after completing their full-time national service and are required to achieve standards higher than their non-Commando counterparts when they take the Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT) every year. School of Commandos The School of Commandos has two training wings: the Commando Training Wing and the Parachute Training Wing. The Commando Training Wing, established in 1974, conducts the Commando Section Leaders' Course, the Commando Small Boat Operators' Course, the Commando Officer Conversion Course, and the Singapore Armed Forces Ranger Course. The Commando Section Leaders' Course trains selected Commandos to become specialists, serving as section leaders. The best performing trainees are selected to undergo further training at the Officer Cadet School (OCS) at the SAFTI Military Institute. After they are commissioned, they return to the Commando Training Wing to attend the Commando Officer Conversion Course to be trained as platoon commanders. The 65-day Singapore Armed Forces Ranger Course, first conducted in 1978, is conducted annually at Pasir Ris Camp with a limited number of slots open for application to not only Commandos, but also eligible regulars from other formations. Commando regulars have to enrol in the course and, upon completion of the course, they may be recommended to attend the United States Army's Ranger School. The Parachute Training Wing was established in 1974 as the Parachute Training School and started out with instructors trained in the United States and New Zealand. It completed training the first batch of Commandos on 19 October 1974 and subsequently started taking in non-Commando trainees as well. It conducts the Basic Airborne Course for about 120 to 160 trainees per class, as well as more advanced courses such as the Parachute Jump Instructor Course and the Military Free Fall Course. Operations Laju ferry hijacking On 1 January 1974, four terrorists from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Japanese Red Army attacked an oil refinery on Pulau Bukom and hijacked the ferry Laju and took five hostages. After negotiations with the Singapore Government, the terrorists freed the hostages on 8 February 1974 and boarded a flight to Kuwait. They were escorted by 13 men, of which four were Commandos. Operation Thunderstorm On 8 May 1975, the Commandos and the Navy stormed several vessels carrying Vietnamese refugees intruding into Singapore waters. They kept watch on the refugees and the crews until they were resupplied and escorted out of Singapore about two days later. Operation Thunderbolt On