Särskilda Skyddsgruppen

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= Särskilda Skyddsgruppen (SSG)


caption=
country= Sweden
type= Special Operations
branch= Swedish Armed Forces
dates= 1990s - Present
specialization=
command_structure= Under the direct command of the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces
size= Classified
current_commander= Classified
garrison= Karlsborg, Västergötland
battles (known)=Operation Artemis
Operation Enduring Freedom

Särskilda Skyddsgruppen ("Special Protection Group", SSG) is a Swedish special operations unit created some time during the early 1990s. The exact number of operatives is classified but is thought to amount to between 60 and 80, 31 years old on average. Its main tasks are intelligence gathering, reconnaissance, protection of military VIPs and military installations of high strategic value, operations behind enemy lines of varying kinds and counter-terrorism.

Recruitment and training

The SSG draws its personnel from officers of all three branches of the military, however mainly from other elite units such as Fallskärmsjägarna (Parachute Rangers), Kustjägarna (Coastal Rangers,)Attackdykarna (Combat Divers) and Norrlandsjägarna (arctic rangers) . Because of its level of secrecy, the time it takes to train a recruit has not been made public. Each soldier receives common training including parachuting, scuba diving and VIP protection. As an operative he will also receive special training within different areas such as high HAHO/HALO parachuting, explosives, first aid, sniping and special weapons training. An SSG operative has the ability to insert and extract by several means such as on foot, paradrop, submerged, and by boat and vehicle.

Recent history

Some part of the unit is always held in a state of alert in case of an urgent situation within Sweden. The unit was also deployed in Afghanistan in support of the NATO group ISAF, responsible for security in Kabul and other areas, and to Congo under French command, where it engaged enemy forces several times without any losses of their own.

On November 25, 2005, SSG operative Jesper Lindblom was killed and three others were injured during a reconnaissance mission in northern Afghanistan. One of the wounded, Tomas Bergqvist, died on December 9, 2005 due to his injuries. Jesper Lindblom also died, though first after having been airlifted to a hospital in Europe.

In 2008, the SSG were deployed alongside of SIG to Chad, to prepare for the Swedish contribution of marines to EUFOR.

ee also

*Swedish Armed Forces
*Special Forces
*Fallskärmsjägarna