regular, one Rashtriya Rifles and two Territorial Army battalions. Of the regular battalions, five were airborne infantry battalions, but now have been re-designated as Para (SF) on Modification Airborne, while ten are special forces (Para (SF)) battalions. Formerly designated "Commando" units, they are now designated "Special Forces". 1st Battalion (Special Forces) 2nd Battalion (Special Forces) 3rd Battalion (Special Forces) 4th Battalion (Special Forces) 5th Battalion (Special Forces) 6th Battalion (Special Forces) 7th Battalion (Special Forces) 9th Battalion (Special Forces) 10th Battalion (Special Forces) 11th Battalion (Special Forces) 12th Battalion (Special Forces) 13th Battalion (Special Forces) 21st Battalion (Special Forces) 23rd Battalion (Special Forces) 29th Battalion (Special Forces) 31st Battalion (Rashtriya Rifles) 106th Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) (based at Bengaluru, Karnataka) 116th Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) (based at Devlali, Maharashtra) Former units: 8th Battalion was transferred and redesignated as the 16th Battalion Mahar Regiment. In 1976 before reconverting into the 12th Battalion, Mechanised Infantry Regiment. When the 8th Battalion was converted, a sizeable part of the battalion was retained in the airborne role for some time, forming the armoured element of the 50th Parachute Brigade, equipped with BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles. However, due to administrative and logistic reasons, that unit was discontinued and their role was taken over by the airborne battalions themselves, with a platoon strength of each battalion being trained and equipped for the mechanized role within the brigade. However, 8 Para was converted in 1976 to 16 Mahar & later to 12 Mech. Inf. Four of the special forces battalions were originally trained for use in certain environments: the 1st battalion was the strategic reserve, the 9th battalion were trained for mountains, the 10th battalion was trained for deserts and the 21st battalion was trained for jungles. However, currently all special forces battalions are cross trained for all environments. Honorary Officers Mahendra Singh Dhoni was commissioned into the 106th Infantry Battalion Territorial Army with the rank of Hon. Lt. Col by the President of India on 1 November 2011 Deepak Rao was commissioned into the 116th Infantry Battalion Territorial Army with the rank of Hon. Major by the President of India on 1 November 2011. He is cited to be India's foremost pioneer and specialist in close quarter warfare by the Indian Ministry of Defence. His method of reflex shooting has been used to modernize close quarter combat shooting in Northern Command and Eastern Command under directive of