OUR HISTORY

U.O.E - COMANFES

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The Special Operations Unit (UOE) was an elite special operations force of the Spanish Navy and Marine Corps, founded on September 2, 1966 —officially in 1968 when the Tercio de Armada (TEAR) was created - upon request of the then Marine Corps Captain Julio Yáñez Golf, and which was absorbed in June 2009 with the creation of the Special Naval War Force . The unit had its headquarters in the Tercio de Armada, San Fernando, Cádiz. Currently the FGNE is located in Cartagena and is under the direct control of the Special Naval War Command. It comprised around 170 men organized into three operational teams (Estoles) as well as command and logistical support personnel.

The UOE had special operations duties at sea, on the coast and on land. Traditionally, the UOE carries out missions up to 50 kilometers from the coast, although this is not a restriction and the teams usually carry out operations on land. The unit was in compliance with all aspects of the Special Naval War Force, including: maritime counterterrorism, boarding of vessels on the high seas, submarine combat, infiltration of coasts, aerial insertion, special reconnaissance, direct action, escort / VIP protection Very Important Person) and search and rescue.

For these purposes, the UOE used a wide range of naval and military platforms, including submarines, frigates, soft and rigid inflatable boats, land vehicles, and also helicopters and aircraft for aerial insertions.

The UOE selection and training course (Training) was quite tough. Like the US Navy SEALs course, the UOE maintains fairly strict acceptance guidelines.

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History

Old emblem of COMANFES, name of the UOE from 1985 to 1990.

The Company of Amphibian Climbers was organized in 1952 in the Northern Tercio of El Ferrol as a unit of volunteers in charge of coastal assaults and infiltration. Its founder was the Captain of the Marine Corps Alfredo Díaz del Río Darnell who had previously completed the Mountain course at the Mountain School of the Army in Candanchú. With the creation of the Special Group of Marine Infantry (GROUPS) the unit was transferred to San Fernando in 1957 where it was extinguished in 1966.

This emblematic Climbers Unit had nothing to do with the creation of the Special Operations Unit, except in some material means concession that it provided; therefore, it cannot be categorically considered as embryo or root of the UOE, as some authors refer.

The Special Operations Unit was founded on September 2, 1966, upon the proposal of Captain Yáñez Golf, at the end of the first Aptitude Course for the UOE Command for the Navy, to Colonel Martínez de Galinsoga, commander of the Support Group of the Third South, being command of the GROUPS general La Cruz Lacacci.

This would be a Unit of high employment and selective character, standing out for the peculiar training of its components, specialization of the same, greater framing of its reduced strength and readiness for immediate intervention.

According to a detailed written study dated September 3, Captain Yáñez asked the Command to be able to organize, train and equip it with the material equipment, weapons necessary and specific to carry out special missions by land, sea and air (amphibious reconnaissance, - incursions- hand beatings - sabotage behind enemy lines, capture of prisoners, etc.), as well as the approval of proselytizing systems and the recruitment and attendance of courses necessary for the training of personnel.

The UOE, as it was not yet officially recognized, lacked budgets, personnel templates, weapons tables and material. However, from the first day all their Training Programs were approved and they were even sent to "special commissions", such as to rescue some young people lost in the Cueva del Gato in Malaga.

At that time, the plus of Diving and Skydiving were not recognized either. Even the soldier (who charged 9 pesetas) had to pay for his own Green Beret, so hard earned in the Training course.

This UOE carried out exercises and maneuvers (more than twenty days a month) with elite Spanish Special Units -Submarines, Helicopters, Torpedo Boats, Navy Diving Center, BRIPAC, UOE's-, and foreigners -GROUFUMACO, BRITISH ROYAL MARINE COMMANDOS , SEAL's, SPECIAL FORCES, URECON american, UDT's, etc-.

It was also required whenever a prestigious and efficient Unit was needed at the service of Spain, intervening in the campaigns of Guinea, Sidi Ifni, Sahara and Aaiún.

Following the guidance of the US Navy SEAL and the British SBS / SAS, the unit expanded its range and command capabilities to submarine combat missions, underwater demolitions, aerial and direct-action insertions.

In 1985 the UOE was renamed COMANFES (Special Amphibian Command), but it used its original name again in mid-1987.

Until its incorporation into the FGNE, the UOE collaborated and trained closely with other similar NATO units, such as the SEALs, the COMSUBINs of the Italian navy, the Hubert Command of France and the Portuguese DAE, as well as with units of special intervention of the Spanish police forces: UEI and GEO.

The UOE was one of the three military units in charge of carrying out special operations, together with the MOE of the Spanish Army and the EZAPAC of the Spanish Air Force, and considered the best elite unit in Spain.

