List of "Elite" units

Let's be fair to the Swiss Guard,

The Pope's imediate Bodyguards consist of members of the Policia Vaticano and not them Swiss lads. There has been heated discussions about this - since the Swiss Guard is only selected for the perimeter security of the Vatican itsself. However is a highly trained unit with modern weapons - besides their photo-show tasks.

BTW, the Director of the imediate personal protection squad and appointed personal bodyguard of the previous Pope was Camillo Cibin, and he was 82 years old - young.

Regards
Kruska

 

Well not being pedantic, but their only mission is obvious. The pope got rugby tackled recently at mass....what would anyone of said of them AND bodyguards if the rugby tackler had killed the pope rather than just played with him on world wide television...?

Its a bit like american secret service? If their mission is taken out with a bullet, all the excuses in the world wont make any difference to the rest of us.

 

I think they would say: E nomine padre, et fili, et spiritu sancti, amen

Regards
Kruska

 

Holy smoke batman...

 

Ok, ok, the Pope's army is elite. Rah rah. It's the only force they have, so I guess that makes them their best of their best if that's the yardstick used. And the man with the funny hat is guarded by Blackwater-type people, so what does that tell you.

So, how long would it take any army to overrun how many hundreds of square feet that the Papal Guard protects? There's just so many black eyes and bloody noses to dish out in a brisk fight before it's all over. I'm not saying that they are wussies, but just how elite can they be? Like urqh said, the Pope got body slammed with no interference, so does that mean Inspector Clouseau is running things over there?

Now, put some Ghurka's in there and the Pope will have no problems....

 

They'd eat him.

 

But not on Friday, right....

 

Berets were originally Scottish in origin, and the Froggies stole the idea....

 

Hello A-58,

This thing was called "béret basque" by Napoleon who liked to spend time in the Pyrenees, and was worn already for a long time by farmers living on the Spanish and French side of the pyrenees mountains.

My guess would be that since French troops had occupied parts of Scotland in the 16th century - that this might have been a reason for the Scotish to get to know or adopt this cap.
Possibly the béret basque could also be a smaller downgraded design of the Landsknecht hat from the 14th century.

Hello Biak,

Seals? , come on - far too public - and Rambo as to be a true elite.

The real elite are the "lurp's" which most countries have, the British term this unit SOPS aka Sphinx, the South Africans term them "the Hunters".
Germans term them as FeSpäh, the French call them GCP.

Nobody knows them, sees them, hears or smells them - an engagement in open combat is regarded a mission failure.

Regards
Kruska

 

Ohh.. I am sure you did

It's all ze Englanders fault

Regards
Kruska

 

Well, the only people that I ever fought with in the Army were the MPs. Not exactly what you'd call elite, but very effective in what they do.

 

It would be a good nomination but they didn't exist in WWII.

I also don't understand why they did this. Berets were a good idea in the U.S. Army when only the Rangers (black), Airborne (Maroon) and Special Forces (green) wore them, it was destinctive headgear for the Army's elite units. They thought it would improve morale and pride Army wide to give everyone a beret. They didn't comprehend that the morale and pride came from enduring the hardships associated with earning the right to wear the headgear, not from the headgear itself.

A-58 wrote:

Who did you serve with in the Army A-58? I always check out your posts because we have something in common, now I may have discovered something else. I was born in Baton Rouge at E. Baton Rouge Hospital, my mom was staying with her sister and her husband while my dad was on a deployment with the Marines. They live in French Settlement on the Amite river, they have a home and business in Baton Rouge proper also. Small world.



Kruska wrote:

I think your opinion of the SEAL's is based upon their portrayal in the media. The reality is they are well trained, quiet, competant, professionals, and IMHO probably in the top five of current elite forces. I'd rate them number two or number three, the Australian SAS is my pick for number one among modern elite forces. Those Aussies are some hard, professional soldiers.

 

Hello USMCPrice,

Actually no. SEAL's belong to the elite units that we term "noisy boys", or the "sandwich eaters", just like the German KSK, which is understood since their task is entirely different from the "lurp's".
The order of battle is; first to go in are the lurp's, then it's all them others to have their part.
Norman Schwarzkopf knew very well about certain "elite issues" - thus he only allowed lurp's to go in, upon the noise starting all the "others" were free to go in. The first to enter Afghanistan were lurp's and so on
Amongst the "sandwich eaters" the SEAL's surely are amongst the top five. The lurp's are an entirely different breed of elite.

Regards
Kruska

 

I'll have to respectfully disagree. I've worked with (alongside, coordinated with or in conjunction with) many of these units and that opinion of the SEAL's is IMO incorrect. LRRP's are organized and utilized more along the lines of a Marine Corps Battalion Recon unit. I have no personal experience with the German KSK so I won't comment on your characterization of them.

I know for a fact this is untrue. Furthermore, if this was actually Schwarzkopf's opinion why did he say, "the Special Forces were "the eyes and ears" of the conventional forces and the "glue that held the coalition together."

 

Yes sir, you're entirely correct, that's why I ended my last post with,

I realized we had strayed off track. Sorry.