Keeping in tradition of our military videos today
We dive into further
Understanding the military of Sweden and although Sweden may be a very neutral country while occasionally lending in a helping hand in
Joint operations around the world specifically in peacekeeping the Swedish Armed Forces do understand the importance of a diverse
Specialization within its military and as the world progresses to combat new
Technologies and enemies Sweden is grown to adopt
Against these and with that in mind we take a look at the Special Forces of Sweden and find out who these great and amazing
soldiers are good afternoon guys and girls
my name is Dave Walpole and welcome to FTD facts channel where I look at people cultures and places from all around the world and
in these kind of videos
We look at the militaries and the special units that countries have
But today we are going to look at the special forces of Sweden
Now this is one that's been requested for quite some time
You guys have been in the comments section saying yo talk about the SOG and that's what we're doing today
But if it's your first time here guys and you like learning about militaries in countries
You want to hit that subscribe button and that foul?
notification because that's what we do and on top of that if you're liking this video and you want more
Sweden related topics or topics around Special Forces
Just hit that like button because if we get a lot of likes that we know to continue to do more now
Let's get rolling. Now. I'm not gonna lie one hard thing is finding information about this particular unit
Because it is well
First of all a special forces unit and they don't like to tell a lot of the public what they are doing
So it makes a finding information really tough to do and although we're gonna talk about the SOG
You should keep in mind that Sweden has had a lot of different
Special Forces units throughout its military history
and the reason some of them are not around today is because they actually
merged with the SOG and I'm gonna get into that in this video because first of all,
Let's just get a general understanding of what?
special forces units are actually required to do within the country to quote off of Sweden's military website the SOG our
Special Operations Task Force groups they are a core unit of the special forces within
Sweden and they provide unique and unconventional
Capabilities to achieve a strategic goal also heads up while we're doing this video
You guys may see some footage of certain units that are not classified as Special Forces now
the reason for that is because finding actual photos on the SOG or any special forces unit is
Kind of a hard thing to do as well
And on top of that some people just tagged this as a Special Forces Group
So if we find him on Google then we're kind of stuck. So the SOG. What does it stand for?
Well, they are known in English as the Special Operations Task Group and to pronounce it in Swedish
although I'm probably gonna mess this up because I know a lot of you guys in the comments section you guys love to take the
Piss out on me being like you mispronounced it wrong, but let's give it a shot
I think it's pronounced sour skills to operations group and I think that was right
But one thing that's really important to know about this Special Forces Group is it's rather new on the Block when it comes to new
military units within the country as a matter of fact this particular special forces unit has only been around since
2011 it's like well at the time of recording this video, it's like seven years old
Special Forces units within Sweden have actually been around for a long time
And because Sweden has a very neutral perspective on war the country hasn't had much need for a special forces unit
Which explains of why they may seem like a little new to the game now
The reason this group was formed in 2011 was very similar to how Dutch Special Forces groups were formed
They were actually merged from two different units into one major unit
now these two groups were firstly the special protection group also known as the SSG or SAR skill disguise grouping and
secondly
the special reconnaissance group known as the s IG or
SAR skill des in Hamptons grouping and in order for us to understand how the SOG works
we got to look at the history of these two particular units looking at the SSG first this particular group became active in
1994 and although the actual a number of troops is classified. They do estimate that at its height
there was anywhere between 60 to 80 actual soldiers or
Special Forces units and of course within this group the approximate age of all the soldiers were in their early 30s
similar to most special forces groups these guys were extremely secretive and as a matter of fact
They didn't become aware to the public until about 1997 and to recruit people for this program
They took officers and notable individuals from different sections of the military and to be in this group
It took more than one year of basic operator training soldiers would learn how to do halo dives
Parachuting scuba diving and as well woman could apply but only as intelligence officers
It's also interesting to know that for the training of this program
It was also held in other countries in joint operations
Of course
The SSG was also present in many different operations around the world until the merge in 2011 for example in 2002
They were in charge of guarding the Afghan King Mohammed Zi Shah and in 2002
They were sent back to Zaire for what was known as Operation
Artemis during the second Congo war which was actually the first operation led by the EU and the first autonomous
EU operation as well. They were a part of the first Rapid Response unit by any EU nation
and of course the first major operation outside of the EU that was conducted by the EU and with the United Nations in
2004 the SSG was also in Kosovo and in 2008
They were in Chad along with other operations in Macedonia Liberia Lebanon and the Bosnian war now
Let's move on to the second group the S IG and find out a little history about them
Now the s IG in 2007 formed out of the parachuting school now similar to the previous group
There's not quite an accurate number
but they do guess that there was anywhere between 50 to 70 people that were trained in this program and
Were in their early thirties as well now for this particular group, they were more heavily focused on reconnaissance than combat
Of course Sweden has its own form of reconnaissance group known as I star but for this particular group
It was designed for missions that required a little bit more training as they were deemed more
dangerous for training when it came to si G individuals
These guys were trained by jumping out of c-130 Hercules doing nighttime and daytime
jumps as well as halo jumps but today this group has been
discontinued as of 2009 and it was reorganized into the
323rd paratrooper company as well as a few other companies and by that merge
I meant specifically the parachuter Ranger program not the s IG they were merged in 2011 to create the
SOG
but now let's look specifically at the SOG because this particular unit its size is also listed as
classified
so one thing that I've heard when it comes to the
SOG, and who they select I have heard this
I can't confirm it that they only select people once in a lifetime and it pretty much means that if you don't make the team
You are never allowed to get into it
Unless of course
There is some really really good reasons and to dive further into the training of the SOG for about six months before
Individuals have their major test
They get analyzed by officials and told where they need to improve on and during the selection process. It takes about two weeks
We're actually one whole week. You are gone on an entire field exercise
And of course if these individuals are chosen to move forward into Special Operations training
They then qualify for a basic operator course which takes approximately 12 months to finish as for the SOG
They also say that they generally work in teams of four with usually a team leader a demolitions expert
Radio operator and a combat medic as well. I just want to mention when it comes to the SOG the s IG and the SSG
They've been apart in many operations such as the belkin's the Congo Chad
Central African Republic and much more which of course we should include Afghanistan in there as well
But as for the SOG, they have specifically been in Syria and Iraq for operation inherent resolve as well
They've been placed in the countries of Iraq and Kurdistan
to train other soldiers and for all these groups no matter where they've come from or whether they've merged into the new group known as
The SOG they're garrison and headquarters have always been located in Carlsberg Sweden. So there you have it
That is a look at the Special Forces of Sweden
Of course
We've missed some major facts and like I said guys if you know some facts that we got wrong or we've got some facts
We could expand on be sure to put it down there in the comments section below because here on FTD facts
We like to continue learning even after we've done a video. It's the best thing about having this great community
But on that guys
My name is Dave Wawa. And I just want to thank you guys for tuning in and learning about these particular awesome forces
I really love doing our military videos because it's just really cool to expand our minds about the military's also
Keep in mind if you haven't done it already hit that subscribe button, and of course
Don't forget to give the like button if you guys are liking this video and you want more sweet and content or you want more
Military content and then that we'll see you in the next one
Because today you and I learned about the special forces of Sweden a force that has had a history since at least the 1950s
Being a part of a military that has been around for years
Despite its peaceful position
these are the soldiers of the Sweden Special Forces the men and the woman who go a little farther to put their lives on the
Line for the safety of the loved ones their homes and most importantly their culture
Thanks for watching guys, all right be sure to check out this is our most recent video here
And of course, don't forget to check out our military playlist because we know you guys like learning about militaries
So we've done a lot of videos just for you guys. Other than that. We'll see you in the next one later skaters