ready at anytime.”

The battalion is preparing for an upcoming deployment where amphibious operations are part of the work up.

“When you’re on a MEU, this method of insert is used quite often,” said Rigaut. “We try to do training like this usually once a month. We’re leaving for the MEU pretty soon, so this training is very important.”

The Marines spent multiple hours running through each exercise – first with just a team of Marines jumping out of the helicopter and then adding a combat rubber raiding craft with them while they jumped.

“I think the Marines are doing really well,” said Rigaut. “There’s always room for improvement in everything you do, so we’ll continue to train and get better.”

While these Marines often take part in similar training operations and have conducted this training before, it still brought excitement and enthusiasm after every jump they conducted.

“We’re recon, we love this kind of stuff. I’m excited every time I get to jump,” said Capt. Ryan Harrington, the incoming company commander for company C, 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion. “I don’t think I’m just speaking for myself when I say I enjoy it.”

Πηγή

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

Παρουσιάστηκε στα Ανώγεια το βιβλίο των Γ. Φασουλά και Γ. Σκάλκου "ΝΙΚΗ στη Νεκρή Ζώνη", για τους 300 του Μάλεμε που πολέμησαν στην Κύπρο το 1974

του  Μ. Λαμπαθάκη

Στα Ανώγεια, την πρώτη μέρα του Αυγούστου, σε μία κατάμεστη πλατεία στο Αρμί οι δημοσιογράφοι της ΝΕΤ Γιάννης Φασουλάς και Γιάννης Σκάλκος παρουσίασαν το βιβλίο τους "ΝΙΚΗ στη Νεκρή Ζώνη", αλλά και το ντοκιμαντέρ που συνοδεύει το βιβλίο για τους "300" του Μάλεμε που πολέμησαν στην Κύπρο το 1974.

Ιστορικές στιγμές "απλώθηκαν" στο ιστορικό χωριό του Μυλοποτάμου Ρεθύμνου μέσα από τις σελίδες του βιβλίου, αλλά και από τις μαρτυρίες των πρωταγωνιστών της μοναδικής στα χρονικά των ενόπλων δυνάμεων επιχείρησης.

«Το βιβλίο είναι ξεχωριστό και φωτίζει άγνωστες στο ευρύτερο κοινό πλευρές μιας στρατιωτικής επιχείρησης που δεν έχει προηγούμενο», τόνισε ο πρέσβης της Κυπριακής Δημοκρατίας Ιωσήφ Ιωσήφ, εκπροσωπώντας στην εκδήλωση τον Πρόεδρο της Κυπριακής Δημοκρατίας Δημήτρη Χριστόφια, και επισήμανε ότι «η αρχική καταγραφή των συνεντεύξεων με εικόνα και ήχο, το καθιστούν σημαντική πρωτογενή πηγή πληροφοριών».

«Το βιβλίο-ντοκιμαντέρ αποτελεί μια ιστορική παρακαταθήκη καθώς έρχεται να καλύψει ένα κενό στη σύγχρονη βιβλιογραφία και ιστορία της σύγχρονης Ελλάδας» σημείωσε ο δήμαρχος Ανωγείων Σωκράτης Κεφαλογιάννης, προσθέτοντας: «Οι 29 καταδρομείς και οι 4 αεροπόροι που έχασαν τη ζωή τους το κρίσιμο βράδυ της 21ης προς 22α Ιουλίου, ανάμεσα τους και αρκετοί Κρητικοί, από εκεί ψηλά που μας βλέπουν στέλνουν ένα καθαρό μήνυμα: ο αγώνας για λευτεριά, δημοκρατία, εθνική αξιοπρέπεια συνεχίζεται...».

Ο κεντρικός ομιλητής της εκδήλωσης Μπάμπης Αποστολάκης, έφεδρος ανθυπολοχαγός το 1974, περιέγραψε την επιχείρηση "ΝΙΚΗ" καθώς και τις μάχες που έδωσε η Α΄ Μοίρα Καταδρομών στην Κύπρο.

