Sri Lanka Army Special Forces Regiment

The Sri Lanka Army Special Forces Regiment (SF) (Sinhalese: විශේෂ බලකාය) is the elite special forces unit of the Sri Lanka Army. This Regiment is specialized in hard-hitting shock action. The Special Forces Regiment has the distinction of taking part in almost all major offensives conducted by the Army since 1986. Their motto is “Determined, Dared, and Done”. The four arrows in their cap cadge depict the four-man team regularly used for covert strikes and its deep penetration capabilities.

The SF forms the Special Forces Brigade of the Sri Lanka Army. This force is similar to the United States Army Special Forces ("Green Berets").

History

The Sri Lanka Army Special Forces evolved from organization initially known as “Combat Tracker Team”. This group at the inception in 1985 had two Officers and 38 men and was to be tasked to carry out small group operations which have capability of operating deep in enemy territory against LTTE terrorism in time of war. This Combat Tracker Team led by the dedicated and devoted leadership of Maj Gen (retired) G. Hettiarachchi, WWV, RWP, RSP, USP, psc from the Sri Lanka Armoured Corps (SLAC) (Then Major) and Col A.F. Lafir, PWV, RWP, RSP, (posthumous) (Then Lieutenant). Subsequently with the formation of the Special Service Group (SSG) the Combat Tracker Team becomes the reconnaissance element of the SSG. Later as the SSG concept failed to materialized, the Combat Tracker Team...
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