On September 24, 2007, the Admiral Chief of Staff of the Navy ordered the planning of a Special Naval Warfare Unit (UGNE) activated on June 10, 2009, made up of elements from the Special Infantry Operations Unit of the Navy (UOE) and the Special Combat Divers Unit (UEBC). The Fleet Admiral, through the Special Naval War Commander, will exercise control of this unit during its specialized training and the period of high availability.

The Special Naval War Force (FGNE) responds to the need for a genuinely maritime special operations capability.

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Organization

TEAR's UOE had a theoretical workforce of 169 men. He never had command of colonel, but was captain from September 1966 to May 1968 (TEAR); Commander: from 1968 to 1985 (COMANFES) and Lieutenant Colonel: from 1985 to 2009, with the creation of the FGNE.

The command of this charismatic Unit, was very hard and problematic in its beginnings, more than for the energetic and motivating day to day and the almost absolute lack of means, for the misunderstandings received, being so that even nowadays some companion is allowed unfairly underestimate its beginnings.

It consisted of:

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· Administrative Estol *

· 1st Operations Estol

· 2nd Operations Estol

· 3rd Operations Estol

· Flat Major Stol

The Estoles were company-type units, and take their name from the old Almogavar parties.

In more recent times, there was a colonel at the head of the Command unit and a lieutenant colonel who acted as second chief and was in charge of directing the Administrative Estol. This style was divided into two parts; the services section in charge of the bureaucratic management tasks of the unit and the communications platoon.

The special operations teams were divided into three stoles; each stol had about 33 men. The configuration of a stol was as follows: in front was an officer (captain or lieutenant) and four special operations teams (officers, NCOs and corporals). Each team consisted of two patrols of four men each, a total of eight men per team, although this number could vary according to the assigned mission.

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Mission

The generic mission of the UOE was to carry out Special Operations in the maritime and maritime-terrestrial fields in the form of direct or indirect military actions on strategic, operational or tactical objectives of high value, both in peacetime and in crisis situations or war, using tactics, techniques and procedures different from conventional forces. Success depended on the Team's ability to remain unnoticed within its area of operations while acquiring and transmitting information.

With its three Special Operations Stocks supported by the Estol de Plana Mayor y Servicios, the UOE could carry out the following types of actions:

Direct Actions directed against high value targets including all those tasks related to the projection of naval power on land through OE's, the terminal guidance of aircraft and ammunition on ground targets.

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Training

Members of the Special Operations Unit (UOE) during boarding practices.

The Officers and NCOs carried out the COMMAND COURSE OF UNITS OF SPECIAL OPERATIONS in the "Military School of Mountain and Special Operations" (Jaca), that of CAZADOR PARACAIDISTA in the " Military School of Parachuting " in Alcantarilla (Murcia), and that of ELEMENTARY DIVER / COMBAT at the "Armada Diving Center" in Cartagena (Murcia).

As for the Troop, its origin was that of a Military Professional Employment Troop and previously a replacement troop, in any of its specialties. After completing basic training and having served in a conventional unit, candidates aspiring to achieve the coveted "green beret" must undergo extensive medical and psychological examinations as well as physical tests, and then, if approved, pass a rigorous selection course (Training). The course is divided into basic and advanced phases.

The basic phase lasts about four weeks and aims to test the candidates' physical and psychological resistance through a strenuous combination of intense physical exercise and marches weighing up to 50 kg, and numerous trials at sea and in mountain areas. The advanced phase of the selection lasts for around two months, the physical rigor of the course is constantly increasing.

Candidates are free to leave the course at any time, from the first day to the last. In most cases, abandonment is voluntary. The dropout rate from the UOE selection process from time to time can be as high as 100% and the average from 70% to 80%. The highest failure rate of any course in the Spanish armed forces.

In addition to these courses, UOE personnel completed their training and specialization by taking one of the following courses, held at different schools and centers of the Navy, Army and Air Force:

Manual Opening Course. Bending and Load Preparation Course. Guide Pointer Course. Basic Mountain Course. Tedax and Submarine Tedax Course. HALO HAHO practices. Jumpmaster Course. FAC (Forward air controller) course. Naval Fire Observer Course. Tactical Intelligence Acquisition Courses. Elementary diver and combat courses. Courses of Skipper of light assault boats.

The UOE Training Program ranged from the complete mastery of the most elemental combat techniques, the ability to use the most diverse means of infiltration, to specialization in the different functional fields (skydiving, diving, communications, weapons, health campaign, explosives and demolitions).

This specialization was not to the detriment of general training, but rather intensifies it in the different functional areas, thus obtaining highly specialized personnel in particular tasks. In this way, an Operational Team could be quickly constituted for a specific mission.