Η έκπληξη της βραδιάς ήταν η ζωντανή συνέντευξη που έδωσε στους συγγραφείς ο ηρωικός πιλότος Ευάγγελος Πετρουλάκης, κυβερνήτης του αεροσκάφους "ΝΙΚΗ 15". Ο Ρεθεμνιώτης πιλότος ανέφερε πως παράκαμψε διαταγές και εντολές και πέταξε για την Κύπρο μεταφέροντας τρεις τόνους πυρομαχικά.

Ένας από τους πλέον δυναμικούς ιερείς εκεί στα ορεινά του Ψηλορείτη, ο παπα- Ανδρέας Κεφαλλογιάννης, μίλησε για αποκαλυπτική έρευνα του Γιάννη Φασουλά και του Γιάννη Σκάλκου, για τη δράση των "300" του Μάλεμε της Α΄ Μοίρας η οποία «στέλνει ένα πεντακάθαρο μήνυμα, υπογραμμίζει μια μεγάλη αλήθεια: ότι όσοι δεν λιποψυχούν, δεν υποχωρούν, δεν συμβιβάζονται, δεν υποτάσσονται πετυχαίνουν να κρατήσουν ζωντανά τα ιερά και τα όσια της πατρίδας του έθνους τους».

Όπως σημείωσαν οι συγγραφείς Γιάννης Φασουλά και Γιάννης Σκάλκος, το βιβλίο-ντοκιμαντέρ γράφτηκε και γυρίστηκε στα σημεία όπου έλαβαν χώρα τα γεγονότα: στο Μάλεμε της Κρήτης, όπου είναι και η έδρα της Α΄ΜΚ και στην Κύπρο, στο εγκαταλελειμμένο σήμερα αεροδρόμιο της Λευκωσίας, εκεί όπου «έδωσαν μια καθοριστική μάχη για το μέλλον τόσο της κυπριακής πρωτεύουσας, όσο και της Κύπρου γενικότερα».

Οι δυο δημοσιογράφοι ανέφεραν ότι έγραψαν το βιβλίο «για να αναδείξουμε την προσφορά και τη γνωστή-άγνωστη ΝΙΚΗ των 300 του Μάλεμε .... οι συνέπειες της οποίας ακόμα δεν έχουν επαρκώς μετρηθεί», ενώ έκαναν λόγο για "αγνωμοσύνη" και "αχαριστία" της ελληνικής Πολιτείας που επιμένει να μην αναγνωρίζει τους μαχητές της Κύπρου» γιατί «δεν θέλει να παραδεχτεί επισήμως ότι ήρθε σε σύγκρουση με την Τουρκία.

Πηγή

The dogs of war

The soldier advances through the damp, misty forest, her senses piqued by the slightest sign of danger, her taut muscles gliding visibly beneath desert-coloured fur.

Kali is a dog, but she's trained like a soldier. She is taught to move as efficiently as possible – a life-or-death skill in combat situations – and even here, on a routine training session in the woods of Southern Ontario, not a move is wasted. Coming up against a craggy wall of wet, black shale, she tenses and leaps to the ridge above her head with the agility of a mountain goat. Her handler, Kevin Whitenect, is waiting there. Praising her, he scoops up her leash and they continue their trek.

VIDEO

Video: On the ground with the dogs of war

Working dogs like Kali are increasingly being recruited to join elite combat units. This spring, after Navy SEALs stormed the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden was hiding, reports surfaced that a dog had been part of the expert team, possibly to check for explosives or sniff out people hiding. Experts speculated that the dog was most likely a German shepherd or a Malinois – the same breed of dog now scouting the terrain at Mr. Whitenect's side.

Tucked into the hills of Ontario's Niagara Escarpment is a facility that produces these four-legged soldiers. Baden K-9 Inc. has been quietly breeding and training highly specialized working dogs for 35 years for clients that include the U.S. military, the RCMP, Israeli special forces and private contractors in Iraq. It is the kind of work that demands secrecy, so the precise location of the facility is kept under wraps.

Mike McConnery, the company's founder, isn't happy about the spike in interest in his work since the bin Laden raid. He refuses to answer questions about whether one of his dogs might have been involved, and doesn't think any high-risk work for troops on the ground should be discussed.

