Special Service Wing

Special Service Wing
PAF Special Services Wing airmen carrying FN F2000 rifles while training at Fort Lewis, Washington, US, on July 23, 2007.
Active	1965 - 1972, 2004 - Present
Country	Pakistan
Branch	Pakistan Air Force
Type	Special Forces
Size	800 - 1200 men
Part of	Pakistani Special Forces
Garrison/HQ	Kallar Kahar, Punjab
Motto(s)	Faith, Piety, to strive in the path of Allah', 'Thunder and lightning is a message of death for you '
Engagements	Operation Gibraltar Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 War in North-West Pakistan
Commanders
Current commander	Group Captain (Colonel) Sohail Ahmed
Abbreviation	SS Wing

The Special Service Wing (SSW), codename the SS Wing, or previously known as 312th Special Service Wing or Maroon berets, is a special operations aerospace unit of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). The SS Wing or Maroon Berets are an elite, special operations force based on the United States Air Force's Special Tactics Squadrons and the United States Army Rangers. The SSW is a new military division of the Special Forces Command of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The division has recently been revived and is fielding between 800 and 1200 troops.

After the 1965 war with India, Air Cdre (Brigadier-General) Mukhtar Ahmad Dogar (SJ), who had flown Royal Indian Air Force aircraft supporting the Chindits Operating behind Japanese lines in Burma, was instrumental in creating a special forces unit for the Pakistan Air Force called SAW (Special Airwarfare Wing). The SAW was raised in 1966 under the command of Air Commodore Mukhtar Ahmad Dogar but, in 1972, the unit was discharged. The Air Force personnel and soldiers were merged with the Special Service Group and most of its members had actively participated during the Afghan War in the 1980s.

In 1999, the concept of a special forces wing for the Air Force was again revived after the Kargil War with India. Senior officials and military scientists of the Pakistani Armed Forces were impressed in the way that United States Army Special Forces during the initial phase of the war in Afghanistan were able to secure targets, set up runways and airstrips for immediate use and direct strategic and tactical air strikes on enemy positions so quickly. The Air Force established the division under the name Special Service Wing (SSW). The training was undertaken by the Special Service Group (SSG) with new principles, doctrines and specialization from the United States. The close cooperation between the United States and Pakistani military since 2001 allowed many SSW soldiers to go to the United States to be trained on a regular basis. All of its members of SSW must have to be HALO/HAHO qualified with a skilled operations ability. The unit became operational in 2004. Recently, most of its members have completed or graduated with the members of 1st Special Operations Wing in the United States. The one of the combat brigade of Special Service Wing had been carrying out special day-light aerial and night-aerial operations during the recent insurgencies inside Pakistan. The one of the combat unit, alongside Navy's SSGN and Army's SSG, have actively participated in recent operations led by the Pakistan Army in Waziristan.