Republic of Korea

 Special Warfare Command

ROK Special Forces began in 1957.  The Special Warfare Command was activated in 1969.  It now consists of six Brigades, one Special Missions Group, one Special Mission Battalion, and one Training Group.  These are the ten unit patches you see across the top of the homepage.

The ROK Army Special Forces are considered the elite troops of the Army and are trained in advanced skills such as SCUBA, HALO, CT, and Martial Arts.  Special Forces soldiers are all volunteers and are extremely proud of their units.  Each unit has a mascot, which the soldiers wear as a patch on their uniform.  SWC’s mascot is the Lion.

 

  1st Special Forces Brigade
The 1st BDE was the original unit of the ROK Army Special Forces.  It is a very proud unit with a long heritage.  1st BDE was founded on 01 April 1958 as the 1st Combat Regiment.  On 01 October 1959, it was re-designated as the 1st Airborne Special Forces Group.  In September 1972, it was re-designated again as the 1st ROK SF BDE.  The BDE is very proud to have one of its former Commanders, BG Chun Doo Hwan, serve as the President of Korea from 1980-1987.  Their Mascot is the Eagle.

 

  3rd Special Forces Brigade
3rd BDE was founded on 18 January 1969 as the 1st Ranger BDE.  On 10 September 1972, the unit was re-designated as the 3rd ROK SF BDE.  Although all the BDE’s practice martial arts, the 3rd BDE is well known for its Tae-Kwon-Do.  They performed Tae-Kwon-Do demonstrations in the 1986 Seoul Asian Games, 1988 Seoul Olympics, and the Annual Armed Forces Day Demonstrations.  Their mascot is the Flying Tiger.

 

  Special Missions Group
Special Missions Group was founded on 17 February 1969 as the 2nd Ranger BDE.  On 10 September 1972, the unit was re-designated as the 5th ROK SF BDE, and finally became the Special Mission Group in 1999.  Their mascot is the Dragon.

 

  7th Special Forces Brigade

7th BDE was founded on 01 October 1974.  The BDE is proud of their HAHO/HALO capabilities and maintains one of the only usable year-round Drop Zones.  Their mascot is the Flying Horse.

 

  9th Special Forces Brigade

The 9th BDE was founded along with the 7th BDE on 1 October 1974.  The BDE is very proud of having one of their former Commanders, Rho Tae Woo, serve as the Korean President from 1987-1992.  Their mascot is the Phantom.

 

  11th Special Forces Brigade

The 11th BDE was founded on 01 October 1977.  Their mascot is the Bat.

 

  13th Special Forces Brigade

The 13th BDE was founded along with the 9th BDE on 01 October 1976 as a provisional unit along with the 11 BDE but not officially recognized until 01 October 1977.  The 13th BDE maintains the SWC’s mountain training site near the BDE.  Their mascot is the Panther

 

  707th Special Missions Battalion

The 707th Special Mission Battalion was founded in late 1981 under Republic of Korean Presidential Executive Order as a world-class Counter-Terrorist force to support Domestic and International Counter-Terrorism.  It owns and operates a multi-complex CT training site for the SWC and hosts multi-national counter-terrorist training.   Their mascot is the White Tiger.

 

  Special Warfare Training Group

The Special Warfare Training Group (SWTG) was founded in 1981.  SWTG is charged with providing Special Operations training and developing Special Forces Doctrine for all ROK Special Forces. SWTG currently runs the ROKA Airborne School, Special Forces Qualification Course, Special Forces Officer and NCO Course and advance skill courses (HALO, SCUBA, Mountaineering, Skiing, etc).  Their mascot is the Double Dragon.