“The people that [hire] us aren't going to come on camera. Quiet – that's the way of our dog. Now … we have all of these eyes on us,” he says. “It went viral, this thing. We're trying to maintain security here.”

So far, he has managed to maintain the security that the most specialized forces require. And with demand growing for these dogs, his son, Josh McConnery, has started a new company, Tier 1 K9, with Mr. Whitenect – a former soldier with Canadian special forces. They adapt Baden K-9 training techniques for special-ops clients.

In the field, dogs can help to uncover everything from an improvised explosive device to a lost child. They have an innate ability to track a scent – which the trainers enhance, starting when the puppies are just six weeks old. Dogs can move faster than humans, taking down a threat without using lethal force so that soldiers can operate more safely. Their hearing is far more sensitive, allowing them to detect sounds inaudible to their human handlers. If an enemy captures a dog, they do not have ways of making it talk.

Their special capabilities make these dogs well suited to work in war zones such as Afghanistan, where IEDs have become so common. Ten years ago, the U.S. military had roughly 1,400 dogs trained for service in tracking, patrol and explosives detection; today, that number has ballooned to 2,700.

“The guys that are in the field need an edge,” Mike McConnery says. “These dogs are probes, they're distraction devices, they're allies, they're guards, they're security. They can do things that technology can't do. ... You can't hide from these dogs.”

The training they receive at Baden K-9 and Tier 1 K9 includes a specialized vocabulary of commands. Otherwise, in a high-intensity battlefield situation, a shout of “no,” for example, could distract a dog for crucial seconds.

Πηγή

(1942-1945) Sacred Band

In 1942, there appeared to be disproportionately many officers in the Greek army fighting in the Middle East. To address this issue, a special foces unit was formed that was composed entirely of officers and officer cadets. In reality, many of the "officers" were simple soldiers who had fled to Turkey and had been told (presumably erroneously) that they couldn't join the army in North Africa unless they were officers. 

The unit, initially named "Company of Chosen Immortals" was formed under Cavalry Major Antonios Stefanakis in Palestine, with 200 men, 130 of which were officers. It was organised as a Machine Gun Company and intended to be attached to the II Greek Brigade. This changed when its new commander Col. Christodoulos Tsigantes took over. Tsigantes was an ex-Venizelist, who had taken part in the attempted coup of 1935. His first move was to get rid of those who were openly leftist and any others he considered troublemakers. Using his close relations with officers in the Allied HQ, he applied and succeeded in converting the unit into a special forces unit, which he renamed "Sacred Band". 

After intensive training in the British SAS camp in Cairo and additional training in Palestine, the Sacred Band was placed in battle in El Alamein and Tunisia. By then it numbered 400 men. Until August 1945, when it was disbanded, it fought alongside the SAS in the Libyan desert and the Aegean, as well as with General Leclerc's Free French Forces in Tunisia. The Sacred Band of 1942-45 is the precursor of the modern Greek Special Forces and some of its traditions are carried on by the Mountain Raiding Companies (LOK), founded in 1946.

Operational History

1942 - In close cooperation with the commander of the British SAS Regiment, Lt. Colonel David Stirling, and with the approval of the Greek HQ, the company moved to the SAS base at Qabrit in Egypt to begin its training in its new role.

17 Nov. 1942 - 27 Jan. 1943 - 8 men under G. Alexandris operate with the SAS behind German lines in Cyrenaica.

4 Dec. 1942 - 60 men move towards Benghazi to perform SAS-like sabotage raids, but the mission is cancelled due to the rapid advances of the British.

27 Jan. 1943 - Following special training, the Sacred Band moves west to join the SAS in raids behind German-Italian lines. The mission is cancelled due to recent heavy losses of the SAS and the capture of its leader, Stirling.

7 Feb. 1943 - Following Colonel Tsigantes's suggestion, General Montgomery puts the Sacred Band under the command of General Leclerc of the Free French 2nd Armoured Division, with the duties of Light Mechanised Cavalry.

