Norway's Military Has The World’s First All-Female Special Operations Unit

Shoot training for hunter squad at the Norwegian Army Special Operation Command. Photo courtesy of Norwegian Armed Forces

Task & Purpose: ‘Hunter Troop’ Is The World’s First All-Female Special Operations Unit

In 2014, Norway created the world’s first all-female special operations unit — out of necessity.

Beginning in 2001, Norway’s top special operations unit, the Forsvarets Spesialkommando, or FSK, played a tip-of-the-spear role in Operation Enduring Freedom, often working alongside Delta Force and Navy SEAL operatives. However, the FSK, like many all-male Western military units operating in predominantly Muslim countries, found itself disadvantaged when it came to one pretty major aspect of counterinsurgency: dealing with the local female population.

“In Afghanistan, one of our biggest challenges was that we would enter houses and not be able to speak to the women,” Capt Ole Vidar Krogsaeter, an officer with the Norwegian Special Operations Forces, said in an interview with Foreign Affairs. “In urban warfare, you have to be able to interact with women as well. Adding female soldiers was an operational need.”

Read more ....

WNU Editor: On a side note .... First female soldier in Green Beret training fails to complete the course (Washington Times).