Philippine Navy Special Warfare Force
military unit
The Special Warfare Force (SWF) is a separate type command of the Philippine Navy, which specializes in special operations, sabotage, psychological and unconventional warfare, and direct action. They are heavily influenced by the United States Navy SEALs. SWF, PN is headquartered at Naval Base Heracleo Alano Sangley Point, Cavite City. It has eleven units located across the Philippines, from Naval Operating Base San Vicente at Santa Ana, Cagayan in the north, to Naval Station Zamboanga in the south.
History
The predecessor unit to the SWF, PN, the Underwater Operations Team (UOT), was activated on 5 November 1956 as a special operations unit of the Philippine Navy. Patterned after the US Navy Underwater Demolition Teams and the Italian Decima Flottiglia MAS with modifications for Philippine conditions, the UOT was charged with conducting underwater operations in waterways, beach areas and harbors in support of Philippine naval operations. These operations included underwater explosive disposal, mine countermeasures, salvage and search and rescue. In 1959, the UOT was expanded and redesignated the Underwater Operations Unit (UOU), then as the Underwater Operations Group (UOG).
The UOG was then renamed Special Warfare Group (SWG) in 1983, then Naval Special Warfare Group (NSWG/PN SWAG), and later on as the Naval Special Operations Group (NAVSOG) on May 30, 2005.
On 7 July 2020, the unit became the Naval Special Operations Command (NAVSOCOM) when it was separated from the Philippine Fleet.
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This entry incorporates text from “Philippine Navy Special Warfare Force” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.