FSK

FSK can have alternative meanings:

Fireman Sam

Fireman Sam is an animated comedy children's television series about a fireman called Sam, his fellow firefighters, and other townspeople in the fictional Welsh rural town of Pontypandy (a portmanteau of two real towns, Pontypridd and Tonypandy, which are situated approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) apart in the South Wales valleys). The original idea for the show came from two ex-firemen from Kent, who took their idea to artist and writer Rob Lee who developed the concept, and the show was later commissioned by S4C.

Fireman Sam first appeared in Welsh on S4C as Sam Tân in 1987, and later that year in English on BBC1. The original series finished in 1994, and a new series that expanded the character cast commenced in 2005. The series was also shown in Gaelic in Scotland, where it was known as Sam Smalaidh. The series was sold to over 40 countries and has been used across the United Kingdom to promote fire safety.

Development

The original idea came about from two ex-firemen from Kent – Dave Gingell and David Jones. They approached Mike Young, creator of SuperTed in Barry, Wales, and asked them to further develop their concept. The idea was then brought to S4C's Director of Animation, Chris Grace, who saw potential in the idea and commissioned the series. Grace had previously commissioned Superted, which had achieved success across the United Kingdom and worldwide. The characters and storylines were created by Rob Lee, an illustrator from Cardiff, and the program was produced using stop-motion. It could take up to 4 days to produce 1 minute of this form of puppet animation. Fireman Sam has to this day been translated into over 25 different languages including Mandarin. In the first four series, all the character voices were performed by John Alderton (in English) and Gareth Lewis (in Welsh). The later series used several actors' voices. Voice direction in Welsh was by Pat Griffiths.

SK

SK may refer to:

Slovakia-related topics

Other places

Organizations or groups

Forsvarets Spesialkommando

Forsvarets Spesialkommando (FSK, en. Armed Forces' Special Command) is a special operations forces unit of the Norwegian Ministry of Defence. The unit was established in 1982 due to the increased risk of terrorist activity against Norwegian interests, including the oil platforms in the North Sea.

In 2013, the unit was reorganized, alongside Marinejegerkommandoen, into a separate branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces – The Norwegian Armed Forces Special Operations Forces.

Introduction

Very little is known publicly about FSK, since the Norwegian government denied their existence and participation in any military operations for a long time. Some details have however emerged after FSK's participation in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

The establishment of FSK was briefly mentioned in an article in the Norwegian newspaper, Aftenposten, in 1983. During a hijacking in Norway in 1985, it was reported that FSK operatives had been put on alert in their base at Trandum, but not requested to assist in any action. A proposal to disband the FSK in 1988, as a financial measure, was met with protests, especially from the oil industry and the military. The plan was shelved after much media attention. Aftenposten reported on the unit as a "special military command composed of highly trained operators from Hærens Jegerkommando at Trandum and Marinejegerkommandoen, in addition to other specialists. The operators are very experienced and have served in the military for several years before joining."

Norwegian Armed Forces

The Norwegian Armed Forces (Norwegian: Forsvaret, "The Defence") is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Coast Guard, the Royal Norwegian Air Force, the Home Guard and the Cyber Force, as well as several joint departments. The armed forces number 23,000 personnel, including civilian employees, and have a full-mobilisation combat strength of 83,000.

The armed forces are subordinate to the Ministry of Defence, led by Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide. The formal commander-in-chief is King Harald V; however, the de facto commander-in-chief is Chief of Defence Haakon Bruun-Hanssen. His staff is located at Akershus Fortress in Oslo, while the Norwegian Joint Headquarters, responsible for commanding operations, is located in Bodø. The main naval base is Haakonsvern in Bergen, the main army camps are in Bardu, Målselv and Rena, and the main air stations are Ørland and Bodø.