10 Mar. 1943 - In Ksar-Rillan, Tunisia, the Sacred Band gives its first battle against a German mechanised detachment, while covering the advance of the X British Army Corps that try to by-pass the Mareth defence line from the South.

29 Mar. 1943 - After the Allied forces capture Gabès, Tunisia, the Sacred Company is detailed to the 2nd New Zealand Division

6 Apr. 1943 - A mixed Greek-New Zealand detachment fights against the Germans at Wadi Akarit.

12 Apr. 1943 - The Sacred Band enters Sousse, and participates in the battle for Enfidaville between April 13 and 17.

May 1943 - The Sacred Band, now composed of 314 men, moves to Palestine, in various camps.

July 1943 - It takes parachute training in Jenin and undergoes a reorganisation into an HQ Section, a Base Section, and Commando Sections I,II and III.

9 Sep. 1943 - The Italians capitulate and British forces start moving into the Italian-occupied Dodecanese islands.

1-17 Nov. 1943 - Section I of the Sacred Band is dropped by air to the Greek island of

Samos, while sections II and III move there on fishing boats. With the failure of the campaign after the battle of Leros, however, Samos is evacuated, and the men of the Sacred Band withdraw to the Middle East.

Feb. 1944 - Put under the command of the British Raiding Forces.

7 Feb. 1944 - Section I moves for combat operations to the islands of the northern Aegean sea, while Section II moves to the Dodecanese with the same purpose.

29 Mar. 1944 - The Sacred Band liberates the island of Psara.

3 Apr. 1944 - 30 men perform diversionary attack in Mitilini.

Apr. 1944 - The Sacred Band attacks Ios, Paros and Amorgos. It also expands to regimental size, with a strength of around 1,000 men. This reflects the unit's effectiveness, and, from a British standpoint, political reliability in the face of mounting political tensions among the Greek forces in exile.

17 May 1944 - 31 men raid Samos and destroy selected targets

13-14 Jul. 1944 - A combined Greek-British force neutralises the 200-strong garrison of Simi and captures the island.

Sep. 1944 - Following sabotage raids in Thira, Ko and Karpathos, the Sacred Band with 25 men liberates Mykonos after neutralising its garrison (24-25 Sep.). A little later, it accepts the surrender of the Germans in Lesbos.

Oct. 1944 - The Greek mainland is liberated and the Sacred Band returns to Greece, where strains are becoming evident in the relationship of Papandreou's British-backed national unity government and the leftist National Liberation Front (EAM), which controls most of the countryside. The crucial issue is the disarmament of the guerrilla forces and the formation of a new national army out of members of both the exiled armed forces and the guerrillas of ELAS and EDES. 

However, the Papandreou government wish to retain the Sacred Band and the 3rd Greek Rimini Mountain Brigade intact. Disbanding them would mean that their members would become individual recruits in a possibly EAM-dominated people's army. This tension eventually spills over into the Dekemvriana events in Athens, where the Sacred Band fights against the Communist ELAS forces.

In the meantime, elements of the Sacred Band escort Papandreou's government in its return to Athens, and parade in front of the people of Athens.

11 Feb. 1944 - 114 men liberate the island of Nisiros.

25 Feb. 1945 - With the help of an Indian company, it neutralises the 200-strong German garrison of Tilos and re-captures the island.

28 Feb. 1944 - 513 men attack and liberate Tinos.

25 Oct. 1944 - 50 men raid Tilos and liberate temporarily the island. The island is re-captured by the Germans a little later.

Mar.-May 1945 - The unit patrols the Dodecanese in armed fishing boats (kaikia), raids Alimia and and participates in the siege of Rhodes. 217 men operate during the night and neutralise all German coastal garrisons of Rhodes. The Germans surrender in Kos and Rhodes.

3-4 May 1945 - Last raid is against the island of Milos.

June 1945 - The unit returns to Egypt.

7 Aug. 1945 - The unit disbands in a ceremony in Athens. During the ceremony the unit's flag is awarded with Greece's highest military awards, the Gold Cross of Valour and the War Cross First Class. The unit's casualties throughout its existence have amounted to 25 dead, 56 wounded, 3 missing and 29 taken prisoner.

Πηγή