Every component of ESTOL knew and mastered the procedures and operating techniques of Special Operations and Special Naval Warfare that will allow it to be easily and quickly integrated into an Operational Team.

The training is structured in four categories according to the level of the Unit to which it was addressed: Individual (Basic and Advanced) and Unit (Basic and Advanced).

The UOE was endowed with the varied range of equipment (communications, skydiving, climbing, navigation, diving, etc.) and special weapons necessary to carry out its different missions.

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SPECIAL NAVAL WAR FORCE

The Special Naval War Force (FGNE) comes from the merger of the Special Operations Unit (UOE) of the Third Army, known for years as "the unit" and the Special Unit of Combat Divers "Commander Gorordo" (UEBC) of the Navy Diving Center, which is why it has more than 50 years of history and is therefore heir to the values, traditions and experiences that make it come into being in 2009 as a special veteran unit, seasoned in its work and fully operational since the first day.

The origins of the special operations units in the Marine Corps and therefore in the Navy, date back to the creation in 1952 of the Amphibian Climbers Company in the Northern Tercio of Ferrol (La Coruña) at the hands of the first Marines mountain graduates at the Military Mountain School (Jaca). Its first commander was Captain IM Diaz del Rio.

It was not until 1966 when, under the command of the Marine Corps Captain Julio Yañez Golf, the Special Operations Unit was created from the Amphibian Climbers Company and within the then-called Support Group. In the year 1967 its members were distinguished with the use of the green beret characteristic of the special operations units and the following year the Third Army was created and the UOE was part of its Landing Group. Six years later, the need arises to give a proper name to the teams that made up the unit, which despite having a section entity, were commanded by captains due to the special nature of their tasks; the name "ESTOL" was chosen.

Combat diving was born in 1953 in the old Balearic Tercio with a small unit of "Frogmen" that led to the creation of a Divers Unit known as the "Illetas Group". The name was due to its location in the diving training center of the Palma de Mallorca Submarine Base, in the base that bore the same name as Illetas. The organizer of this group of first combat divers was the then Lieutenant of the Marine Corps D. Antonio Gorordo Álvarez.

In 1967, Cte. Gorordo Álvarez will create the Experimental Combat Divers Unit (UEBC) based on the Illetas Diver Center, and within the Navy Diving Center in Cartagena. In 1970 the unit officially takes the name of Special Combat Divers Unit and in 1975, the Navy, with the desire to perpetuate the name of the founder of this unit - who died in an accident in 1972 - adds the nickname of “ Commander Gorordo ”, from then on being called the Special Unit of Combat Divers“ Commander Gorordo ”.

The discussion within the Navy about the concept of special operations and their use in the maritime and coastal areas is almost as old as that of its special units. The coexistence in the Navy of two units with very close tasks, which sometimes duplicated efforts, led to the need to develop a concept that would achieve the necessary synergy and improve efficiency in the use of resources.

For this reason, in 2004 the Navy took the decision to create a new body that would serve as coordinator of the training and activities of the two special units and that would also have the capacity to command special naval warfare operations when necessary. In this way, by Instruction 149/2004 of the Admiral Chief of Staff of the Navy, the Special Naval War Command was created, which was subordinate to the Admiral of the Fleet and would be commanded by a Colonel or Captain of the Ship. This command, which constituted a higher level, had no subordinates to the UOE and UEBC, which continue to depend on their previous organic controls; however, it does receive, temporarily assigned, operational organizations from both units, which undergo periods of high availability training and enlistment, being ready to deploy under the command of the Special Naval Warfare Command. The first deployment of one of these GNE units occurs in April 200

After almost five years of experience with this special naval warfare organization model, based on one command and two independent units, the Navy makes the decision to merge these three units into a single organic unit, creating (by resolution of AJEMA 600/07818/2009) the Special Naval War Force (FGNE) and establishing its base at the Algameca Naval Station, in Cartagena (Murcia). Since then, the FGNE has participated in various operations with the task of executing special operations missions in both the maritime and land areas.

Both the UOE and the UEBC, predecessor units of the FGNE have participated in all the conflicts and crises in which the Navy was required, both in past times and in more recent dates: Sahara, Bosnia, Parsley, Haiti, Lebanon ...

Since its creation, the FGNE has been involved in several real operations abroad; ATALANTA (in Somali waters, (Indian), FINUL in Lebanon and HISPANIOLA in Haiti.

