Berets of Distinction

Berets of Distinction

“Kedatangan Anda Tidak Di Undang, Jika Ragu Silalah Pulang” (you are not welcomed, if you have any doubts, please leave). This menacing greeting is the first thing you will read once you enter the Special Warfare Training Centre in Sungai Udang, Melaka. The simple two line statement clearly illustrates the intensity of what is going on inside. Recently there has been an unprecedented trend of awarding headgears especially berets exclusively belonging to special forces to VVIPs. Notwithstanding the motives of the awarder and the recipient, giving away berets belonging to special operation forces to non members for whatever reason is unjustifiable and uncalled for.

Special forces or commandos as they are popularly known are small band of highly trained and highly motivated troops who had undergone rigorous, grueling and often brutal selection process in order to be a member of this exclusive fraternity.

Irregardless of service the special forces originates be it the army, navy, airforce or police, the beret sets them apart from regular troops as a mark of distinction. Soldiers understand how hard it is to obtain this beret, the sacrifices, the unforgiving training regime and above all the never quit mentality. Normal soldiers would tremble to hold it, let alone wear it, since you need to perform some of the followings before given the privilege of wearing the beret:-
1) Run everywhere you need to go even for the most trivial matter for 3 months.
2) Sleeping on hard ground exposed to elements during camp phase and being manhandled by instructors at will.
3) Swim 250m with feet and hand bound
4) Depraved of sleep for three days in a row, only to continue a 160 miles forced march with 30kg of combat gear.
5) Survive jungle phase naked and live off the land with your knife to hunt and protection in solitary.
6) Crawl under live GPMG 7.62mm fire just inches above your head.

The above may just be 10% of what special forces training is all about and most of the selection process is still shrouded in secrecy but suffice to say hellish. It is designed to push each trainee to the limit and beyond the envelope of human endurance. In short when your limbs are shouting to stop, your mind keeps pushing it not to. Many quit, the attrition rate is high on average of 100 hopeful candidates only 3-5 would succeed and earn the beret. The unforgiving selection process is vital in order to weed out the undesirables who would put a mission in jeopardy. In war special forces would usually be inserted by parachute or submarine under cover of darkness deep behind enemy lines miles away from friendly forces without any provision for reinforcement or replenishment. Their mission once in enemy territory ranges from intelligence gathering, reconnaissance, sabotage of key installation / high value target, laser designation for air strikes, assassination / capture of top enemy echelons, diversionary raid and multitude of demanding missions, with the sole objective of wreaking havoc on enemy ranks. The gravity of the mission is further magnified by the fact they operate in small 5 man team and usually without dog tags to avoid identification in case captured which would otherwise give them protection under Geneva Convention. They are privy to highly classified tactical information during war, if caught they are not accorded the same treatment as POW laid by Geneva Convention, an enemy is at liberty to torture in order to extract information from them and more often than not they are executed for refusing to divulge classified information.

The occupational hazard lingers on even in peace time since simulating wartime exercise never ceases. Special forces training is continuous and all operators will undergo advance courses on a number of specialties within the special operation modules such as freefalling, underwater operations, amphibious, sniper, demolition, close quarter battle (CQB) and variety of unconventional warfare expertise. They hone their deadly skills on daily basis and regularly conduct joint training exercises with elite forces of other nations.

Special operation troops shun publicity, you will never find a genuine special forces trooper bragging about his exploits, they are deceptively innocuous and it’s easy to mistake them as your next door neighbour. However once they put on their berets and paint their face with the ghostly looking black/green camouflage you don’t want to be in their line of fire for they rarely miss with their trademark double tap shot and it is futile to run for you will only die tired.

The beret of the special operation forces whether it’s the green beret of Army’s RGK, maroon beret of Navy’s PASKAL, blue beret of Air force PASKAU, beige beret of Police VAT 69 is an amulet for those who earn it. It belongs to a special breed of men have met the challenge and stood their ground, if you are not a member and you understand what it takes to win the beret you would not wear it.

VVIPs are given special privilege, titles, honours, adulation and countless other things for their contribution and development of this nation. As for the few special operation men Malaysia’s finest they only have their beret, don’t saturate it, think of the special forces trooper who went through hell to wear it.