Commando
A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines.
Etymology
The term commando derives from the Latin word commendare via the Dutch word kommando, which translates as "a command or order" and or roughly to "mobile infantry unit". Kommando in turn originated from the Portuguese word comando, which was used in Portuguese India to refer to an early type of special forces. The word was adopted into Afrikaans from Boer interactions with the Portuguese in neighboring African colonies. In Southern Africa, the term originally referred to units of locally raised mounted infantry which fought during the Xhosa Wars, Anglo-Zulu War and the First and Second Boer Wars. The British were exposed to the concept during the 19th and 20th centuries, in particular during the Boer Wars. During World War II, the British military established the Commandos, a formation of special forces units which engaged in raids against German-occupied Europe. Wehrmacht special forces units were also referred to as "kommandos". Some historians have argued the term is a High German loan word originating from German colonists who settled in the Dutch Cape Colony.The Oxford English Dictionary ties the English use of the word meaning " member of a body of picked men..." directly into its Afrikaans' origins:
During World War II, newspaper reports of the deeds of "the commandos" only in the plural led to readers thinking that the singular meant one man rather than one military unit, and this new usage became established.
Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as opposed to an individual in that unit, although the term today can be used in both senses, in addition to referring to guerrilla warfare carried out by small units. In English, to distinguish between an individual commando and a commando unit, the unit is occasionally capitalized. In China, the term does not necessarily refer to a military unit as country's People's Armed Police also has commando units such as the Snow Leopards and Falcons.
The term "para-commando" may be used to combine the roles of paratrooper and commando.
Selection
Due to the special mental and physiological requirements made of the applicants, there are restrictions entering "commando" units. Applicants have to fulfil special requirements. Selecting applicants with the highest motivation, modern special forces run special selection processes.Historically there is evidence of selection for the Otdelnly Gwardieskij Batalion Minerow, predecessors of the modern Russian spetsnaz. Soldiers had to be younger than 30 years, were mostly athletes or hunters and had to show the highest motivation. During training and selection some participants died since they were exhausted and left to their devices.
The German Kommando Spezialkräfte demands from their applicants high levels of physical resilience, teamwork, willingness to learn, mental resilience, willpower, sense of responsibility, flexibility, secrecy and adaptation. These skills are proven during assessment.
The fitness test of the U.S. Navy SEALs tests swimming speed over 500 yards, number of push-ups and sit-ups within 2 minutes, pull-ups and running 1.5 miles.
Long Range Desert Group hired their personnel after a very long interrogation. First SAS members had to complete a march of 50km, and the Royal Marine commandos tested their applicants' motivation during an obstacle course using real explosives and machine gun fire close to Achnacary in Scotland. The French Foreign Legion assesses their applicants through medical, intelligence, logic, and fitness tests as well as interrogations, small drills and solving small tasks.
Commando soldiers are supposed to think independently. This is unusual in the context of most military training, but is necessary for work in small groups and avoiding enemies' reconnaissance.
Boer name origin and adoption by Britain
After the Dutch Cape Colony was established in 1652, the word was used to describe bands of militia. The first "Commando Law" was instated by the original Dutch East India Company chartered settlements, and similar laws were maintained through the independent Boer Orange Free State and South African Republic. The law compelled burghers to equip themselves with horses and firearms when required in defense. The implementation of these laws was called the "Commando System". A group of mounted militiamen was organized in a unit known as a commando and headed by a commandant, who was normally elected from inside the unit. Men called up to serve were said to be "on commando". British experience with this system led to the widespread adoption of the word "commandeer" into English in the 1880s.During the Great Trek, conflicts with Southern African peoples such as the Xhosa and the Zulu caused the Boers to retain the commando system despite being free of colonial laws. Also, the word became used to describe any armed raid. During this period, the Boers also developed guerrilla techniques for use against numerically superior but less mobile bands of natives such as the Zulu, who fought in large, complex formations.
In the First Boer War, Boer commandos utilised superior marksmanship, fieldcraft, camouflage and mobility to great effect against British forces, who wore conspicuous red uniforms and were poorly trained in marksmanship. These tactics continued to be used during the Second Boer War. In the final phase of the war, 25,000 Boer commandos engaged in asymmetric warfare against British Imperial forces numbering 450,000 strong for two years after the British had captured the capitals of the two Boer republics. During these conflicts the word entered the English language, retaining its general Afrikaans meaning of a "militia unit" or a "raid". Robert Baden-Powell recognised the importance of fieldcraft and was inspired to form the scouting movement.
File:No. 3 Commando men after Dieppe raid.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|The "commando" name was permanently established with the introduction of the British Commandos in 1942 the elite special forces units of the British Army in World War II
In 1941, Lieutenant-Colonel D. W. Clarke of the British Imperial General Staff, suggested the name commando for specialized raiding units of the British Army Special Service in evocation of the effectiveness and tactics of the Boer commandos. During World War II, American and British publications, confused over the use of the plural "commandos" for that type of British military units, gave rise to the modern common habit of using "a commando" to mean one member of such a unit, or one man engaged on a raiding-type operation.
Green berets and training
Since the 20th century and World War II in particular, commandos have been set apart from other military units by virtue of their extreme training regimes; these are usually associated with the awarding of green berets which originated with British Commandos. The British Commandos were instrumental in founding many other international commando units during World War II. Some international commando units were formed from members who served as part of or alongside British Commandos, such as the Dutch Korps Commandotroepen, the Belgian 5th Special Air Service, or Greek Sacred Band. In 1944 the SAS Brigade was formed from the British 1st and 2nd SAS, the French 3rd and 4th SAS, and the Belgian 5th SAS. The French Army special forces still use the motto Qui Ose Gagne, a translation of the SAS motto "Who Dares Wins".In addition, many Commonwealth nations were part of the original British Commando units. They developed their own national traditions, including the Australian Special Air Service Regiment, the New Zealand Special Air Service, and the Rhodesian Special Air Service, all of whom share the same insignia and motto as their British counterparts. During the Second World War, the British SAS quickly adopted sand-coloured berets, since they were almost entirely based in the North African theatre; they used these rather than green berets to distinguish themselves from other British Commando units.. Other Commonwealth commando units were formed after the Second World War directly based on the British Commando units, such as the Australian Army Reserve 1st Commando Regiment, distinct from the Regular Army 2nd Commando Regiment, who originated from the 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment in 1997.
The US Rangers were founded by Major General Lucian Truscott of the US Army, a liaison officer with the British General Staff. In 1942, he submitted a proposal to General George Marshall that an American unit be set up "along the lines of the British Commandos". The original US Rangers trained at the British Commandos centre at Achnacarry Castle. The US Navy SEALs' original formation, the Observer Group, was also trained and influenced by British Commandos. The US Special Forces originated with the First Special Service Force, formed under British Combined Operations. The First Special Service Force was a joint American-Canadian unit and modern Canadian special operations forces also trace their lineage to this unit and through it to British Commandos, despite existing in their modern incarnation only since 2006.
Malaysian green beret special forces PASKAL and Grup Gerak Khas were originally trained by British Commandos. The Portuguese Marine Corps Fuzileiros were originally trained by British Commandos in 1961. Other British units, such as the SAS, led to the development of many international special operations units that are now typically referred to as commandos, including the Bangladeshi Para-Commando Brigade, Pakistani Special Services Group, the Indian MARCOS, Jordanian Special Operation Forces and Philippine National Police Special Action Force.
A Dutch study found that a sampling of Dutch male special forces operators were more emotionally stable, conscientious, but also more closed minded than matched civilian controls and other types of soldiers.