Cherat

Cherat is a hill station, immediately above the villages of Chapri, Saleh Khana and Dak Ismail Khel (a.k.a. Bara Daag in Pashto language) in the Nowshera District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. Cherat lies 34 miles south east from the city of Peshawar at an elevation of 4,500 feet on the west of the Khattak range, which divides the district of Nowshera from Kohat.

History

During British rule Cherat was important as a hill cantonment and sanitarium for British troops in what was then the Nowshera Tehsil of the Peshawar District of British India.

Cherat was first used as a sanitarium for troops in 1861 and was used during the hot weather as a health station for the British troops who were quartered in the hot and malarious valley of Peshawar. It was declared a cantonment in 1886. The cantonment commands a view of the whole of the Peshawar valley on one side, and on the other of a portion of the Khwarra valley in Peshawar District, and of Kohat District as far as the Indus.

A hospital, a church, and a few bungalows were built by the British authorities. The station, which has a good water supply, was throughout the summer the headquarters of the Peshawar Division command, and of one of the two British regiments stationed at Peshawar - a detachment of the other British regiment was also sent here.

Pakistan Army

Pakistan Army (Urdu: پاک فوج‎ Pak Fauj (IPA: pɑk fɒ~ɔd͡ʒ); Reporting name: PA) is the land-based service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. It came into existence after the independence of Pakistan in 1947. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) it had an active force of approximately 550,000 active personnel and 500,000 reserve personnel as of 2015. The Constitution of Pakistan contains a provision for conscription for times of possible need, but it has never been imposed.

Since its establishment in 1947, the Army (along with its inter–services: the Navy and the Air Force) has been involved in four wars with neighbouring India and several border skirmishes with Afghanistan. Since 1947, it has also maintained a strong presence along with its inter-services in the Arab states during the past Arab-Israeli Wars, and aided the coalition in the first Gulf War. Recently, major joint-operations undertaken by the Army include Operation Zarb-e-Azb Operation Toar-e-Tander (Black Thunderstorm) and Operation Rah-e-Nijat (Path to Salvation).

Special Services Group

The Special Services Group (SSG) is the main special operations force of the Pakistan Army. The SSG is a regiment sized group, and is headquartered at Tarbela,. It is headed by a Major-General and divided into ten battalions. Each battalion consists of 700 men in four companies, with each company split into platoons and then into 10-man teams. Battalions are commanded by Lieutenant Colonels.

History

19 Baluch (SSG Pak)

SSG Pak was raised by amalgamating 17/10th Baluch (19 Baluch) and 312 Garrison Company. Based out of Cherat and Attock, the SSG was created in 1956. That year, 19 Baluch was selected for conversion to a special operation force. As a result of this, the SSG has inherited many of the traditions and insignia of the Baloch Regiment. The 19th Baluch Regiment's first commanding officer was Lieutenant Colonel (later Major General) Aboobaker Osman Mitha who commanded it for six years till 1961. The first commander of its Alpha Company was Major (later Lieutenant Colonel) Gaideen Khan Abdullai Mahsud. Their initial training and orientation as regards tactics was based on the US Special Forces pattern with whom they co-operated closely in the Cold War years. The SSG initially had 6 companies and each company had specialization units, specialized in desert, mountain, ranger, and underwater warfare. The desert companies participated in training exercises with US Army Special Forces Mobile Training Team in late 1964. In August 1965, scope of SSG was raised from a battalion size force to larger Special Operations outfit and instead of 19 Baluch (SSG) they simply adopted the name Special Service Group. The scuba company in Karachi was renowned for its tough physical training. Later on, Chinese training, tactics, weapons, and equipment were also introduced.

Special Services (entertainment)

Special Services are the entertainment branch of the American military. The unit was created on 22 July 1940 by the War Department as part of the Army Service Forces. Special Services would not only use their own specially trained and talented troops but would often engage local performers.

Special Services were one of the few U.S. Army units to be integrated during World War II. Special Services opened their first Recreational Officer school at Fort Meade Maryland on 1 April 1942.

Military Occupational Specialties

Military Occupational Specialties of the Special Services were as follows-

Famous Special Service soldiers

US Marine Corps

The Special Services Division, the forerunner of today's Special Services Branch, was formed on 1 March 1943. Its mission was to provide recreational and informational services to Marine Corps personnel for the purpose of maintaining morale.