List of military diving units

This is a list of notable military diving units and may contain combat units, salvage units, training units and diving research units which are present or past commands of any branch of the armed forces of any country.

Argentina
  • Tactical Divers Group (Buzos Tácticos) is the special operations unit of the Argentine navy. The operatives are combat divers, EOD/demolition technicians, and parachutists.

Austria
  • The Jagdkommando (German for Hunter force) is the Austrian Armed Forces' Special Operations group.

Australia

Bangladesh
  • 1st Para-commando Battalion of Bangladesh Army has frogman commando unit specialized for underwater demolition trained under supervision on Bangladeshi Naval special forces SWADS

Belgium
  • Special Forces Group has a specialized diving company for education and training of combat swimmers.

Brazil
  • Brazilian Commando Frogmen (GRUMEC) is a combat diver group

Canada
  • Canadian Armed Forces Divers

Croatia

Denmark
  • Danish Frogman Corps (Danish: Frømandskorpset) is an elite special forces frogman corps in the Royal Danish Navy

Eritrea
  • During Eritrea's war of independence against Ethiopia, the rebel forces had a combat frogman force. After the war, some of those frogmen were retrained as dive guides for the sport scuba diving tourism trade.

Finland
Finnish diver insignia
  • The Finnish Navy has trained Finnish combat divers since 1954. Conscripts and career military are eligible to apply for the training. Annually, about 20 conscripts are trained for diving duties. Applying for combat diver training is voluntary, and the selection criteria are stringent.[1] The conscript divers are trained either for anti-mine or for commando operations, while career personnel may also be trained for deep-sea diving duty.[2] All conscript divers receive at least NCO training during their 12-month service period.

France
  • Commandos Marine, the special operations forces of the French Navy
  • FORFUSCO, Force maritime des fusiliers marins et commandos, the section of the French Navy that includes Commandos Marine
  • Commando Hubert, the combat diver unit belonging to Commandos Marine
  • History of French commando frogmen

Germany

Greece
  • Underwater Demolition Command
    • 1953: first Amphibious Reconnaissance Squad is founded.
    • 1957–1968: Underwater Demolition Training School operates in Kannelopoulos training center.
    • 1968: UDT Division established in Skaramanga.
    • 1969: UDT Division renamed to Underwater Demolition Unit.
    • 2002: Underwater Demolition Unit renamed to Underwater Demolition Command.[3]

India
  • MARCOS – The MCU is the elite naval special operations unit of the Indian Navy that undertakes underwater combat.

Indonesia

Ireland

Israel
Israeli frogmen transfer equipment using lifting-bags
  • Shayetet 13 is the elite naval commando frogmen unit of the Israeli Navy. The unit is considered one of the primary Special Forces units of the Israel Defense Forces and is one of the most secretive. The details of many missions and identities of active operatives are highly classified.

Italy

Japan

Lebanon
  • Lebanese Navy SEALs Regiment

Malaysia
  • PASKAL – Naval Special Forces of Malaysian Armed Forces.
  • Naval Diving and Mine Warfare Headquarter – New Command for the elite Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) divers. The same task once belongs to KD Duyong which now functioning as full-time diving school.[4]
  • Grup Gerak Khas (GGK) – Malaysian Army Special Forces, there is Combat Swimmer Course as an advance training option for the members of GGK.
  • VAT 69 Combat Divers Unit – A paramilitary special forces attached to the Royal Malaysian Police (RMP). There is a unit of combat divers in VAT 69.[5]
  • UNGERIN – A paramilitary special operation forces attached to the Marine Operations Force of the RMP. Once known as RMP Combat Divers Unit (Malay: Unit Selam Tempur PDRM) before changing to current name in 2008. Few of the divers are absorbed from VAT 69 Combat Divers Unit.[6]

Mexico

Namibia

Netherlands
  • Korps Commandotroepen (KCT), (Riverine Operations Teams (OWG)), special forces of the Royal Netherlands Army.[7]
  • Netherlands Maritime Special Operations Forces (NLMARSOF) (Special Forces Underwater Operators), special forces of the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps.
  • Constructieduikerspeloton is the Army Engineers unit specialized in supporting Rivier Crossing Operations and executing heavy underwater construction operations. They are incorporated in 105 bridging company.
  • Engineer combat divers of 11 airmobile engineer company. Operations include reconnaissance, demolition, and other.
  • Beach Recce Teams of Surface Assault and Training Group of the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps.
  • Defensie Duikgroep (Defense Diving Group) of the Royal Netherlands Navy. Organized into the Very-Shallow-Water-Diveteam (Supports amphibious operations of the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps by clearing beaches), the Deep Diving Team (Specializes in deep diving, clearing mines, rescues of crews of submerged submarines), and the Salvage & Construction team (Specializes in subsurface repair of ships, underwater construction, and harbor inspection).[8]
  • Explosieven Opruimingsdienst Defensie (EODD) (Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service Defense). All members of the Maritime Company must be Clearance Diver trained before being allowed to serve in the EODD.[9]

