The Special Forces Support Group (SFSG) is a special forces unit of the British Armed Forces. The SFSG was formed officially on 3 April 2006 to provide support to the Special Air Service, the Special Boat Service and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment on operations. It is a tri-service unit, composed of the 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (1 PARA), and a company of Royal Marine Commandos (F Coy). A flight (platoon) from the RAF Regiment also form part of the SFSG. The SFSG also act as the hunter force during the SERE phase of the UKSF Selection; in addition, the SFSG also have a rotating company group trained in Counter Terrorism (CT) to support the on-call SAS or SBS squadrons on CT rotation. History Formation The unit's creation stems from the need to provide infantry support to the United Kingdom Special Forces, which became evident after the Battle of Tora Bora during which two Special Boat Service (SBS) squadrons assaulted the al-Qaeda cave complex. The Ministry of Defence does not comment on special forces matters, therefore little verifiable information exists in the public domain. During Operation Barras in Sierra Leone, soldiers from 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment were deployed alongside troops from the Special Boat Service (SBS) and D Squadron SAS. This was successful, as the SAS soldiers attacked the encampment containing the hostages while the soldiers from The Parachute Regiment attacked a second encampment. In December 2004, it was announced that a unit would be formalised for this role as part of the wider future army structure. It was initially conceived as a battalion of "Rangers", similar to the United States Army Rangers. The SFSG's formation was announced officially by the then Secretary of State for Defence John Reid in Parliament on 20 April 2006. It was established to support British special forces units in battle overseas and on domestic "counter-terrorist" operations. The unit comprises a battalion of Parachute Regiment soldiers, a company of Royal Marine commandos, and a small platoon of RAF Regiment gunners. All soldiers selected for the SFSG have passed either the P Company selection course run by the Parachute Regiment, the Royal Marines Commando course or the RAF Regiment Pre-Parachute selection course. Royal Marines and RAF Regiment gunners are sourced from across their respective Corps. Operations During the Iraq War, the SFSG was part of Task Force Black/Knight which was composed of a rotational British