The Army Ranger Wing (ARW) (, "SFA") is the special operations force of the Irish Defence Forces, the military of Ireland. It is a branch of the Irish Army, but it also selects personnel from the Naval Service and Air Corps. It serves at the behest of the Defence Forces and Government of Ireland, operating internally and overseas, and reports directly to the Chief of Staff.
The ARW was established in 1980 with the primary role of counterterrorism and evolved to both special operations and counterterrorism roles from 2000 after the end of conflict in Northern Ireland. The unit is based in the Curragh Camp, County Kildare. The 2015 White Paper on Defence announced that the strength of the ARW would be considerably increased due to operational requirements at home and overseas.
The unit has served abroad in a number of international peacekeeping and peace enforcement missions including in Somalia, East Timor, Liberia, Chad, and Mali. The ARW trains with special forces units around the world, particularly in Europe. The ARW in its domestic counter terrorism role trains and deploys with the Garda Síochána (national police) specialist armed intervention unit, the Emergency Response Unit (ERU).
In February 2022, the Commission on the Defence Forces report recommended that the ARW be renamed the Ireland Special Operations Force (IRL-SOF). The IRL-SOF would be placed under a Special Operations Command which would report directly to Joint Force Command. A follow up report released in November 2023, the Detailed Implementation Plan for the Report of the Commission of the Defence Forces, stated that the ARW is due to be renamed the IRL-SOF in 2028. The updated IRL-SOF is proposed to consist of three Task Groups: Land, Air and Maritime. By 2028, the Air and Maritime Task Groups are to be re-located to the Casement Aerodrome and the Haulbowline Naval base.
Roles
The Army Ranger Wing roles are divided between wartime special operations ("Green Role") and anti-terrorism ("Black Role"), the latter known formally as military Aid to the Civil Power (ATCP):
Military tasks (Green Role) Offensive operations behind enemy lines Ambushes Capture or kill high-value targets Commando-style raids on military key targets (short-duration strikes or small-scale offensive actions) Diversionary operations Long-range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP) Military field intelligence gathering Sabotage Securing vital objectives
Defensive operations Counterinsurgency Delay operations Training in and conduct of black operations VIPs' protection.
Aid to the civil power tasks (Black Role) Airborne and seaborne interventions Anti-hijack operations Contingency planning to counter terrorist/subversive threats Executive protection Hostage rescue operations Pursuit operations Recapture of terrorist-held objectives Search and rescue operations - specialist tasks on land or sea
Name and motto The unit's official name in the Irish language is Sciathán Fianóglach an Airm. Fianóglach (representing "Ranger") is an amalgamation of two Irish words. Fiann means a roving warrior-hunter, usually used in the context of na Fianna, the legendary warrior-bands of Fionn mac Cumhaill from Irish mythology.https://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/fiann Óglach literally means a young man or warrior, and is often translated in the Irish military context as volunteer (compare the official name of the Defence Forces in Irish, Óglaigh na hÉireann, which implies continuity with the Irish Volunteers).https://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/óglach The shoulder flash insignia of the unit uses Fianóglach.
The motto of the Army Ranger Wing is taken from an old Fianna poem: Glaine ár gcroí, Neart ár ngéag, Agus beart de réir ár mbriatha, which translates as: "The purity of our hearts, the strength of our limbs and our commitment to our promise".
History In the late 1960s, the Defence Forces established 'Special Assault Groups' (SAG) in the Army to meet security challenges on the border with Northern Ireland. A number of Army officers attended the United States Army Ranger School in Fort Benning, Georgia who returned to conduct Army Ranger courses in Ireland with the first held in 1969. Among its founding officers was later-to-be Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Dermot Earley. Special Assault Groups were formed comprising 40 Rangers trained in all arms, engineering and ordnance techniques.
By the mid-1970s, the Defence Forces had over 300 Rangers who conducted support operations on the request of the Garda Síochána. Students on these courses were selected from among all ranks and units of the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps. The courses improved standards of physical endurance, marksmanship, individual military skills and small unit tactics. In December 1977, the Garda Síochána formed a counter-terrorist unit named the Special Task Force (STF) to operate in border regions that was later to become the Emergency Response Unit.
Following an assessment of the SAG, and Rangers receiving training from the M-Squadron, an elite counter-terrorism (CT) branch of the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps, in 1978 it was decided to consolidate the Rangers into a new special forces unit with a counter-terrorist capability following an increase in international and national terrorism, such as the 1972 Munich massacre in Germany (then West Germany) and a number of hostage-takings by the Provisional IRA (such as the Balcombe Street siege).
The Army Ranger Wing (ARW) was formally established, in accordance with the Defence Act, by Government order on 16 March 1980. The ARW received its colours in 1981; Black, Red and Gold, signifying Secrecy, Risk and Excellence. In 1991, the ARW was granted permission to wear the Green beret.
