it was a company from 1 Parachute Battalion stationed there. The force at Ondangwa were used mainly for reaction tasks and internal Fireforce operations. Sometimes paratroopers would be dropped into contacts up to 3 times per day. During 1979 companies from 1 Parachute Battalion, as a part of Operation Bowler, achieved remarkably high success rates with Fireforce actions. Other paratrooper companies were also from time to time deployed further south, in the farmlands, tracking and destroying insurgents who had penetrated that far. The numbers of insurgents caught or killed by the paratroopers was steadily increasing. May 1980 saw the launch of another major offensive by the SADF into Angola, this was known as Operation Sceptic. During this Operation six companies from 1 Parachute Battalion were simultaneously deployed as ordinary infantry and later that year a company from 1 Parachute Battalion executed a successful heliborne assault on a SWAPO / MPLA headquarters at Chitado in Angola. The latter operation was known as Operation Klipklop. During Operation Protea, Operation Carnation and Operation Askari 1 Parachute Battalion again deployed their companies as normal infantry and was noted as being instrumental in originating joint operations with the police. This would serve as the model on which the ‘Koevoet’ Police Unit was established. A pathfinder company of the brigade were deployed primarily doing ground reconnaissance and composed mainly of foreign soldiers, serving a one-year contract, who had seen service in the Rhodesian Army airborne units which had since been disbanded when the government of the new state of Zimbabwe had taken office. An operational night drop within Angola also took place as part of Operation Daisy in 1981 by several companies from 3 Parachute Battalion. For paratroopers the 1980s were characterised by continual operational involvement in Angola. Citizen Force Companies from 2 and 3 Parachute Battalion were initially also involved, often in heavy fighting as at Evale in Angola in 1981. A helicopter operation involving a 2 Parachute Battalion company together with a company of "Bushmen" (khoisan trackers) resulted in the death of one paratrooper and the wounding of several others. 1 Parachute Battalion also continued to reinforce mechanised and motorised battle groups during operations into Angola with the support of its paratroopers, often using heliborne tactics. In 1982 the unit experienced a major setback when a Puma Helicopter was shot down during Operation Meebos by enemy anti-aircraft fire and 12 paratroopers perished. During 1984