has any influence on SFF. Formation The idea of raising a specialized force consisting of Tibetan refugees and Tibetan resistance fighters in India against the Chinese was first mooted by General K S Thimayya when he was leading the Indian Army between May 1957 and May 1961. During the Sino-Indian War and towards the end of 1962, after hectic lobbying by the IB Chief Bhola Nath Mullik and World War II veteran Biju Patnaik, the Jawaharlal Nehru government finally ordered the raising of an elite commando unit and specialised mountain division. The primary task of SFF is defence against the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Ground Force as well as conducting clandestine intelligence gathering and commando operations along the Chinese border. Chushi Gangdruk leaders were contacted for recruitment of Khampas into this new unit. The initial strength was 5000 men, mostly Khampas who were recruited at its new Mountain Training Facility at Chakrata, 100 km from the city of Dehradun. Initially known as Establishment 22 within the military and intelligence community due to its first Inspector General, Maj. Gen. Sujan Singh Uban, who commanded the 22nd Mountain Regiment of the Royal Indian Artillery during World War II. Uban also went on to command a Long Range Desert Group Squadron (LRDS) in North Africa during the war. The SFF made its home base at Chakrata, a mountain town in the foothills of the Himalayas home to a large Tibetan refugee population. Starting with a force of 5,000 men, the SFF commenced six months of training in rock climbing and guerrilla warfare. Initial training was conducted by the Intelligence Bureau Special Operations Unit. Both R&AW and the CIA helped in raising the force. During the same period, the Indian government also formed the Ladakh Scouts and the Nubra Guards paramilitary forces on similar lines. Many SFF members were also absorbed from the Gurkha Rifles. SFF was later incorporated into the Special Services Bureau. By late 1963, inter-service rivalry led to severe criticism by the Indian Army. To prove the SFF's worth, the Inspector General sent 120 men from the SFF on a field exercise, codenamed Garuda, with the Army. The exercise proved to be a dramatic success for the SFF and the Army was now less inclined to criticise the force. However the force faced other problems such as mass desertions by Tibetans. The Tibetan recruits found that smuggling was a much easier