In April 2017, it was reported that there had been no increase in the strength of the ARW despite the 2015 White Paper's aim to considerably increase the strength of the unit.
On 16 January 2022, there were recommendations made for some ARW operators to be based in Cork to work alongside their colleagues in the Naval Service in improving its maritime anti-terrorism capabilities. In January 2022, the ex-ARW operator turned politician Cathal Berry said that he backed proposals to rename the unit as the 'Ireland Special Operations Force' (ISOF).
Structure The Officer Commanding the Army Ranger Wing is responsible for the administrative, disciplinary and operational control of the unit, and is in turn directly under the command of the Chief of Staff at Defence Forces Headquarters (DFHQ). Information on the numerical strength of the unit and the identity of its personnel is restricted. Estimates variously put the strength at "well over a hundred" or between 140 and 150 personnel. In 2015, the Defence White Paper announced an increase in strength with reports of the unit doubling in size. The Wing is divided into operational task units each comprising several assault teams relative to each operator's area of speciality. After serving one year in an assault team an operator can apply to join a specialist team such as combat diving team, free fall parachuting team and sniping team. An example of an operational task unit is the Special Operations Maritime Task Unit (SOMTU). Support elements provide expertise in bomb disposal, medical treatment, maritime and aviation operations. The Army Ranger Wing is headquartered at the Defence Forces Training Centre (DFTC) in the Curragh Camp, with Army Rangers required to live within a defined radius. Training is carried out nationwide at a number of Department of Defence properties, including Lynch Camp in Kilworth, County Cork.
The ARW is on immediate call 24/7, 365 days a year for operations throughout the state and abroad. The ARW is on 96 hours' notice to deploy overseas on special operations. The ARW is on a 1-hour alert for anti-terrorist operations to deploy anywhere on land in the Republic of Ireland using Air Corps aircraft and up to 200 miles out to sea via the Naval Service vessels. In the event of a major terrorist, hijacking or hostage incident, the ARW may be called to aid the Garda ERU, and in the past, they have been put on standby to assist the Irish Prison Service during major prison riots. The unit has on occasion been tasked for search and rescue (SAR) operations, as the ARW have trained Arctic survival specialists.
Besides sanctioned international military missions, the unit may be deployed overseas to protect Irish diplomatic missions and diplomats (particularly in times of war or civil unrest in host countries), to provide close protection to members of the Irish government travelling overseas, to rescue kidnapped Irish citizens, to extract citizens in hostile or conflict zones, or to conduct intelligence operations.
The ARW is equipped with SINCGAR ITT, Harris and Racal communications equipment, which have an inbuilt encryption and frequency-hopping systems. It is also equipped with satellite communications, through the ARW C3 (Command, Control & Communications) function and in cooperation with the Communications and Information Services Corps (CIS). This means ARW teams can communicate with their GHQ from anywhere in the world. The Army Ranger Wing Intelligence Section has the ability to remotely intercept electronic and telephonic communications, working with the Irish Military Intelligence Service (IMIS) and Army CIS Corps.
Selection and training
Candidates must be serving members of the Permanent Defence Forces (PDF) from any of the three branches (Army, Air Corps or Naval Service). The candidate must be medically fit and have attained the rank of at least 3 Star Private (or equivalent). There is no age limit to attempt selection, however a candidate is only allowed to attempt it three times. Candidates may fail 3 out of the 9 basic fitness tests however if they fail any of the psychological tests (such as fear of enclosed spaces) they will be expelled from selection and returned to unit. Selection has been open to females since 1984, however, none have been successful. Usually 40 to 80 candidates attempt selection annually.
The ARW recently revised its selection and assessment procedures combining the previous Selection course & Basic Skills course into a new single course named the Special Operations Force Qualification Course (SOFQ). The SOFQ is conducted over 10 months (40 weeks). The Selection Course had been conducted over 3 weeks after being reduced in 2006 from 4 weeks. The Basic Skills course had been conducted over 5 months.
The SOFQ is divided into 5 modules: Assessment & Evaluation Skills & Leadership SOF Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures TTPs Counter-Terrorism Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures TTPs Continuation training
Module 1 assesses a candidate's level of physical fitness, motivation and suitability to progress on towards further modules (2–5) of the SOFQ course similar to the previous selection course. Candidates must pass a series of fitness assessments, map reading and individual navigation assessments, claustrophobia, water confidence, and psychometric testing. The final phase of Module 1 includes individual navigation exercises with set weights over unknown distances and completion times which can be over 250 km, culminating in an additional 65 km cross-country march carrying a 65 lb combat load in the Dublin & Wicklow mountain range. On average candidates get between four and five hours sleep per night. Officer and senior NCO candidates are subjected to separate, rigorous scrutiny of their planning and decision-making skills to determine their suitability. The length of Module 1 is 3 weeks similar to the previous selection course length. Typically 85% of candidates fail Module 1. Between 2000 and 2005, approximately 240 attempted selection, including a female, with 50 successful.