Among the real operations are:

His participation in the kidnapping of ALAKRANA. When it was learned on October 2, 2009, that the Spanish tuna vessel "Alakrana" had been kidnapped, in a few hours a force was enlisted to reinforce the capabilities established there, being parachuted into Somali waters and picked up by the Frigate " CANARY ISLANDS".
The rescue of the French citizen Evelyne Colombo in the waters of the Indian Ocean. When on September 10, 2011 an FGNE shooter aboard a SH3D helicopter of the 5th Squadron neutralized the engine of the boat of the captors of Mrs. Colombo, thus allowing surface boarding of the rest of the members of the Estol and his rescue. For this action, several members of the FGNE were exceptionally decorated and congratulated, through the President of the Government, by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy; as well as at the national level and in the field of the Navy, they were decorated with the Naval Merit Cross with a red badge.

Currently there are FGNE UGNE's deployed in the following Operations Theaters:

Operation Atalanta, where our unit has been continuously contributing to maritime security operations in the Indian Ocean since the beginning of the operation in 2009.
Cape Verde, in cooperative security actions carrying out advisory tasks and developing military capabilities in the field of special operations in this country, which has allowed it to serve as an example for other similar operations, which are led by the Operations Command, are carried out in Senegal (in which it has also participated) and intends to perform in other African nations.
Operation Support to Iraq, deployed in Baghdad and framed in the Spanish Special Operations Task Group (SOTG) carry out the mission of these units is the military defeat of DAESH through Military Assistance to the different Iraqi Special Operations forces.

STRUCTURE

The FGNE is structured in different units according to the main tasks

and functions they develop:

Command and Control: Command Group (COMNAVES and its Command Major Plan).
Combat (Special Operations): Stoles and Ship Unit.
Support for:
Combat Support (CS): Skydiving, Diving and CIS Platoon.
Support of Combat Services (CSS): Health, Provisioning, Transportation, Weapons, Material and Cargo.
Based on these units, the different operating organizations characteristic of Special Operations are established: SOTU / SOMTU / UGNE, SOTG / SOMTG / GRUGNE.
SOTU / SOMTU / UGNE third level operational organization established based on an Estol reinforced with the means of Command and Control, Combat Support and Support of Combat Services deemed necessary.
SOTG / SOMTG / GRUGNE second level operational organization, comprises a command and control structure, has at least two SOTU / SOMTU / UGNE and the combat support units and combat services considered.

CAPABILITIES

The capabilities of the operational organizations of the Special Naval War Force are a direct consequence of their organizational structure and the special preparation and training in the techniques, tactics and procedures of special operations, as well as the individual training and training of their personnel in the type of operations that constitute the Special Naval War.

From its organic structure, the FGNE generates the different Special Naval War organizations that will be used integrated into the operational organization of the Joint Force or the Naval Force that is constituted.

As a Marine Corps Unit, it is trained and prepared to carry out operations on the ground, either independently or with other special operations units, being able to act in small groups, at a great distance from its base, at all times and on ground conditions. , with very limited support from own forces or even without it.

Conforming the GNE concept, a synergistic effect is obtained with the integration and performance of the different FGNE operational organizations together with the different naval platforms (surface ships and / or submarines) and Navy aircraft (SOATU, Special Operation Air Task Unit), as well as with designated units from the rest of the FIM (TEAR and FUPRO) that make up the Specialized Support Group (GAES), reaching a level of integration and operational capacity that has no correspondence in other units of the Armed Forces.

The FGNE is trained to carry out all the doctrinal tasks of Special Operations, both the main ones are Direct Action (DA), Reconnaissance and Special Surveillance (SR) and Military Assistance (MA), as well as the additional ones of Operations NEO, Rescue of Hostages (HRO ) and counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations (COIN and CT).

Likewise, the Special Naval War, being part of the projection, protection, freedom of action and maritime action capacity of the Navy, will generally be used to support naval operations, subordinated to a Component Maritime Command or integrated into a Component Operations Command. Specials. To the latter, it will provide, when necessary, a unique and specialized capacity in the maritime field.

In this sense, the contribution of the FGNE to the capabilities of the Navy is summarized in the following points distributed, according to the capabilities mentioned above:

Projection: Selective attacks on limited objectives but of strategic or operational importance, Special Surveillance and Surveillance, Guided Terminal for aircraft and ammunition and Fire Fighting.
Protection: Obtaining information.
Freedom of Action: Neutralization of threat, Terminal Guidance and Destruction of obstacles.
Maritime Action: Maritime interdiction operations in the highest risk modalities (MIO-OB) and direct anti-piracy actions. Hostage rescue (HRO), abandonment of ship.

At the joint and combined level, the FGNE can carry out with its operational organizations all the tasks established in general by the joint doctrine of Special Operations (PDC-3.5) and the NATO and EU doctrine, for a Maritime Operations TaskGroup. Specials or a joint Special Operations Force (FOE) (with air and special operations means of the Armies and the Navy).