New Zealand
  • Navy Clearance Diving Group (CDG) formally known as the Operational Diving Team (ODT) is a clearance diving unit. Its focus is on Mine Countermeasures, amphibious Operations & Maritime explosive ordnance disposal. The CDG is ranked as one of the world's top clearance diving units. Military Dive Training support is supplied to Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa.[10]
  • The New Zealand Special Air Service also has divers in its amphibious troops (the NZSAS has two Sabre Squadrons), with particular emphasis on insertion.

Norway

Pakistan
  • Army Special Service Group (SSG) has a Moses Company that is modeled on the US Navy SEALs, they mainly operate on inland rivers and waterfield in the five rivers of Punjab, Pakistan.
  • Navy Special Services Group (SSGN) is modeled Navy SEALs entirely and is assigned to unconventional warfare operations in the coastal regions. During war, it is assigned to Midget submarines as Diver propulsion vehicle. All other training is similar to the Army SSG with specific marine orientation provided at its headquarters.

Philippines

Poland

Three Polish military units train and deploy frogmen in military operations. Most known are:

Polish frogmen SF uses e.g. R.C.H OXY-NG2, Aqua Lung Amphora closed-circuit apparatus.

Portugal
  • Sapper Divers Group (Agrupamento de Mergulhadores Sapadores)

Russia

Serbia
  • River Flotilla of the Serbian Armed Forces

Singapore

Sri Lanka

South Africa

Spain

Spain has been training combat divers and swimmers since 1967. Two units in the Spanish Navy currently operate under a Naval Special Warfare mandate:

  • UOE (Special Operations Unit) – All aspects of maritime special operations at sea, on land, and by air.
  • UEBC (Specialist Combat Diver Unit) – Mainly hydrographic surveys and underwater demolitions.

There are working plans to fuse the two units into a single "Naval Special Warfare Unit" (UGNE), while maintaining their functional distinctiveness.

Sweden
  • Swedish Amphibious Corps:
    • The Reconnaissance Platoon, also referred to colloquially as the Attack Divers (A-dyk). They conduct long-range reconnaissance missions behind enemy lines, sabotage, clearing beach obstacles, hydrographic surveys, and although combat is not their priority, they have a limited ability to conduct direct action missions such as ambushes. Between 6 and 10 are trained each year. The Reconnaissance Platoon is a commando unit, belonging to the amphibious battalion of the Swedish Amphibious Corps. They offer one of the hardest and most demanding training regimens in the Swedish armed forces.
    • Navy EOD-divers (Röjdyk)
    • Army divers (FArb-dykare) Underwater welding, obstacle clearance, underwater demolition and repairs. Belongs to the engineer troops.
    • Pioneer divers (Pionjärdyk) of the amphibious battalion. Underwater obstacle clearance, repairs and EOD on land.
    • Navy attack divers. (Flottan A-dyk) Underwater sabotage on enemy ships and harbours.

Taiwan

Thailand
  • Royal Thai Navy SEALs

Turkey

United Kingdom
  • Royal Engineers: the corps has had army divers for over 170 years. Training was held at Marchwood in Hampshire until moving to HMS Gunwharf in Portsmouth in the early 1980s. Now a combination of Royal Engineers and Royal Navy all train at a special diving school at Horsea Island in Hampshire. The roles of the Royal Engineer Divers are probably the most diverse of all including construction, demolition, reconnaissance, search, recovery and sewer searches.

United States
  • Naval Combat Demolition Units
  • Underwater Demolition Teams
  • United States Navy SEALs
  • USA armed forces divers
  • Force Reconnaissance
  • Battalion Reconnaissance
  • MARSOC

See also

References
  1. Finnish Navy: Sukeltajakurssi – valintakoelajit Retrieved 2/14/2007. In Finnish
  2. Finnish Navy: Sukeltajakurssi – tehtävä Retrieved 2/14/2007
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-06-14. Retrieved 2013-10-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Panji-panji KD Duyong". Official Portal for Royal Malaysian Navy (in Malay).
  5. "VAT 69 terus latih dan mantapkan pasukan polis". Utusan Malaysia (in Malay). 2 September 2008.
  6. "UNGERIN Itu Apa?". VAT 69 Facebook Page (in Malay). 28 February 2013.
  7. KCT frogman units
  10. RNZN – Navy Dive School
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